The First Facility Management Blog

In my final report from Maximo World in Orlando, I wanted to make mention of an interesting company called BlueCielo (formerly Cyco Software). A brief meeting with Martijn Janmaat, Brian Sallade, and Arjan Timmermans set the groundwork for future examination of the whole FM/IT collaborative process. It also outlined the possibility of a future article discussing the ownership and transfer of project drawings and data.

For those of you not familiar with BlueCielo, the company provides Engineering Content Management and Application Integration solutions for multiple vertical industries. By combining the company’s InnoCielo Meridian Enterprise product with strategic asset management solution Maximo, users can enjoy easy access to all essential, asset-related technical data. Facility managers, space planners, and plant maintenance professionals can manage and access as-built and change control records, helping to avoid lengthy infrastructure downtime, improve operational efficiency, reduce risk, and ensure regulatory compliance at reduced cost.

Stay tuned!

“Mastering the Art of License Plate Capture” Approved for Two CEU Credit Hours

Extreme CCTV announces its CEU-certified training course “Mastering the Art of License Plate Capture.” The course, approved by the NBFAA for two CEU credit hours, addresses technical aspects of license plate capture, an important field that is poised for significant growth and that has generated steady revenue streams for security dealers and integrators. “Mastering the Art of License Plate Capture” is a Web based course developed and sponsored by Extreme CCTV and is available through the REG Dealer Program.

Germany-based HOCHTIEF Facility Management GmbH will take over the operation of the Olympic Games venues in Greece, initially for a period of 12 months. Following an international competitive process a contract to this effect has just been concluded by Olympic Properties SA, the Greek State-owned company responsible for the management and operation of the Olympic Facilities. Most of the Olympic venues are situated in the greater Athens area, while there are further sports arenas in Crete as well as in Volos and Patras.

The Olympic Facilities, which were used during the Athens Olympic Games of 2004, include stadiums, multifunctional halls, marinas, and the Olympic press center. In all, HOCHTIEF Facility Management will be responsible for an area of over four million square meters (approximately 43 million square feet). The company has been commissioned to guarantee and optimize the technical and infrastructural functionality of the venues. The company announced it will put an appropriate IT infrastructure in place. In addition, HOCHTIEF will ensure that the venues can continue to be used for events and then provide technical support for such events.

With this new contract, HOCHTIEF Facility Management is expanding its business activities in Greece. The company has already been responsible since 2001 for the maintenance and repair of the technical installations at Athens International Airport, which was erected and is today operated by HOCHTIEF within the framework of a public-private partnership.

About HOCHTIEF Facility Management
HOCHTIEF Facility Management is a leading vendor of integrated facility management solutions in Europe. With around 4,500 employees, the company provides services in such business segments as automotive, chemical/pharmaceutical industries, electronics/semiconductors, financial service providers/real estate investors, airports/aviation, healthcare and sports facilities. The company takes an end-to-end view of buildings, the land they stand on, and the relevant plants and processes.

Volunteers will help to repair fire stations throughout the city that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina. To aid in New Orleans’ ongoing recovery, the non-profit IFMA Foundation will host the IFMA Foundation Volunteer Rebuild Project on Saturday, October 27. This event, which will take place the day after IFMA’s World Workplace ends in the city, seeks to honor New Orleans’ first responders by repairing damaged fire stations throughout the city.

“This idea was born from the fundamental nature of what facility managers do for a career–they tend to the built environment,” said IFMA Foundation executive director Will Rub. “The men and women who depend on these structures are the same people who had to abandon their own facilities to assist others. Helping them is the right thing to do, and it gives our attendees an opportunity to express their gratitude and civic spirit.”

Volunteers will meet at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center at 8:30a.m. that day and travel by bus to a number of New Orleans fire stations. Once there, they will repaint and refurbish the buildings, with the IFMA Foundation allocating approximately $45,000 for the repairs. In addition to the building restoration, the is seeking office furniture, beds, appliances, and other items.

“The New Orleans Fire Department is very pleased to have volunteers representing IFMA help us repair damaged fire stations,” said superintendent Charles Parent. “Restoring these fire stations puts us in a position to better serve the citizens of New Orleans.”

Those wishing to volunteer, donate money, or contribute furnishings to NOFD should contact Will Rub at (713) 623-4362 or at william.rub@ifma.org.

About the IFMA Foundation
Established in 1990 as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation and separate entity from the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), the IFMA Foundation works for the public good to promote priority research and educational opportunities for the advancement of facility management. The IFMA Foundation is supported by the generosity of the FM community, including IFMA members, chapters, councils, corporate sponsors and private contributors who are united by the belief that education and research improve the FM profession.

A hospital in Canada was the scene of a tragedy. Not only did a patient die, but the legal ramifications as a result of the accident may cost the medical facility hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A patient, likely afflicted with Alzheimer’s, thought he was offering another patient a glass of orange juice. However, instead of juice, the glass was filled with a d’limonene, a powerful chemical cleaner. The patient drank the “juice” and died shortly thereafter.

In a case at another medical facility, a hospital worker accidentally spilled a chemical used for floorcare. The chemical splattered, covering his face and eyes. Caretakers rushed him to a nursing station and washed his face and eyes clean. But this time, things turned out much differently. The worker was back at his job in about an hour.

Of course, cleaning chemicals are made for cleaning, never to be swallowed. And caution must always be taken so that they are not splattered on eyes or skin. But accidents do happen regularly.

But why did one accident result in a patient’s death and the other, which could have resulted in severe skin burns and even blindness, allow the victim to essentially walk away?

The likely answer: the cleaning chemical in the second situation was Green.

Certified-Green cleaning chemicals are safer for the environment, for building occupants, and for the people that must use them every day.

Because of the patient’s death in the first hospital, that facility has now transferred to certified-Green cleaning chemicals—proven effective and safe. In this case, the hospital chose a product manufactured by Enviro-Solutions.

Interestingly, in the second case, where the hospital worker walked away
from the accident, Enviro-Solutions cleaning products were already in use.

As I mentioned in my FacilityBlog post yesterday, IBM is hosting its annual Maximo World event, where the company will announce several significant developments to the Maximo offering. With acquisitions playing a major role in IBM’s software strategy, integrating MRO Software and the Maximo offering into IBM’s portfolio over the past year has helped fuel the surge.

One of the most interesting aspects of the conference so far has been the number of users who have successfully integrated IT and Facilities functions through the use of the Maximo offering. Believe it or not, these two groups can–and DO–play together nicely on some pretty huge projects.

I just finished attending a session given by David White from the University of Denver, and there was absolutely no mention of difficultly working with both departments. And with help from Ted Ritter, he created a system that even estimates (and reports!) on approximately how long it will take for the end user to get a solution to his or her work order request. Check it out here.

At the 21st annual Maximo User Group meeting, Maximo World, more than 1,600 users gathered to share industry best practices and ideas for driving greater efficiency and cost-savings through asset and service management, while learning about upcoming product enhancements to the IBM Maximo portfolio.

Carpet Certified as California Gold or California Platinum Contributes to LEED Point

InterfaceFLOR styles backed with GlasBac®RE can earn an extra LEED credit through a recent USGBC ruling. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced that projects seeking certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System™ can now earn “Innovation in Design” credit by using California Gold and SMART certified building products. GlasBacRE, InterfaceFLOR’s high recycled content backing, has earned California Platinum certification. To earn the innovation credit, certified products must account for 2.5% of the total value of all building materials and products used in a project, based on costs.

“The USGBC ruling recognizes the superior environmental performance of California Platinum certified products by allowing their value to count double in the calculation,” explained David Hobbs, president of InterfaceFLOR. “Consequently, InterfaceFLOR carpet backed with GlasBac RE need comprise only 1.25% of the total value of building materials of the project to meet the requirement. And GlasBac RE styles still contribute toward credits for low emitting carpet and recycled content.”

“This is another in a series of examples of how LEED Innovation in Design credits drive ideas and solutions into the marketplace to deliver high performance buildings that have an immediate and measurable impact on slowing climate change and reducing our energy dependence on fossil fuels,” said Tom Hicks, Vice President of LEED for USGBC. “These exciting new directions in LEED will allow us to address the impacts of materials in the building industry in a much more sophisticated scientific manner.”

Under California Gold, carpet is awarded points based on: the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency in the manufacturing process; recycled and bio-based materials; increased water conservation; facility and company achievements; social equity; and product reuse and reclamation. Platinum certification is reserved for only the highest performing products; Gold is earned for the next tier of performance.

“We applaud the USGBC for recognizing life cycle based environmental product certifications, such as California Gold and California Platinum, in the LEED rating system,” added Mr. Hobbs. “InterfaceFLOR is committed to Mission Zero™, our promise to eliminate any negative impact our company has on the environment by the year 2020, and California Platinum validates our progress towards zero footprint.”

In September 2000, Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley launched a new program, The Historic Chicago Bungalow Initiative, to preserve this very distinctive housing style.

Bungalows, found throughout the city, were the most desirable and sought-after homes when they were constructed between 1910 and 1940. Made of solid brick, these typically three bedroom homes were 125 feet from front to back but only 30 to 35 feet wide, which allowed many to be built per block. Today, as many as one-third of all the single-family homes in Chicago are still bungalows.

In 2002, several bungalow owners gathered to find ways to make their homes more environmentally responsible. Because of these meetings, the owners and the city were able to secure loans and grants to rehabilitate four bungalows, installing a wealth of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products into the homes.

However, one Green item remained elusive. The owners and the city wanted to install Green roofs on the bungalows, but the high costs were prohibitive. They ultimately choose GreenGrid Green Roofs. This system may be less expensive because the company installs modular Green roofs, in which soil and vegetation are preplanted into modules made of 100% recycled plastic and then simply laid out atop the existing roof.

This type of modular system may reduce labor costs and cut down on installation time. In fact, GreenGrid was able to install the Green roof in just one day—just in time for the grand opening tour held on the following day, making it an “instant” Green roof by all accounts.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting nominations for the 2007 Water Efficiency Leader (WEL) Awards. These awards to recognize organizations and individuals that demonstrate leadership and innovation in water efficient products and practices.

Winners will be chosen by a panel of national water experts and based on three criteria: leadership, innovation, and water saved. Projects may be self-nominated or nominated by a third party. Categories are Corporation; Industry; Individual; Military; NGO/Other Organization; Local/State/Tribal/Federal Government.

“Ben Franklin said: ‘We know the wealth of water when the well runs dry.’” said EPA assistant administrator for water Benjamin H. Grumbles. “EPA’s WEL program taps into that wisdom and spreads the word about water efficiency leadership to protect precious resources and cut water waste.”

The WEL Awards help foster a nationwide ethic of water efficiency, which is critical to the growing U.S. economy and quality of life. Water and energy are closely linked. An example of this is that running a hot water faucet for five minutes consumes as much energy as using a 60-watt light bulb for 14 hours.

The importance of water efficiency also is reflected in WaterSense, a voluntary partnership begun by EPA to educate consumers about making smart water choices that save money and maintain high environmental standards without compromising performance.

Nominations for the WEL Awardsd are being accepted until August 17, 2007. It is anticipated that the winners will be announced in late fall 2007.

Past winners for the 2006 WEL Awards included: TOTO U.S.A. (Corporate/Industry); Advanced Mobile car wash (Corporate/Industry); The New York State Funeral Directors Association (Organizations/Teams/Institutions); and the Southern Nevada Water Authority (Utilities/Water Districts).

For more information and to enter award nominations for 2007, visit: http://epa.gov/water/wel/2007_application_process.html

The Leaf personal light from Herman Miller, Inc., was noted for its sleek design and energy efficiency, earning Silver in the design strategy category from the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA).

In its 27th year, the annual design competition is sponsored by BusinessWeek and presented by the Industrial Designers Society of America. It honors design excellence in products, eco design, interaction design, packaging, strategy, research, and concepts.

Over 30 countries were represented in the competition with more than 1,600 award entries. The 18-member jury awarded 20 entries with Gold, 19 entries with Silver, and 42 entries with Bronze.

Introduced in 2006, Leaf is an LED (light emitting diode) table-top light–a result of collaborative engineering and design development between Herman Miller and Yves Behar’s San Francisco-based studio, fuseproject.

Leaf’s design allows the user to choose the intensity and color of light. Additionally, Leaf’s LEDs consume less than eight to nine watts of power, carry a lifespan of over 60,000 hours at the full-power setting, and cut energy use by 40 percent compared to a 13-watt compact fluorescent bulb.

Featured winners of the 2007 IDEA will appear in the July 30th issue of BusinessWeek, which will appear on newsstands on July 23.