The First Facility Management Blog

GE Consumer & Industrial has issued a call for entries for the 24th Annual GE Edison Award competition. Through the competition, GE recognizes excellence and quality in professional lighting designs that employ the significant use of GE lamps.

The GE Edison Award competition is open to professional designers, architects, engineers, and consultants. Entries are judged on the following criteria: functional excellence; architectural compatibility; effective use of state–of–the–art lighting products and techniques; appropriate color, form and texture revelation; energy effectiveness and cost effectiveness.

Projects scoring the highest number of points will qualify to receive Awards of Merit or Awards of Excellence. The GE Edison Award Winner is selected from among the Awards of Excellence. Awards for Sustainable Design are given to those projects that demonstrate exemplary, sustainable lighting design. These designs, while providing high quality lighting, should minimize the use of energy, maximize the use of daylighting, avoid skyward illumination and ensure system durability and maintainability.

The Award for Residential Lighting Design—a new category added in 2005—is judged on the same criteria mentioned above and presented to the project that best exemplifies excellence in lighting design within a residential application.

All entrants will be invited to an awards ceremony, which will take place Monday, May 7, 2007 in New York, NY on the evening prior to the opening of LightFair International. At that time, designers who have been designated as winners of Awards of Excellence, Awards of Merit, Awards for Sustainable Design, and the Award for Residential Design will be recognized with personalized plaques acknowledging their lighting design achievements.

The identity of the 2006 GE Edison Award Winner will remain confidential until announced at the Awards ceremony. The winner will receive a personalized Steuben crystal trophy and continued publicity throughout the following year. A distinctive plaque will also be presented to the owner of the winning installation. All lighting projects, submitted for award consideration, must have been completed between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006. Entries must be received by January 10, 2007. For more information about the GE Edison Awards visit www.GEEdisonAward.com.

Last year, the 2005 GE Edison Award was awarded to Dennis Vogel, Keith Irtenkauf, and Sonia Noble of Illuminating Concepts for their lighting design for The Guardian Building renovation in Detroit, MI. The building is one of the most significant and striking Art Deco skyscrapers in the world. An extensive renovation returned this landmark building to its original glory and prominence on the Detroit skyline.

Combining both the sophistication and hospitality of the South, contract furniture manufacturer Allsteel unveiled its latest Resource Center in Atlanta on October 25th. The new facility aims to bring both the experience and brand essence of Allsteel’s headquarters to a regional level.

Created by the Atlanta office of the award-winning international design firm HOK, the 15,000-plus square foot showroom, education, and resource center was christened as the company hosted the area’s architect, design, real estate, and business leaders at the grand opening event.

“Our challenge in designing this Resource Center for Allsteel was creating balance between the ’small town’ past of the South and the ‘forward-looking’ city of Atlanta, all the while expressing the brand attributes of Allsteel—advanced functionality, lifetime durability and outstanding performance,” said Tim Nichols, HOK-Atlanta Vice President and Design Director, Interiors, and lead on the Allsteel project.

“We are so pleased that HOK’s design of our Atlanta Resource Center captured our intention in an unexpected and exciting way. We look forward to welcoming our current and future customers and the design community to experience the space,” said Jan Johnson, Allsteel Vice President, Marketing. “Dealers, designers, and customers will appreciate the creative vision and attention to detail by HOK-Atlanta.”

The Resource Center is located in the 1180 Peachtree Building, the newest high rise in Midtown Atlanta and the first pre-certified LEED Gold Building in the United States.

Each element of the Resource Center complements its overall, sophisticated design. For example, the centerpiece Community Room evokes a sense of history and nostalgia. This warm, inviting space features a limestone chimney and wood slat ceiling, a large gathering table, and various regional art pieces, including a unique piece that features the windshield from an old pick-up.

“The use of regional artwork and humorous symbolism provides a sense of community and a fun approach to the design,” Nichols stated.

From the Community Room, guests can then customize a tour of the showroom space. Its open design includes numerous examples of the full breadth of workplace solutions from Allsteel, including its Align®, Terrace®, Concensys®, Reach® and Adept® products, as well as the complete line of seating collections.

“We are committed to providing the best workplace solutions in the Southeast and to the Atlanta design and business community. Our latest showroom was designed as a convenient and inviting meeting place for architects, designers, real estate, and facility management professionals and others to use for events, or even as an alternative office. We deliberately built the space with this in mind,” said Tim Smith, Allsteel Vice President, Resource Center Development. “The warm and inviting nature of the Atlanta showroom is reflective of Allsteel. Much like our products, the space is well designed and sophisticated without being pretentious.”

According to An Inside Look at FM Outsourcing, a new research report from the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), facility managers remain confident in the ability to save money and improve quality through the use of outsourcing.

Companies are outsourcing with greater frequency today, hiring full-service vendors to provide many functions, with 15% of the respondents’ companies now outsourcing, up from 3% in 1993. Two-in-five companies have brought services back in house after outsourcing the service. Typically the reasons are to regain control of the service, either in terms of cost, quality, or response time.

The use of out-tasking–hiring individual specialized vendors to provide one or more services–has decreased from 91% in 1993 to 77% in 2006. The steepest decline has come in the past seven years.

The report, based on survey responses from 487 of the association’s members, also revealed that most facility managers believe that outsourcing can be the answer if they find the right service provider.

“We’ve seen outsourcing evolve into an accepted practice in running a facility management operation. More facilities are opting to establish longer term contracts with full-service providers or reduce the number of contractors. Yet the majority sticks to what works for them, out-tasking to specialized contractors, retaining management oversight and specifying everything in the contract,” said Shari Epstein, associate director of research for IFMA. “Although outsource providers would like to build upon their relationship with existing clients, it’s difficult due to lack of communication and information offered by the client company. One of the many challenges for a company and its employees is to develop a level of comfort and trust and let go of the day-to-day details of running a facility.”

One-half of companies have consolidated their vendor base to use fewer service providers during the past five years. The result is that for nearly one-half of companies, service providers are in a position of receiving substantially larger contracts than just two to five years ago.

More than one-half of companies have also saved money through outsourcing/out-tasking and one-third have seen a quality improvement. These results are consistent regardless of whether the company is outsourcing or out-tasking.

Architectural/engineering/interior design services were outsourced with the most frequency with 90% of respondents reporting that they outsourced these services, followed by housekeeping services with 77%, property appraisals with 72%, and roads/parking/garage maintenance with 70%. The largest growth among outsourced services between 1993 and 2006 was in the outsourcing of utility system maintenance with a growth of 23%.

The main reasons facility managers are choosing to outsource include financial motives like reducing or controlling costs, and the ability to better adjust to work fluctuations while decreasing turnover and training costs. The key challenges to implementing an outsourcing initiative are ensuring delivery of the correct level of service and developing a level of trust.

The survey was conducted online. A total of 4,816 North American members, including 316 Canadian members, were randomly selected to receive an e-mail invitation to complete the survey. The survey data was collected from July 11-27, 2006. A total of 487 complete surveys were collected from IFMA members for a final response rate of 10.1%. The survey was previously conducted by mail in 1993 and 1999.

The research report, An Inside Look at FM Outsourcing, is available for purchase online in the IFMA Bookstore at www.ifma.org/bookstore.

The company’s National Design Center in New York City recently received LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in the Commercial Interiors (CI) category. The USGBC developed the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system to encourage the development of more sustainable buildings and interiors.

Overall, the 15,400-square-foot facility received 37 credit points from the USGBC, most notably for its water conservation, energy efficiency, and environmentally responsible materials. Herman Miller’s newly relocated National Design Center occupies the 17th floor of a midtown Manhattan tower at 1177 Avenue of the Americas.

“This project has tremendous synergy with the environmental initiatives occurring in New York,” said Rico Cedro, director of sustainable design for architects Krueck and Sexton. “Carbon dioxide emissions and water conservation are issues of regional, city, and state importance.We wanted the National Design Center (NDC) to demonstrate leadership in these areas.”

The facility features low-flow fixtures that reduce water use by 37%, and 100% of the electric power is obtained from certified renewable energy sources. “Indoor air quality is also an important issue,” Cedro added. “A typical American spends over 90% of his or her time indoors, and a large proportion of that time is spent at work. The New York NDC maximizes indoor air quality through its advanced HVAC system design, materials with low-emitting or zero-emitting VOCs (volatile organic compounds), and its Greenguard-certified Herman Miller seating and systems furniture.”

The space was designed to allow customers, architects, and designers to see and experience the array of choices offered by Herman Miller. It also houses Herman Miller’s New York sales team. “We want our customers to be inspired by this facility,” said Ray Kennedy, director of corporate merchandising, who oversees the development of Herman Miller’s National Design Centers. “Over 20% of the project’s material value is recycled content, and approximately 83% of the discarded construction material was recovered and recycled. We believe these steps underscore our ongoing commitment to sustainable design and environmental stewardship.”

The New York City National Design Center has been open in its new location since June 2006. It is the seventh Herman Miller National Design Center located in the U.S. and the third to receive LEED certification. The Washington, D.C., National Design Center received Gold certification in August 2005, and the Dallas National Design Center received Silver in March 2006.

The following article from The Onion’s archives demonstrates what can happen when facility managers neglect to order new supplies for workers:

“Hamilton’s Bar & Grill dishwasher and prep cook Cory Akers experienced a fleeting moment of joy, followed by a deep and abiding sense of shame, upon receiving a new mop head Monday.
Akers, 25, whose duties at the popular midscale eatery include taking out the trash and mopping at the end of each shift, was initially overjoyed by the prospect of the new mop head before collapsing into despair upon realizing the heart-rending pathos of his situation.”

To read the rest of this story, click here.
Originally published September 27, 2000 | Issue 36•34.

The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) will be the recipient of the National Institute of Building Sciences’ (NIBS) Honor Award for 2006, which will be presented at the NIBS’ Annual Awards Dinner on January 24, 2007. The October notification letter was addressed to SBIC Executive Director Helen English and SBIC Chairman Greg Crawford on behalf of the Council.

Now in its 14th year, the Institute’s Annual Honor Award recognizes “individuals or organizations that have made exceptional contributions to the nation and the building community.” The award letter stated that, “SBIC is being honored for its many contributions to and support for building-related technology transfer, affordability, sustainability, and energy conservation.” The letter went on to say, “SBIC’s work to define and advance the whole building concept to improve facility performance and its initiation and development of the Whole Building Design Guide as a service to the building community have truly advanced our industry.”

Executive director English said, “To say we are proud of this recognition from NIBS would be an understatement. Our members and staff have made many important contributions to the building industry for over 25 years, but being this year’s Honor Award winner gives us much appreciated recognition from our peers.”

SBIC Chairman Greg Crawford commented that, “It is very gratifying that SBIC has been granted such high profile recognition for advancing the whole building design concept. For over 25 years, the Council has striven to remain ahead of the power curve in creating high performance buildings. NIBS has chosen to publicly recognize SBIC for pioneering the whole building design movement and that is exactly what sets SBIC apart, putting us well beyond what is commonly thought of as green building.”

About NIBS
The National Institute of Building Sciences a non-profit, non-governmental organization which was authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1974 as a public/private partnership to enable findings on technical, building-related matters to be used effectively, and to take full advantage of new and useful technology that could improve our living environment. NIBS brings together representatives of government, the professions, industry, labor and consumer interests to focus on the identification and resolution of problems and prevention of potential problems that hamper the construction of safe, affordable structures for housing, commerce and industry throughout the United States.

About SBIC
The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to unite and inspire the building industry toward higher performance through education, outreach, advocacy and the mutual exchange of ideas. Visit www.wbdg.org for information on the Whole Building Design Guide.

A twenty-two story tall commercial tower perched on a two-storey podium, is slated to break ground during the first week of December 2006 in the heart of Business Bay in Dubai. The building comprises 300,000 square feet and is a collaboration between RUR Architecture of New York and developer Shabah Lutfi. The building, O-14, will be located along the extension of Dubai Creek, occupying a prominent location on the waterfront esplanade. The design for O-14 is for a tower sheathed in a forty centimeter-thick concrete shell perforated by over 1,000 openings that create a lace-like effect on the building’s façade.

The shell is not only the structure of the building, it acts as a sunscreen open to light, air, and views. The openings on the shell modulate depending on structural requirements, views, sun exposure, and luminosity. A space nearly one meter deep between the shell and the main enclosure creates a so-called “chimney effect,” a phenomenon whereby hot air has room to rise and effectively cools the surface of the glass windows behind the perforated shell. This passive solar technique essentially contributes to a natural component to the cooling system for O-14, thus reducing energy consumption and costs, just one of many innovative aspects of the building’s design.

Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto, the principals of RUR Architecture, credit the developer Shabah Lutfi for encouraging their experimental design approach to O-14, and refer to their relationship with him as a “unique collaboration.” “Shabah Lutfi is one of those rare figures, a developer who has a real appreciation and enthusiasm for innovative architecture,” the architects explain. “Our working relationship with him is close, as he has maintained a daily dialogue with us over every detail of the work for what promises to be a truly unprecedented project for Dubai.”

The concrete shell of O-14 also provides an efficient structure that frees the core from the burden of lateral forces and creates highly efficient, column-free open spaces in the building’s interior. Each floor of O-14 has been already been sold to future tenants who can arrange the flexible floor space according to their individual needs.

The North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA) announces the addition of the “Play It Smart, Play It Safe” DVD to its library of free educational resources on fiber glass and mineral wool insulation. NAIMA offers resources for workers through its Health and Safety Partnership Program (HSPP), a voluntary program designed in cooperation with OSHA to assure greater worker protection.

NAIMA’s “Play It Smart, Play It Safe” program is designed to increase worker comfort. The program provides important information in a fun and entertaining way to contractors and workers who handle fiber glass and rock and slag wool insulation products. The “Play It Smart, Play It Safe” program is available in DVD or VHS tapes for English and Spanish audiences.

The “Play It Smart, Play It Safe” DVD and VHS are free and can be ordered here by clicking on Literature Library.

The Energy Planning Network (EPN), Verso Paper, and EnerNOC, Inc. announced today that Verso Paper, a supplier of coated papers in North America, has been awarded EPN’s “2005/2006 Energy Users Excellence Award” in the Demand Management Initiative Category. Founded in 1993, EPN is a peer group for corporate energy and facility management professionals. EPN helps members maximize energy savings by providing a central, unbiased clearinghouse of vital resources, networking, and advocacy.

Verso’s winning initiative deployed innovative demand response strategies at its Bucksport, ME mill. Verso began the initiative in the winter of 2005/2006 when ISO New England created a winter demand response program to protect its electric supply from potentially significant gas shortages resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. When requested by the ISO, the mill cut its pulp production by nearly 100%, used surplus steam capacity to generate electricity, and returned in excess of 50 megawatts of usable power to the grid.

Verso utilities manager Glenn Poole commented, “Our commitment to energy management is vital to our role as a sustainable supplier to our customers and we are proud to be recognized by our peers for our efforts.”

EnerNOC provides market expertise and technology that enables its partners to maximize their participation in energy markets, beginning with demand response. Verso’s initial foray into demand response served as a valuable introduction to New England’s real-time energy markets.

According to Gregg Dixon, vice president of marketing and sales for EnerNOC, “Demand response serves as a gateway to engaging in more complex energy management endeavors. We have seen that as our customers gain experience, they are compelled to dig deeper into their energy usage and participate more fully in energy markets to gain even greater cost control over energy expenditures.”

Verso Paper is the second EnerNOC client to be honored by EPN. Pathmark, a supermarket chain with stores in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, received an award for “Best Cost Control Initiative” last year. EnerNOC’s commitment to client satisfaction is rooted in the company’s desire to guarantee customer financial returns while promoting energy conservation.

Award winners were chosen from a panel of large energy users and utilities from around the world. EPN will conduct an official award presentation at its invitation-only 8th Annual Large Energy Users Summit in Austin, Texas today and tomorrow.

About the EPN Award
Operated by EPN, the Annual Energy Users Excellence Awards recognize exceptional efforts by commercial, industrial and institutional facility owners/operators. As a collaborative effort among large energy users and utilities worldwide, entries are judged solely by a panel of peers including corporate energy managers and representatives from electric, gas and water companies.

To help companies in the oil and gas industry protect employees and stay compliant with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandates, safety-industry publisher MANCOMM has developed and released Oil & Gas Industry: OSHA Regulations from Parts 1903, 1904, 1910, & 1926 (Product No. 36B-002). Like many MANCOMM reference works, this 720-page, 8-1/2″ x 11″ book is enhanced with RegLogic®, a colorful, graphical approach that makes reading and understanding regulations easier than ever. RegLogic® is a revolutionary, patent-pending innovation and an integral part of the MANCOMM mission – Changing the Complex into Compliance®.

Oil & Gas Industry: OSHA Regulations from Parts 1903, 1904, 1910, & 1926 covers the following OSHA regulations pertinent to land-based oil and gas industry operations:

· Part 1903: Inspections, Citations, and Proposed Penalties

· Part 1904: Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illness

· Part 1910: General Industry

· Part 1926: Construction

· Letters of Interpretation

“For professionals in oil and gas, this book takes the place of several volumes of OSHA regulations,” said Benjamin Mangan, president and founder of MANCOMM. “Having so much vital information compiled in one reference work makes this book indispensable to this industry.” OSHA inspections, personal protective equipment, toxic and hazardous substances, and excavations are just a few of the many topics covered.

MANCOMM originally created the Oil & Gas Industry book for the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), which trains workers in business, public safety, security, and more. Dr. David Schaller, a Certified Environmental Safety and Health Trainer and Certified Utility Safety Administrator with TEEX, commended the book’s versatility. “Out in the field, workers can bounce back and forth between the OSHA standards,” he said. “For example, they would need to follow the 1926 Construction regulations when preparing a drilling site, but once they start drilling, they would shift over to 1910 General Industry regulations. Either way, MANCOMM’s Oil & Gas Industry book gives them the information they need.”
Oil & Gas Industry: OSHA Regulations from Parts 1903, 1904, 1910, & 1926 would also be valuable to a wide range of companies that process or use petrochemical products. Petrochemicals are chemicals that come from hydrocarbon-based natural resources, like petroleum and natural gas. These include chemicals used as fuel, such as butane and gasoline, and other chemicals used for non-fuel purposes, including a wide variety of substances used for industrial, agricultural, and other uses.

“Within companies that work with petrochemicals, the Oil & Gas Industry book would be essential to their safety people, as well as many other professionals who deal with OSHA regulations and compliance issues,” Dr. Schaller said.

Dr. Schaller added that the RegLogic® graphical approach and comprehensive index make the book especially effective. “The information is extremely thorough, and the easy-to-read print size and innovative use of color make finding needed facts much easier,” he said.