The First Facility Management Blog

Safety, health, and environmental professionals should develop safeguards to protect workers from nanoparticles that could enter their bloodstream or lungs, recommended American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) member Robert Adams, CIH, CSP. Nanoparticles are particles of materials the size of one-billionth of a meter; at this level, the physical, chemical, and biological properties of matter can be engineered to create new products and applications such as water-repellant coatings and more-durable titanium cutting tools.

According to Adams, occupational safety, health, and environmental (SH&E) professionals in the nanotechnology industry should proactively develop safety practices to protect workers from nanoparticle exposure. He recommended that SH&E professionals continue to use–and improve upon–safety and risk management programs in addition to providing necessary personal protective equipment and localized exhaust ventilation systems to reduce the build up of nanoparticles in the workplace.

As the number of nanotechnology businesses grows, more research and data is needed to understand potential health effects to workers. Adams advised that nanoparticles could be absorbed into the bloodstream and brain through skin contact or inhalation through the lungs, but the specific health effects are not yet known. Organizations such as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are conducting studies of this kind, but it could be years before any long-term effects are determined

With Hurricane Katrina, one of the worst storms to ever hit the US mainland, leaving billions of dollars in property damage in her wake, many property owners are asking “What could I have done to prepare better before it hit?” And even those who did prepare as best they could are asking the now more important question, “How do I recover?”

For those looking for information on how to receive assistance in the wake of Katrina, DKI has created an informational Web site. The site assists property owners and managers in taking inventory of their situation after the storm has left and helps them identify sources of appropriate relief. The site features links to aid agencies and other resources that can deliver necessary aid.

For those fortunate enough to survive Katrina unscathed, but worried about the next storm that is sure to come, the Web site has numerous tips to assist property owners and managers on how to prepare weeks and months before a storm hits, what to do when a storm is identified as being on a path to affect one’s property, and how to protect one’s own personal safety.

In addition to the information on the Web site, DKI also has a 24 hour call center available to assist those property owners requiring emergency services and property reconstruction in the wake of storms like Katrina. That number is (888) 735-0800.

With the recent signing of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Itron Inc. will host two online seminars to help understand some of the sweeping legislation in the policy. The measure includes directives that relate specifically to time-based rates for electricity, demand response, and the metering technology required to support the initiatives.

The energy policy will have a significant impact on utilities and will change the relationships between utilities and regulators and will change how utility customers are served. Itron has scheduled two online seminars to help utilities understand, prepare for, and manage these directives. The free 60-minute presentations will be hosted by Ben Boyd, director of regulatory affairs at Itron, Emmett Kelly, vice president of Itron’s regulatory affairs, and Randi Neilson, vice president of marketing. All three have followed the issue for the past few years.

The first seminar was held Tuesday, August 30th, and will be repeated on Tuesday, September 13 at 1 pm Eastern Standard Time. Online registration is available.

Successful global companies are integrating the reporting of their corporate citizenship activities into their firms’ basic business missions, according to a recent report released by The Conference Board. The companies that have best adapted their businesses report that setting goals, measuring performance, and assessing the degree of compliance are vital to the successful implementation of citizenship initiatives.

The report describes how five of the most successful companies’ reporting practices have been integrated into their firms:
• BP – offers a detailed discussion of the impact of this energy company’s fuels and other products on the environment.
• HP – employs its technology expertise to pursue “e-inclusion” initiatives to bridge the digital divide not just in the U.S. but also in less developed countries.
• Novo Nordisk – evaluates the impact of the fight against diabetes and its other healthcare programs on the health of people worldwide.
• Procter & Gamble – conducts a product life cycle assessment to ensure that its consumer products are manufactured, used, and disposed of in a responsible manner.
• UPS – strives to realize operational efficiencies in the transportation and logistics services that it provides to customers, while minimizing the company’s impact on the environment.

While these companies are from different industries, there are some common themes that run through their practices on corporate citizenship reporting:
• Citizenship values are reflected in the discussion of each company’s core values. Because they are so central to the firm’s mission, these values are highly integrated into the firm’s operations and are given heavy weight in corporate governance.
• Each company makes extensive use of internal audits, internal and external benchmarking, and continuous improvement metrics (such as a Balanced Scorecard) continually raise the bar continually on its citizenship performance. There is a high degree of transparency in the setting of targets and detailed reporting on the degree of attainment of targets in communicating with stakeholders.
• The companies have incorporated widely recognized standards into their reporting and assessment efforts, including the Global Reporting Initiative, the AccountAbility 1000 standards, ISO 14001 on environmental impact, the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Labor Organization’s Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy.
• Companies are increasingly making use of independent auditors (such as major accounting firms or NGOs) to monitor and report on their performance with regard to these standards.

“Looking to the future, the biggest growth area is likely to be in applying best practices in corporate citizenship reporting across the ‘extended enterprise,’” says Amy Kao, author of the report and a consultant in global corporate citizenship at The Conference Board. “Increasingly, companies believe that they will be evaluated not just on their own performance but on their ability to ensure that their suppliers also adhere to acceptable standards of corporate citizenship.”

Last week, the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) announced it has joined forces with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to help Florida’s lodging industry create a healthier and safer indoor environment and reduce the generation of solid waste in hotels and motels across the state. The partnership is the latest component of DEP’s Green Lodging initiative, which encourages hotels and motels to adopt cost saving green practices that conserve energy, reduce water consumption, protect air quality, and reduce waste.

Through the public-private partnership, CRI will provide Florida’s lodging industry with technical assistance on products and services that preserve air quality and reduce the generation of solid waste in their facilities. They will also provide Web-based listings of products certified by CRI’s Green Label, Green Label Plus, and Seal of Approval (SOA) testing programs such as carpet, cushion, adhesives, vacuum cleaners, extractors, and cleaning solutions. CRI will promote the Florida Green Lodging Certification Program to hotels and motels throughout the state and will encourage CRI management and staff to use certified Florida Green Lodges for conferences, meetings, and travel.

“Florida’s Green Lodges, along with organizations that provide information on green products and services, are taking a leadership role in their industry,” said DEP Secretary Colleen M. Castille. “Their environmental commitment serves as an example and challenge to other hotels and suppliers to adopt innovative green practices, conserve resources and save money.”

The Florida Green Lodging Certification Program is a voluntary program that establishes environmental guidelines for hotels and motels to conserve natural resources and prevent pollution. Hotels and motels reduce costs and earn designation by investing in simple and innovative green practices. Florida is home to nine green certified hotels, with 10 more enrolled and working toward designation.

As reward for designation, Florida is recommending Green Lodgings to companies and trade organizations seeking eco-friendly lodging and convention facilities.

This storm, which has dominated news coverage throughout the weekend, is just beginning to make its mark on the states around the Gulf of Mexico. On a national–and possibly international–scale, the storm has pushed gas prices up over $70 a barrel, and the stock market is responding. As oil prices go up, the stock market goes down–at least today.

Rick Wilking of Reuters reports,

As Katrina plowed through the Gulf of Mexico, oil companies shut down production from many of the offshore platforms that provide a quarter of U.S. oil and gas production. At least 42% of daily Gulf oil production, 20% of daily Gulf natural gas output and 8.5% of national refining capacity was shut on Sunday, producers and refiners said.

U.S. oil futures jumped nearly $5 a barrel in opening trade to touch a peak of $70.80. The rise in oil prices fed through to other financial markets, hurting stocks and the dollar on fears that economic growth might be curtailed but boosting safe havens such as government bonds and gold.

In regional terms, it’s clear this storm will create a path of destruction (at worst) and inconvenience (at best) as it makes its way through the middle of the country. Already, airports are starting to experience delays, and it will only get worse as the storm moves along.

Obviously, airports in the greater New Orleans area are closed, and most of the people (nearly one million, by some reports) who live in the vicinity have evacuated to higher grounds. For those stuck in New Orleans–either without a hotel room or without access to friends or family in safer settings–the Superdome has become a sort of makeshift sanctuary. How safe it will remain is still up in the air, but for now, the most significant challenges are power outages (no air conditioning, in other words) and holes in the roof.

Mary Foster of the Associated Press reports,

The development, around 8 a.m. as the storm neared its peak outside, did not create any visible fear among the estimated 8,000 to 9,000 people who spent the night in the huge arena. Some watched as sheets of metal, flapping visibly, rumbled loudly. From the floor, looking up more than 19 stories, it appeared to be openings of about six feet long.

General Manager Glenn Menard said he did not know how serious the problem was. “We have no way of getting anyone up there to look,” he said.

Superdome and government emergency officials stressed that they did not expect the huge roof to fail because of the relatively small breaches, each about 15 to 20 feet long and 4 to 5 feet wide. The holes were in an area of vents some 19 stories above the arena floor.

“We think the wind somehow got into the vents and got between the roof’s (waterproof) membrane and the aluminum ceiling tiles,” said Doug Thornton, regional manager of the company that manages the huge arena.

Menard said that although only the two holes were visible from the interior, more damage was possible. “We can’t tell how much of the roof..is damaged, and we won’t be able to tell until we get the engineers up there after the storm,” he said.

Once again, for more information on how to prepare your buildings for a hurricane, see TFM’s feature, “Surviving A Rough Hurricane Season,” by Bill Begal. For the thousands of temporary residents of the New Orleans Superdome, this will be a very long day…or week…or whenever…

Note this addendum from Architecture for Humanity:
When a disaster strikes in our own backyard we feel compelled to assist where possible. A state of emergency has been declared in four states in the wake of Monday’s class IV hurricane: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and parts of Florida. According to FEMA , as of early August 29, approximately 52,000 people were in 240 shelters throughout the Gulf Coast area, with the majority in the New Orleans Superdome. In Mississippi streets and homes were flooded as far as six miles inland.

While it is too early to determine the full extent of the damage caused by the storm, Architecture for Humanity is appealing for donations to support the work of local architects in the reconstruction and repair of the region’s hardest hit areas.

To make a donation online, click here.

(This is not an endorsement or solicitation from TFM, FacilityBlog, or the editors; it is merely a source for those who wish to find out more about making facility/architecture related donations.)

Although growth in manufacturing employment slowed this month, increasing difficulty in recruiting skilled workers to fill key positions is leading some employers to offer higher starting wages. That according to new numbers from the Leading Indicator of National Employment (LINE™), released today by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations.

In addition, LINE’s recruiting difficulty index—which tracks efforts by manufacturers to recruit highly qualified individuals to fill the positions most critical to a firm’s success—is at its highest level in the 19 months LINE data have been recorded. Currently there is no indication of wide spread wage inflation, but if the job market continues to tighten, there will be greater pressures on manufacturers to increase new-hire compensation.

A collaboration between the Society for Human Resource Management and the Rutgers University, LINE identifies early economic trends and changes in the national job market by surveying human resource (HR) professionals at manufacturing firms. LINE’s monthly numbers are released on the fourth Tuesday of each month. To date, LINE has correlated closely with Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) jobs numbers.

Earlier this year, TFM and Allsteel conducted a survey of facility managers to find out about their attitudes with regard to the sustainability movement. Just this past week, the International Facility Management Association released the results of another survey on this topic.

According to IFMA’s survey, facility management professionals report a continued increase in the use of green building practices. The vast majority, 70% of those responding to the online survey, reported implementing green concepts within their organization’s facility.

Using natural daylight, purchasing recycled office products, water conservation, participation in incentive programs offered by local utilities or state/provincial agencies, and adding environmental criteria to the vendor and product selection process topped the list of the most common green building practices. Other steps in place or considered pending implementation in the next two years include lighting fixture retrofits, light sensors, employee education programs, and Energy Star. Energy Star is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program that measures current energy performance, sets goals, tracks savings, and rewards improvements. This energy performance rating system is already in place at more than 21,000 buildings across the country.

When asked about the motivation behind implementing green policies, facility managers reported concern for improved employee health and productivity, cost savings, environmental responsibility, reduced liability and life cycle cost strategy. Slightly of less importance were public opinion and corporate or government mandates.

Compared to the 2002 survey results, there has been a 3% increase in those who have reported adhering to a master plan to implement all feasible green concepts. In this year’s study, the majority of facility managers, 59%, reported implementing selected green building concepts, unguided by a master plan; 11% are following a master plan to implement all feasible green concepts; 17% haven’t implemented any green strategies, but will do so within the next two years; and 13% haven’t implemented any green strategies, and do not plan to do so.

The data for this study was based on 341 respondents to a Web-based questionnaire sent to 3,510 U.S. and Canadian professional members of IFMA on May 12, 2005.

Imagine having to patrol your facility with a wet vac every time it rained looking for pools of water. That’s exactly what staff members at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC do in an effort to protect the treasured collections housed in the museum. Strained expansion joints, an aged steam heating system, and other plumbing problems are causing increased and immediate concern. Other maintenance issues add to the fray.

In a recent edition of The New York Times, Lynette Clemetson reported,

Smithsonian officials concede that they are partly to blame for the advanced state of disrepair. Lawrence M. Small, the institution’s secretary, testified at a government hearing soon after he was installed in January 2000 that his staff had “hesitated to represent to Congress the full scale of the need.”

Congress responded that year by requiring the Smithsonian to submit to an evaluation by the National Academy of Public Administration, a review board chartered by Congress to analyze financial and management structures of government-financed organizations. Reviewers concluded, in a report published in 2001, that need had, in fact, exceeded budget requests. They also recommended a restructuring of the Smithsonian buildings’ management.

“There is always a battle for resources between programs and facilities,” said Clair F. Gill, deputy director and chief of staff of Facilities Engineering and Operations, an institutionwide maintenance department set up in response to the review’s recommendations. “It’s been a combination of people not wanting to express the true need and not feeling able to express it because of budget caps.”

The 2006 appropriation to the Smithsonian includes $99.5 million for repairs and restorations. Of that amount, $14 million is for renovations at the National Zoo, $12.8 million for repairs at the National Museum of Natural History and $5.8 million to relocate staff, collections and the computer center from the Arts and Industries Building.

Congress also requested the recently completed audit.

“We wanted an independent review to determine not only the efficiency at the Smithsonian but also the depth of its budget problems,” said Representative Bill Shuster, Republican of Pennsylvania, chairman of the House subcommittee on economic development, public buildings and emergency management, which oversees the Smithsonian.

Slowly, some repair projects are nearing completion. The Patent Office Building, home to the National Museum of American Art and the National Portrait Gallery, has been closed since 2000 to repair a damaged roof and an outdated heating and cooling system. A $166 million renovation, financed over the past five fiscal years, is in its final stages. The building is to reopen next July.

Still, while Congress and Smithsonian officials debate who is responsible for what, some treasures have been lost for good. Among them is the collection of snapping lids and tools developed in the 1940’s by Earl Tupper as the earliest prototypes of the now ubiquitous Tupperware.

Attentive to leaks and humidity from an old steam heating system, curators in the Museum of American History, where the items were housed in a collection room, kept the treasured bits of Americana in a glass case covered with two layers of plastic sheeting. During the waiting period for financing and management restructuring after the 2001 government review, a rusty pipe ruptured, blasting the case with an acidic burst of water that penetrated the sheeting and glass.

“It was the most catastrophic leak we have ever had,” said Steven Turner, a physical sciences curator at the museum. “The samples deformed, just kind of curled up. A plastic handle looked like it just exploded. We go to great efforts to protect things. These things are part of the national heritage. But it just wasn’t enough. It was really traumatic.”

A portion of the heating system was finally replaced early this year.

[Registration required for full New York Times article.]

Yesterday, FacilityBlog mentioned the closure of several military bases around the country; today, more announcements have already been made—the most notable being the closure of Walter Reed Hospital in Washington. The hospital has been treating military personnel along with top executives from around the world for nearly 100 years, but its facilities are in serious need of an overhaul, making it more expensive to improve the hospital than it would be to shift staff to newly constructed digs–also called Walter Reed Hospital–on the grounds of the National Naval Medical Center in nearby Bethesda, MD.

Liz Sodotti of the Associated Press reports, “‘Kids coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, all of them in harm’s way, deserve to come back to 21st-century medical care,’ Commission Chairman Anthony Principi said Thursday, adding that the hospital is old. ‘It needs to be modernized.’

One-time costs, including construction and renovations, would total $989 million. The Pentagon would save $301 million over 20 years, the commission said. The current hospital has about 185 beds, but the expanded facility would have 340.”