2019 July
The cocktail party effect is our impressive ability to focus our attention on one voice in a busy, noise-filled room. By filtering out a range of other stimuli, partygoers have no problems tuning into a single conversation and ignoring every other noise. Vibration analysis systems are capable of the same thing.
2019 July
In a perfect world, your facility would be able to tell you about emergencies brewing behind the walls. Unfortunately, most of these mishaps go undetected until it’s potentially too late, causing tens of thousands of dollars of damage in the process. In addition to the financial toll, repairs can take days, even weeks, of valuable time. However, by utilizing the latest technology, early detection is possible.
2019 July
Ensuring a facility is clean and healthy can be one of a facility manager’s most challenging tasks. Although many aspects of the work create cleaning challenges, one in particular is that floors, walls, or other surfaces may look clean, but upon further investigation, may not be clean and healthy at all.
2019 June
Silence: The sound no manufacturing general manager wants to hear. When a power transformer that supplies a plant goes bust, everything comes to a grinding halt. At such times the only thing audible is the sound of net profit being sucked out of the air.
2019 June
Today, there are more than 60 million students and faculty in the United States. With such a significant portion of the population attending educational facilities, a growing number of schools are opting to participate in “greener” practices that benefit the students, budget, and environment.
2019 June
The healthcare industry has been slower than many others in adopting green and sustainability initiatives. The hospitality industry, in contrast, got on board with environmental responsibility more than 25 years ago. Industry stakeholders viewed it as a way to provide their guests with rooms that were cleaner, safer, and healthier.
2019 May
Legionella pneumophila is a waterborne bacteria that is the cause of a severe form of pneumonia called Legionnaires Disease. The number of people getting sick from Legionella bacteria in healthcare environments has been steadily and substantially increasing in the last decade as these facilities often house those who are most susceptible.
2019 May
The recent shootings in New Zealand serve as one more wake-up call reminding facility managers (FMs) they must be prepared for almost any emergency – or catastrophe – at just about any time in any of the facilities they manage. Shooting incidents such as this, whether they happen in schools, office buildings, or churches, synagogues, and mosques are becoming all too common.
2019 May
Energy efficiency is a core aspect of a smart building, and yet building energy use has actually risen over the past several years in even the most efficiency-conscious cities. We all hear a lot about intelligent buildings – so much that you’d think they were everywhere. But when you look at the data, it seems that most buildings are as dull-witted as ever.
2019 April
Smart buildings have been a concept for decades. Sustainability thinkers have been advocating them for years, and they’re a hot topic in building trade publications. So why is it that the brightest thing about most buildings remains their always-on lights?