The First Facility Management Blog

Andrews International, a provider of security and risk mitigation services, recently introduced an analysis service for enterprise customers that comprehensively evaluates security operations in order to reduce costs and improve efficiency and effectiveness. The new service is based on Andrews’ proprietary Security Effectiveness and Efficiency (SEE) methodology, which includes matching security resources to risk profiles, maximizing the integration of uniformed guards and electronic security assets, and projecting return on investments (ROI) through industry-specific financial models.

The SEE Analysis has been used to evaluate enterprise security programs across several key industries including high-tech and manufacturing. According to a Fortune 500 global manufacturer, the SEE Analysis identified actionable improvements that will enable the organization to reduce uniformed guard costs by 20% across its U.S. headquarters and manufacturing sites, while enhancing the strength of its security operations.

For enterprises under pressure to “protect more for less” in security operations, action often include reducing spending on uniformed protection through staff reductions, lowering pay, and overzealous contract cost cutting with outside vendors, which often results in poor service. Some organizations try to compensate by adopting security technology, but this is often attempted without a complete understanding of how uniformed guards and technology assets can integrate to deliver the greatest value in security.

The SEE Analysis is performed by Andrews International’s C&I Division, a group providing clients with a broad range of information and knowledge to mitigate risk and make effective business decisions. It evaluates the effectiveness and efficiencies of enterprise security operations, focusing on deployment and integration of uniformed guards and electronic technology assets such as closed-circuit television, access control, and command center operations. The company has also partnered with a number of software providers to create a “security tool box” that enables proactive monitoring of all aspects of a security program; from supporting targeted screening, testing and qualifying of personnel to integrating facility management with central command center operations. This includes technology from Quantum Secure, a provider of enterprise software for physical identity and access management. The company’s SAFE suite enables corporate security managers to implement best practices, automate key processes, and simplify control of employees, vendors, and other third-parties.

The SEE Analysis covers an enterprise’s complete security operations on a local, regional and global asset utilization level. Areas assessed include: location/site vulnerability, internal and external threats, existing command center operations, electronic technology, security equipment, architectural elements, and uniformed security force policies, procedures, readiness, training and personnel utilization.

This Web Exclusive article was provided by Sasha Bailey, LEED AP, a corporate sustainability manager in ThyssenKrupp Elevator’s Americas Business Unit. She can be contacted via e-mail at Sasha.Bailey@thyssenkrupp.com.

With a growing emphasis on cost-effective building maintenance practices, many facility managers, engineers, and architects are looking for ways to increase elevator efficiency and performance, while also reducing costs by employing modernization and repair techniques.

Experienced technicians and engineers can customize modernization packages or upgrade recommendations that are both time- and cost-efficient. Since budget planning is critical for capital expenditures such as these, recommendations can be submitted in a multi-year plan prioritized by the overall savings realized in energy efficiency. Below are options to consider, ranging from simple cosmetic cab refurbishments to complete elevator system overhauls, all of which will provide dual benefits: to the environment, and to the bottom line.

Enabling the elevator controller to shut off the cab’s lights and fans automatically when the elevator meets certain criteria can increase energy savings.

Cab Modernization
Installing light emitting diodes (LEDs) can save up to 80% of the energy costs associated with traditional fluorescent lighting. LED lighting reduces heat loss and increases life span—in some cases up to 10 years per light. LEDs also eliminate the use of ultraviolet light, which can cause damage to elevator cab interiors over time. In addition, they do not contain harmful mercury common in fluorescent lighting.

Enabling the elevator controller to automatically shut off the cab’s lights and fans when the elevator meets certain criteria, can increase energy savings.

Another consideration is to replace elevator panels with urea-formaldehyde free panels, which can improve the indoor air quality (IAQ) of the building as well.

Upgrading the Motor
Upgrading from a motor generator (MG) drive to a variable voltage variable frequency (VVVF) could save approximately 40% of energy consumption, depending on the elevator type and size. The move away from the old MG sets also eliminates potential IAQ issues associated with carbon dust created by the use of carbon brushes in the machines themselves.

In addition, the oil that is used in hydraulic elevators can be replaced with biodegradable hydraulic oil, designed to minimize environmental impact.

Recycling Energy
Building owners can also implement advances like installing regenerative drives, which put some of the elevator’s unused energy back into the building. The power that is transferred back into the building would traditionally be dissipated via heat into the machine room. With the regenerative drive, the excess energy is captured and reused and the system reduces traditional cooling of the elevator machine room.

Remote Monitoring
Remote monitoring is a service feature for control systems that monitors the performance of an elevator. These systems provide real-time progress reports that can be enabled and viewed at any time and from anywhere. The advanced notification also helps reduce unnecessary service calls to the site and can eliminate unneeded paperwork. If something out of the ordinary were to occur, or if the elevator was not performing optimally, the monitoring system would alert the service provider, sometimes before a problem is even exposed to the facility managers, thus ensuring seamless adjustments and repair and minimizing costly elevator down time.

Destination Control Software
Installing destination control software can create more efficient passenger transportation, ultimately improving building efficiency—not to mention the “cool” factor—which can increase a facility’s overall property value. Destination control software improves routing by grouping elevators by the floor the passengers intend to travel to.

Destination control software, such as ThyssenKrupp's Destination Dispatch, allows passengers to register which floor they are traveling to from the lobby. Shown here is the touchscreen component.

Because passengers designate which floor they are traveling to using a centralized screen input system in the building’s lobby, buttons are not needed inside each car. The touch screen directs passengers to their designated elevator, as determined by a formula that considers requested destinations and estimated time to destination. Riders are evenly dispersed to their appropriate elevators. The destination control software groups all passengers travelling to the same floor in the same cab, reducing the number of stops and improving the elevator’s efficiency. This practice can increase handling capacity up to 30%.

Systems equipped with destination control software also allow facility managers to accommodate occupants with high-traffic needs during peak travel times of the day.

With the increased pressure on facility management professionals to reduce energy consumption and increase building efficiencies, modernizing and upgrading elevators prove to be economical solutions. These improvements can also create a more sustainable environment, which can save money and time over the long term.

The Indiana University Bloomington Office of Sustainability (IUOS) has awarded internships to 19 undergraduate and graduate students for the 2009-2010 academic year. Interns will work on an array of sustainability related issues under the mentorship of IU faculty and staff. Sustainability interns will build upon previous projects and lay the groundwork for new initiatives to further improve sustainable practices on the IU Bloomington campus.

“IU’s sustainability internship program has attracted national attention as a unique way to integrate academic and operational initiatives through student research,” said IU’s director of sustainability, Bill Brown. “This small army of talent has amplified the effectiveness of the Office of Sustainability and allowed us to explore opportunities that would be impossible for our full-time staff of two to tackle. Each class of interns brings unique solutions to current problems that then spread throughout the university—and I can’t wait to see what this outstanding class comes up with.”

The number of applicants for the IU program doubled from last year.

Program Began In 2007
From its inception, IU’s sustainability initiative has promoted experiential learning as an integral part of the “greening” of the IU Bloomington campus. (While sustainability internships have been offered over the past three summers, internship projects were conducted over the course of the school year for the first time during the 2008-2009 academic year.)

The academic-year internship program helps students to find connections between their projects and their academic majors and programs. Interns will meet informally within cohorts to share ideas and to develop a supportive learning community.

“These students are already leaders in and out of the classroom, so you can imagine what they are capable of achieving as a group,” said Emilie Rex, program coordinator for the IU Office of Sustainability. “When we provide the interns a space to discuss sustainability and their research, they immediately begin sharing resources and collaborating. This process yields more informed and implementable research and programming, but equally as important is the sense of community and common purpose that is the driving force behind the sustainability initiative.”

The 2009-2010 Projects
This year’s internship projects range from data collection and analysis efforts—such as a wetland and stream inventory of IU Bloomington and five of IU’s regional campuses—to some larger campus initiatives, such as coordinating emerging IU Bloomington Green Teams and the third-annual IU Energy Challenge.

The 2009-2010 Academic Year Sustainability Internship Program is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice President for Capital Projects and Facilities.

“For the interns, the sustainability internship program is a way to learn—and earn—while moving the university toward greater sustainability in academic programs and operations,” said Tom Morrison, vice president for capital projects and facilities. “For the university, it is a way to accomplish a great quantity and quality of applied research with minimal cost. To date, sustainability interns have provided an approximate 200% annual return on investment in terms of direct savings to the university. Everybody wins.”

Intern bios and descriptions of the 2009-2010 academic year internship projects can be viewed here.

The City & Country Clubs Council of the International Facility Management Association is pleased to announce its partnership with the Club Managers Association of America, a professional association of nearly 7,000 managers of city, country, golf, yacht and athletic clubs. The partnership strengthens an established relationship between the organizations in which IFMA provides educational resources and certification to CMAA members responsible for overall operational maintenance and the implementation of capital requirements at their clubs.

As part of this partnership, CMAA will recognize all IFMA facility management educational courses that fulfill the related requirements of its own Certified Club Manager credential. Additionally, the organizations plan to confront shared issues facing the club management industry through joint webinars, research collaborations, networking and outreach opportunities, and presentations at each organization’s respective conferences.

“With support from CMAA’s members, there’s no doubt that the City & Country Clubs Council of IFMA can improve the performance of the professionals who oversee each club’s facilities, ultimately enhancing each club member’s experience,” said Steven G. Ballard, project manager at The Country Club in Massachusetts and president of the City & Country Clubs Council of IFMA. “No matter who is responsible for the operation and maintenance of facilities, there’s a great deal to be gained by utilizing the proper information in order to make the best decision on behalf of the club and its membership.”

For more information about the City & Country Clubs Council of IFMA, contact Council Development Specialist Kari Stein at 713-623-4362 or kari.stein@ifma.org, or visit www.ifma-clubs.org. To learn more about CMAA, go to www.cmaa.org.

IFMA is the world’s largest and most widely recognized international association for professional facility managers, supporting more than 19,000 members in 60 countries. The association’s members, represented in 125 chapters and 16 councils worldwide, manage more than 37 billion square feet of property and annually purchase more than US$100 billion in products and services. Formed in 1980, IFMA certifies facility managers, conducts research, provides educational programs, recognizes facility management certificate programs and produces World Workplace, the world’s largest facility management conference and exposition. To join and follow IFMA’s social media outlets online, visit the association’s LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages. For more information, visit the IFMA press room or www.ifma.org.

C.E. Thermal Systems announces a new way to heat spaces—through framed digital images hanging on the wall. The Heat by Design™ picture heater is an elegant and energy efficient space heating solution that customers design for use in their offices.

The Heat by Design convective picture heater uses a patented carbon fiber heating element system that is embedded behind the image. The flat carbon fiber elements safely increase the temperature of medium sized rooms by 3° to 7° F.

The picture heater is a quiet alternative to traditional space heaters. It operates without noisy, energy consuming fans that can stir airborne particulates and allergens. Heat by Design’s GentleHeat™ technology consumes only 400W of electricity per hour when operational. By turning the thermostat down just 1°F, a typical facility can save up to 5% on heating costs. The Heat by Design picture heater can then be used to warm those cold spots in the office.

Customers can upload digital photographs or choose from a gallery of stock images, so businesses can create their own heater with corporate graphics for a functional advertising specialty item to use in their offices or those of their clients. A gallery of elegant stock photographs is also available on the Heat by Design Web site.

Images are printed with a commercial, four-color printing process that uses UV-based inks to ensure images will not fade or crack due to heating or exposure to sunlight. Images are printed on a special aluminum surface that conducts heat.

The frame is constructed of a black composite material with a smooth finish. It offers dimensional stability through hot and cold cycles and will not warp or fade.

A patented, TouchSensor™ flat front switch on the frame turns the unit on or off, as indicated by a green LED on the frame. The system automatically shuts off after 10 hours of operation.

The Heat by Design picture heater is 36¾” x 28¾”, weighs only 10 pounds, and is simple to install. Easily mounted on most walls like a typical picture frame, Heat by Design keeps the unit and its power cord off the floor. This reduces clutter and improves safety in high traffic areas.

Prices start at $179 and product is delivered in two to three weeks.

The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International conferred four buildings with the BOMA 360 Performance Program designation. These buildings join a growing number of best-in-class buildings to receive the BOMA 360 designation since its launch last spring. The BOMA 360 Performance Program recognizes best practices in building operations and management in commercial properties.

“As building owners hold properties for longer due to current market conditions, effective and efficient building operations and management are critical,” commented BOMA International Chair James A. Peck, RPA, FMA, senior director of asset services, CB Richard Ellis. “The BOMA 360 designation is like a stamp of quality assurance that denotes a building is best-in-class. Tenants, prospective tenants, owners and investors can rest assured that 360 buildings exceed industry standards on every level.”

The BOMA 360 Performance Program is an online self-assessment that evaluates properties on six major areas of building management: building operations and management; life safety/security/risk management; training and education; energy; environment/sustainability; and tenant relations/community involvement. The holistic nature of the BOMA 360 Performance Program means that every aspect of building performance is assessed and scores are based on how buildings meet an extensive checklist of best practices. The program comes at a critical time, as building owners and managers are looking to differentiate themselves from competition in a distressed market.

The newly conferred buildings include:
1300 Clay Street
Oakland, CA
Owned by: OCC Venture, LLC
Managed by: Shorenstein Realty Services, L.P.

400 & 450 N. Brand Boulevard
Glendale, CA
Owned by: MetLife Real Estate Investments
Managed by: Cushman & Wakefield of California, Inc.

Accenture Tower
Minneapolis, MN
Owned by: California State Teachers’ Retirement System
Managed by: CB Richard Ellis

Wachovia Financial Center
Miami, FL
Owned by: 200 South Biscayne TIC I & II, LLC
Managed by: Cushman & Wakefield of Florida, Inc.

On December 3, 2009, seven of New York’s Capital Region commercial real estate properties were honored at a celebration of the area’s real estate industry.

400 State Street

The Office Building of the Year (TOBY) Awards, a nationally acknowledged program, recognizes quality in office buildings and excellence in management. Awards were presented by the Capital Region Building Owners and Managers (BOMA) Association.

Properties were recognized in the following categories:

• 400 State Street, Schenectady, under 100,000 Square Feet (pictured above)
• United Step 1, Malta, 100,000 to 249,000 Square Feet
• SUNY, Research Foundation, Historical
• CDPHP, Albany, Corporate Facility
• Capital Region Health Park, Medical Office Building
• 50 Wolf Road, Colonie, Government Building
• The College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering’s Albany NanoTech Complex, Suburban Office Park, low-rise (pictured below)

This year’s award event marks the second annual TOBY Awards in the Capital Region which is part of a national program recognizing outstanding buildings and properties throughout the country. Local winners have the ability to advance to regional competitions as part of the Mid Atlantic Conference. (One of last year’s winners, 625 Broadway, Albany, managed by Owens, Renz & Lee, went on to win the 2009 MAC Regional TOBY.)

The College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering’s Albany NanoTech Complex

“Capital Region BOMA is thrilled to provide this competition in order to elevate the much deserved recognition of these outstanding facilities, owners, and property managers. The commercial office buildings in and around the region are of the highest caliber with respect to innovative architecture, sound construction and outstanding management” said Sarah Jermano, Capital Region BOMA president.

The Capital Region BOMA also recognized three individuals for contributions to the industry and their association:

• Joseph Miller, Picotte Companies, Member of the Year
• Jim Grady, Tri-State High Rise Services, Allied Member of the Year
• Leonard Duffy, First Columbia, Engineer of the Year

Here are some unusual tidbits about traditions associated with the Christmas tradition.

In the Middle Ages, Boar’s head used to be a traditional Christmas dish. This custom started when a bear attacked a university student and he saved himself by ramming a book of Aristotle’s writings down its throat. The bear choked to death and then he cut off its head and brought it back to his college.

Christmas Eve in Japan is a good day to eat fried chicken and strawberry shortcake. (Obviously, I need to live in Japan. These are two of my favorite foods.)

Although many believe the Friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year, it is not. It is the fifth to tenth busiest day. The Friday and Saturday before Christmas are the two busiest shopping days of the year.

New York City’s Empire State Building’s world famous tower lights are turned off every night at midnight with the exception of New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and St. Patrick’s Day, when they are illuminated until 3 a.m.

Saint Nicholas of Myra, the original Santa Claus, was the patron saint of children, thieves and pawnbrokers.

53% of Americans plan to “re-gift” this year.

1 in 3 men will wait until Christmas Eve to finish their shopping; additionally, 1 in 6 men would like to get rid of all the “gift-giving nonsense.” (Gee, I wonder why?)

On Christmas Eve in 2001, the Bethlehem Hotel had 208 of its 210 rooms free.

Based on a 1999 estimated population count of North America and Europe, on Christmas Eve of that year Santa Claus had to visit 42,466,666 homes in a 12-hour period — that’s 983 homes per second.

Is it true that Christmas only became a legal holiday in England and America late in the nineteenth century? Before then people were expected to go to work on Christmas Day. Find out the real answer by taking the Christmas Gullibility Test.

Functional Devices, Inc., has released the first completely EnOcean-based self-powered wireless current sensor. Current sensors monitor the status of electrical current flowing through a power line, and this latest sensor from Functional Devices — RIBXKJF-EN — wirelessly transmits this status and enables remote monitoring or linking the operation of one machine with another. (EnOcean technology represents a combination of miniaturized energy harvesting modules with ultra low power radio technology as the basis for innovative maintenance free wireless sensors.)

A notable features of this new sensor is that it generates its own power for both sensing and wireless communication. Eliminating wires simplifies installation, especially retrofitting existing buildings; the self-powering eliminates maintenance throughout the product’s life. Functional Devices engineer Rob Pinto explains, “Many customers want to interlock an exhaust fan with a dryer; however, the equipment is often some distance apart. With our self-powered wireless current sensor, integrators simply clip the wireless current sensor to the dryer’s power line and connect a wireless relay to the fan. This saves time, cost and the headache or hard wiring to remote locations.”

The Functional Devices wireless current sensor detects load currents ranging from 3 - 150 Amps and transmits radio signals via the interoperable EnOcean wireless standard. The radio signal is sent to a wireless relay/repeater that uses load current data to switch electrical loads up to 20 Amps. When combined with the relay, the wireless current sensor provides a turn-key “interlocking load” solution for existing buildings.

Drafters of the International Code Council’s International Green Construction Code (IGCC) are nearing completion of the first ever integrated green code for traditional and high performance commercial buildings, set for a public release in March.

“This will be the first time code officials, owners, and designers will have an integrated regulatory framework to put into practice that meets the goal of greening the construction and design of new and existing buildings,” according to Code Council CEO Richard P. Weiland. “Only a code that is usable, enforceable, and adoptable will have the capability of impacting our built environment in dramatic ways.”

The IGCC is designed specifically to integrate and coordinate with the other International Codes already being enforced by governmental code officials at all levels. All 50 states and more than 20,000 U.S. jurisdictions use the International Codes developed by the Code Council for safety and sustainability.

The International Codes also serve as the basis for construction of federal properties around the world, and as a reference for many nations outside the United States. The International Code Council is a non-profit membership association dedicated to building safety, fire prevention, energy efficiency, and sustainable building construction and performance.

The IGCC links the International Codes to a public process, bringing together diverse areas of expertise to create the first integrated, regulatory framework for green commercial buildings. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and ASTM International are Cooperating Sponsors. Other organizations with representation on the IGCC drafting committee, known as the Sustainable Building Technology Committee (SBTC), include the U.S. Green Building Council, the Green Globes Initiative, and more than a dozen others.

“We are not an industry or advocacy organization, but rather the same folks who have written the building codes used throughout the United States and around the world for decades,” said Code Council Board Member and SBTC Chair Ravi Shah. “From the beginning of our code development earlier this year, we’ve had 29 SBTC members and countless work group members from across the spectrum of government, industry, non-profit and academia weaving their views into a consensus code,” Shah said.

The Code Council’s consensus process invites continual public input from all perspectives, culminating in a final approval from code officials to ensure the best possible rate of compliance. A critical element of the IGCC is that it is consistent and coordinated with existing International Codes that span the spectrum of the industry from building, to energy conservation, fire safety, plumbing, mechanical fuel gas and existing buildings among others.

“Voluntary systems have led market transformation and paved the way for a regulatory framework that includes specialized standards addressing highly technical areas around installation and equipment performance,” Weiland said. “And with our Cooperating Sponsors at the AIA and ASTM International providing the essential perspective of the design and standards communities, there is finally an option on the table that a local, state or federal code official can actually use, enforce and adopt to impact the built environment.”

The first public version of the IGCC is expected to inform many policy discussions currently underway. At the same time, the IGCC will undergo continual maintenance with the solicitation of additional public comments thru hearings being conducted in August. The IGCC will then go through another round of review, comments and public hearings in 2011 for the publication for the 2012 ICC Family of Codes.