The First Facility Management Blog

VFA, Inc., a provider of end-to-end solutions for facilities capital planning and spend management, has announced a new Seismic Assessment solution to provide organizations with a cost-effective, flexible approach to mitigate seismic risks.

VFA’s Seismic Assessment Service helps organizations identify seismic-related components within their facilities using an industry-accepted methodology based on guidelines published by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), and the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP). With this critical data captured in VFA.facility®—VFA’s capital planning and management software—organizations are then empowered to make the best strategic decisions to improve the overall seismic performance of their buildings.

VFA’s Seismic Assessment solution collects and analyzes seismic risk-related data on both the structural and non-structural components of a building. When facility professionals capture seismic-related risk data, there is a tendency to focus on the structural aspects of a building—those that resist gravity, earthquake, wind, and other types of loads. While this is important, non-structural components (such as light fixtures and vending machines) are often associated with the greatest level of damage and need to be incorporated with the same level of priority. Risks of seismic damage include life safety, property loss, and the possibility that a facility may not continue operations.

VFA’s Seismic Assessment Service has been deployed at customers such as a large state agency and healthcare system.

The SkyGuard service provides proactive weather risk management that enables organizations to improve safety, protect property, and reduce costs associated with interruptions in operations, customer service, and supply chain. Unlike the National Weather Service, which issues warnings covering large areas, SkyGuard from WeatherData Services, Inc., issues warnings only when specific locations are at risk, saving money by keeping facilities running.

An extended lightning warning is sent to a client facility, represented by the black box in the screen.

The company’s experts work with client facilities to determine pre-set thresholds and warning perimeters that will allow the facility enough time to take precautions, such as moving equipment indoors, sheltering employees, and switching to auxiliary power. WeatherData’s meteorologists issue warnings based upon a facility’s specific location, not generic regional warnings.

Customizable warnings based on a facility’s criteria can include: tornado, high wind, lightning, flash flooding, hail, extreme temperature, rain, and hurricane. Warnings are sent using the most effective methods for the client—e-mail, phone, text, and BlackBerry®. There are minimum lead times for warning (e.g., for tornado, 20 minutes; flash flooding, 20 minutes; lightning, 30 minutes).

In addition, WeatherData’s SmartRAD® optional software delivers the best available weather information in real time, from sources such as the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Weather Service (NWS), and the National Lightning Detection Network. With an intuitive, graphical interface, facility managers can quickly see the big picture—not just raw data—and access a view that is facility-specific. For further protection and added security, warnings sent via SmartRAD have an acknowledge button that must be hit by facility personnel in order to verify the warning was received.