The First Facility Management Blog

In a nod to IFMA’s own facility management Awards of Excellence — presented each year at the association’s World Workplace conference — Global FM has developed an awards program of its own it will be debuting this year at World FM Day on June 24.

The Global FM Awards for Excellence in Facilities Management 2010 will recognize efforts by individuals and groups in the facility management industry who have made a positive contribution to the knowledge, practical application and communication of strategies to improve the built environment.

What makes these awards unique is that they are open to, among others, Global FM member organizations from countries that do not currently have awards programs of their own.

For general information about the awards process itself and a more detailed list of rules, click here. To download the submission form for the awards program, click here.

The International Facility Management Association is pleased to announce it has partnered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR® program to help facility professionals improve building performance through energy conservation.

The IFMA Energy Challenge: ENERGY STAR encourages all facility professionals to track their progress as they work toward a goal of reducing their organization’s measured facility energy use by 15%. IFMA has created a master account within the EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and asks facility professionals to create their own accounts, add information about their facilities, and share that information with IFMA.

By measuring facility performance in a consistent manner, benchmarking energy and utility use, and sharing and implementing efficiency measures and best practices, ENERGY STAR can help organizations save money; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; improve facility performance; and qualify for tax incentives and rebates. In 2008 alone, Americans saved $19 billion on their utility bills with the help of ENERGY STAR.

“EPA is very excited to work with IFMA as it rolls out its energy challenge. We applaud the association for calling on its members to achieve an aggressive energy reduction target and promoting the value of benchmarking as a key component of successful energy management,” said Alyssa Quarforth, program manager for ENERGY STAR, Commercial Properties. “We have found that association-based initiatives such as IFMA’s can drive significant energy improvements across commercial buildings, while also promoting increased awareness of ENERGY STAR and the value of strategic energy management.”

Facility professionals interested in tracking and reducing their buildings’ energy use are encouraged to download the IFMA Foundation’s free “Sustainability How-to Guide: EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager” publication here for step-by-step instructions and tips on how to create their own account and share their information with IFMA and others. IFMA will not publicize the organization names of those who submit information, only relevant benchmarking data.

Additionally, IFMA’s upcoming Facility Fusion conference — held in Philadelphia April 13-15 — will feature the educational session “Measuring Energy Consumption: IFMA’s ENERGY STAR Initiative” on April 15. Presented by representatives from FEA and CFM2: Conley Facility Management, the session will explore how incorporating energy management and other sustainable facility practices can save money and improve overall facility performance.

UCL (University College London) is launching an MSc in partnership with the Building Construction Authority (BCA) in Singapore to encourage environmentally friendly building practices. The first Masters program at UCL to be taught outside London, the MSc in Facility and Environment Management was established with the goal of helping Singapore reach its target of having 80% of buildings in the city “Green Mark certified” by 2030.

The program is aimed at building professionals who will be taught by experts from UCL’s Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment at the BCA Academy in Singapore. Specifically tailored for Singapore students, the program will be delivered through blended learning—a combination of traditional face to face teaching by visiting UCL lecturers and distance learning using live video links, one-to-one Skype tutorials, podcasts, and video seminars.

The need for the course has arisen out of the increasing call for more sustainable cities, especially in tropical zones such as Singapore, where more than 50% of carbon dioxide emissions can be attributed to buildings. To address this issue, the government of Singapore has identified a need to train 6,000 green facility managers over the next 10 years. The top tier of these professionals will be taught in the UCL masters program, with the first students due to start in September 2010 at the BCA Academy.

Commenting on the signing of the Collaboration Agreement, BCA Academy Managing Director Benedict Tan said, “This MSc program will be an excellent avenue to nurture leaders and professionals who will one day lead us in our journey to make Singapore a sustainable city of the tropics. Graduates of this program will have the expertise to manage, maintain and operate green buildings in Singapore. Having a strong pool of these professionals for the future will take us a step closer in making Singapore’s built environment more sustainable.”

“We are privileged to collaborate with UCL a university globally renowned for its facility and environment management discipline. I am encouraged by UCL’s efforts in adapting their existing curriculum for our industry and to our local built environment and ‘importing’ it to the BCA Academy,” Tan added.

Leading experts in space and workplace management, Professor Alexi Marmot, service operations, Peter McLennan, and sustainable facility management, Dr Marcella Ucci, will be involved in teaching the course. The program also includes industry site visits to provide students with practical insights into facilities management issues first hand.

Professor Alexi Marmot, head of UCL’s Bartlett School of Graduate Studies explained, “The MSc in Facility and Environment Management at the Bartlett has been running since 1992 with many graduates from the UK and all over the world. The Singapore program is a way for us to extend our expertise globally, while at the same time bringing an international focus to our London program.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has named Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) as a 2010 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year. For the second consecutive year, K-C will be recognized for its energy management practices and commitment to sustainable operations, resulting in significant energy and financial savings. K-C will be recognized at the ENERGY STAR awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on March 18.

Kimberly-Clark is being honored for its continued focus on achieving its energy efficiency targets for its manufacturing processes as well as its energy conservation goals for all of its facilities. As part of its environmental vision 2010 program, K-C estimates that it has improved its worldwide energy efficiency by 4.4% since 2005. The company’s energy efficiency initiative continues to generate ongoing cost savings while further driving K-C’s long-term sustainability strategy.

“Kimberly-Clark is leading the fight against climate change through greater energy efficiency,” said Gina McCarthy, EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation. ”Kimberly-Clark’s robust energy management program is a model for others and affirms that energy efficiency is our most cost-effective climate strategy.”

In choosing Kimberly-Clark as an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year, EPA specifically recognized the company’s approach to energy management, which is an integral part of K-C’s long-term strategy. In addition to its thorough tracking process of energy usage at its facilities, the company influences its supply chain to address imbedded energy costs in their operations. KC continues to invest in energy improvement projects including combined heat and power systems, landfill gas and biomass to power manufacturing sites and offices. The company also continued to launch energy and other sustainability awareness campaigns to further engage its employees worldwide.

“Earning the EPA ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for the second consecutive year is a testament to our ongoing commitment to sustainable energy management practices throughout every aspect of our business,” said Suhas Apte, Vice President of Global Sustainability at Kimberly-Clark. “Our partnership with ENERGY STAR allows us to collaborate on important issues and improve our environmental stewardship through energy efficiency, which is a critical component of K-C’s sustainability strategy and long-term growth plans.”

Kimberly-Clark has been a member of the ENERGY STAR program since 2007 and was originally recognized as an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year in 2009. In addition, K-C is also involved in EPA’s Climate Leaders, Green Power Partnership, Landfill Methane Outreach Program and SmartWay programs.

The ENERGY STAR award follows K-C’s recent number one ranking on EPA’s list of On-site Green Power Users as well as its top 20 ranking on the organization’s National Green Power Purchasers list. In addition, K-C received its third consecutive Environmental Excellence award from EPA’s SmartWay Transportation Partnership for leadership in reducing greenhouse gases and conserving energy.

For the protection of frontline healthcare and emergency medical workers at high risk of infection, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a compliance directive to ensure uniform procedures when conducting inspections to identify and minimize or eliminate high to very high risk occupational exposures to the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus.

The directive closely follows the Centers for Disease Control’s guidance.

“OSHA has a responsibility to ensure that the more than nine million frontline healthcare workers in the United States are protected to the extent possible against exposure to the virus,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. “OSHA will ensure healthcare employers use proper controls to protect all workers, particularly those who are at high or very high risk of exposure.”

In response to complaints, OSHA inspectors will ensure that healthcare employers implement a hierarchy of controls and encourage vaccination and other work practices recommended by the CDC. Where respirators are required to be used, the OSHA Respiratory Protection standard must be followed, including worker training and fit testing. The directive also applies to institutional settings where some workers may have similar exposures, such as schools and correctional facilities.

The CDC recommends the use of respiratory protection that is at least as protective as a fit tested disposable N95 respirator for healthcare personnel who are in close contact (within 6′) with patients who have suspected or confirmed 2009 H1N1 influenza. Where respirators are not commercially available, an employer will be considered to be in compliance if the employer can show a good faith effort has been made to acquire respirators.

Where OSHA inspectors determine that a facility has not violated any OSHA requirements but that additional measures could enhance the protection of employees, OSHA may provide the employer with a hazard alert letter outlining suggested measures to further protect workers.

The 2009 H1N1 influenza is transmitted via direct or indirect person-to-person spreading of infectious droplets passed when an influenza patient coughs, sneezes, talks, or breathes. Transmission occurs when expelled infectious droplets or particles make direct or indirect contact with the mucus membranes of the mouth, nose or eyes of an uninfected person. The OSHA directive and other guidelines show steps to eliminate the hazard.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA’s role is to promote safe and healthful working conditions for America’s men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, outreach and education.

Walmart recently announced a goal to eliminate 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its global supply chain by the end of 2015. This represents one and a half times the company’s estimated global carbon footprint growth over the next five years and is the equivalent of taking more than 3.8 million cars off the road for a year.

“Energy efficiency and carbon reduction are central issues in the world today,” said Mike Duke, Walmart president and CEO. “We’ve been working to make a difference in these areas, both in our own footprint and our supply chain. We know that we have an opportunity to do more and the capacity to do more.”

The footprint of Walmart’s global supply chain is many times larger than its operational footprint and represents a more impactful opportunity to reduce emissions.

“Like everything we do at Walmart, this commitment ends up coming down to our customers,” Duke added. “Reducing carbon in the life cycle of our products will often mean reducing energy use. That will mean greater efficiency and, with the rising cost of energy, lower costs, making our business stronger and more competitive. And, as we help our suppliers reduce their energy use, costs and carbon footprint, we’ll be helping our customers do the same thing.”

Walmart collaborated with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to develop this approach that looks at the supply chain on a global scale. Other external advisers include PricewaterhouseCoopers, ClearCarbon Inc., the Carbon Disclosure Project and the Applied Sustainability Center (ASC) at the University of Arkansas. This team will identify projects, quantify reductions, engage suppliers and ensure proper procedures are followed for each GHG reduction claim.

“Today the world’s largest company begins a global race for carbon pollution cuts,” said Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund. “Walmart’s bold move will help companies identify steps to slash pollution and costs. As this story unfolds, it will transform a vast supply chain here at home, and around the world.”

The innovative program to reduce GHGs has three main components:

• Selection – Walmart will focus on the product categories with the highest embedded carbon. This is defined as the amount of life cycle GHG emissions per unit multiplied by the amount the company sells. To find the embedded carbon, the ASC reviewed the GHG emissions associated with all Walmart product categories. This approach ensures the project team focuses on the categories that have the greatest opportunity for reductions. Reductions can come from any part of a product’s life cycle.
• Action – For a project to be included as part of this goal, it must reduce GHGs from a product in either the sourcing of raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, customer use or end-of-life disposal. Walmart must demonstrate it had direct influence on the reduction and show how that reduction would not have occurred without Walmart’s participation.
• Assessment – Suppliers and Walmart will jointly account for the reductions. ClearCarbon will perform a quality assurance review of those claims to ensure methodology, completeness and calculations are correct. When the claims meet the quality assurance check, PricewaterhouseCoopers will assess under consulting standards whether the defined procedures were followed consistently to quantify the reduction claim.

More information on Walmart’s program to reduce GHG emissions is available at walmartstores.com/greenhousegas.

About Walmart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), or “Walmart,” serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at more than 8,400 retail units under 55 different banners in 15 countries. With fiscal year 2010 sales of $405 billion, Walmart employs more than 2.0 million associates worldwide. A leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity, Walmart ranked first among retailers in Fortune Magazine’s 2009 Most Admired Companies survey. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting www.walmartstores.com and on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/Walmartnews. Online merchandise sales are available at www.walmart.com and www.samsclub.com.

About Environmental Defense Fund

Environmental Defense Fund, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 700,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. Environmental Defense Fund has a 20 year track record of success in partnering with business. To maintain its independence and credibility, Environmental Defense Fund accepts no money from corporate partners; generous individuals and foundations fund its work. For more information, visit www.edf.org. Follow our blog at blogs.edf.org/innovation. We’re also on Twitter: twitter.com/EDFix

The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA)’s BetterBricks Initiative and the IFMA (International Facility Management Association) Foundation have joined forces to produce a practical guide for facility managers. This guide provides facility managers with a roadmap of how to initiate no-cost or low-cost energy efficiency strategies at their facility sites to reap immediate savings.

The “No-Cost/Low-Cost Guide” is the fifth in a sustainability series produced by the IFMA Foundation. The goal of the manual is to provide facility personnel with the tools to get started identifying problem areas and implement no/low-cost solutions to see immediate benefits. These tools have been principally derived from the article, “Common Opportunities: The Top Four.”

The guide offers several checklists that can be translated into spreadsheet templates to be used by facility managers when assessing their facilities. These are easily tailored to reflect various facility types, allowing for customization for a manager’s specific building.

The top four energy saving opportunities include:

1. Equipment Scheduling: The first step of a no/low-cost strategy is to determine where energy is being wasted. Unoccupied areas should not have chillers and coolers running. Establishing where this waste takes place is step one.
2. Sensor Error: Sensor settings are often out of sync and this section of the guide demonstrates what to look for, how to make changes and how to regularly schedule updates to monitor settings.
3. Simultaneous Heating and Cooling: Excessive reheating uses unnecessary energy and if an HVAC system’s settings are out of sync, it forces the air handler to work harder. The guide provides information on how to tune-up these systems.
4. Outside Air Usage: Optimum indoor air quality requires efficient ventilation and this can’t take place if dampers are stuck open or improperly calibrated. In the No-Cost/Low-Cost Energy Savings Guide, facility managers will find ways to cut energy costs just by maintaining this system.

On February 4, 2010, the LEED Green Associate credential, which recognizes professionals in the green building field, launched in Canada. This credential is the Green Building Certification Institute’s (GBCI) fastest growing credential.

“The green building world is expanding; key players include not only those in the building industry but also sales and marketing professionals, lawyers, real estate brokers, product manufacturers and suppliers, students, and more,” said Peter Templeton, President, GBCI. “The LEED Green Associate credential gives these individuals a way to differentiate themselves from their peers in a highly competitive job market.”

The LEED Green Associate credential signifies fundamental knowledge of green building concepts and is ideal for both professionals in non-technical fields of practice as well as professionals and students working towards the LEED Accredited Professional exam. The LEED Green Associate launched in 2009 and has been earned by almost 4,500 professionals in over 40 countries. GBCI is working in collaboration with the Canada Green Building Council to support and grow the LEED credentials held by more than 10,000 professionals in Canada today.

GBCI, based in Washington, DC, administers the LEED Professional Credentials which have been recognized in the industry as a mark of significant achievement for almost a decade. Earning a LEED Professional Credential demonstrates a candidate’s comprehensive understanding of and commitment to green building design, construction and operations.

In recent years, IFMA has assembled panels of facility experts — representing the profession’s industry sectors and constituencies — with the goal of identifying and discussing trends impacting facility management.

EuroFM recently released its FM Futures Report, sponsored by IFMA. The document was created through multiple industry workshops throughout Europe, in locations including Helsinki, Finland; Manchester, England; and Zurich, Switzerland. Panels of European academics and FM practitioners gathered with the goal of developing a vision for the future of facility management.

This report, along with other forecasting reports from past years, is now available for free download on the IFMA Web site.

The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) has formed the Casino and Gaming Facilities Community, a new community of practice for those who manage facilities in the casino and gaming industry. IFMA’s communities of practice are organized special interest groups that unite members of specific industries not represented by the association’s councils.

The new community will provide a network for gaming facility professionals to connect with one another and share resources through webinars, roundtables, benchmarking studies, and other continuing education opportunities.

“Over the past decade, the gaming and entertainment industry has shed its stigma and become a mainstream business. From mega resorts in Las Vegas and Macau, to riverboats across the United States, there are millions of square feet under the management of some very qualified facility professionals,” said Richard Emmons, CFM, CFMJ, senior director of corporate facilities for Isle of Capri Casinos. “The new Casino and Gaming Facilities Community will present excellent networking opportunities and provide gaming facility professionals with resources that may not have been previously available to them.”

The new community will hold an introductory webinar entitled “Casino/Gaming Roundtable: What Keeps you up at Night?” on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 10 a.m. EST. The webinar will focus on 24/7 casino operations, food and hospitality services, HVAC, smoking, odor control, and power loss and deregulation. Representatives from Cherokee Nation Enterprises, Edgewater Casino, Isle of Capri Casinos, PCI Gaming, Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise and others will moderate the discussion. Participation is free and open to anyone, regardless of IFMA membership.