The First Facility Management Blog

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.

The IFMA Foundation has released Lighting Solutions, a practical guide for introducing and advancing sustainable practices that revolve around proper illumination in commercial buildings. The guide is the fourth in the Sustainability “How-to” Guide Series released the IFMA Foundation.

Available free of charge, Lighting Solutions gives an overview of several keys to lighting initiatives, including:

• Building a business case for sustainability through energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality;
• Procurement of lighting components and systems, including lamp type, ballast selection, and controls;
• Group re-lamping and the benefits of a wash and re-lamp program;
• Alternative means of illumination, including the use of natural light and daylight harvesting;
• De-lamping, maintaining light levels while decreasing energy use; and
• Case studies that offer real-world insight into effective approaches.

The new guide was written by Bill Conley, CFM, CFMJ, IFMA Fellow, LEED AP, currently the managing director of the LEED®/Sustainability Development Group for Pacific Building Care, with the help of a cross section of subject matter experts in lighting and facilities management. The guide provides a practical point of reference for facilities managers across multiple industry sectors.

“Lighting is a critical component of energy costs and is the largest contributor to a commercial property’s electricity bill,” said Eric Teicholz, executive editor of the Sustainability “How-to” Guide Series. “This guide shows organizations how they can significantly lower total energy costs while at the same time improving lighting quality.”

For a free PDF of the guide, click this link: Lighting Solutions

The IFMA Foundation is pleased to announce the publication of the first “North American Facility Management Degree Program Guide.” The new guide provides a listing of all known facility management programs in North America.

Its purpose is to help educational institutions develop standards for facility management curricula and the details of the course of study. It also serves as a reference for students, educators, and professionals interested in facility management higher education degree programs.

“This career choice prepares students for jobs managing the built environment with consequent opportunities to have a significant impact on sustainability in buildings, which are major consumers of energy,” said IFMA Foundation Director of Academic Affairs Charles Claar, CFM, CFMJ, P.E.

For a free copy of the “North American Facility Management Degree Program Guide,” send an e-mail to tfm@groupc.com with the words “IFMA Foundation Education Guide” in the subject line of your e-mail.

Facility Engineering Associates (FEA), in partnership with the IFMA Foundation, has released the second guide in the Sustainability “How-to Guide” Series. The new publication, EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, was written by Maureen Roskoski, senior professional; Laurie Gilmer, associate; and Greg Hughel, project engineer, all from FEA.

EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager guide has been created to help facility professionals better understand how to maintain a successful energy management program. The guide highlights essential terms and explains monthly and annual energy consumption within buildings and how this consumption can change over time. In addition to equipping readers with the latest trends and tools needed to tackle energy management, the new guide also provides step-by-step assistance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s online tool, the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.

Teena Shouse, senior facility management consultant at FEA and past IFMA chair, comments on the EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager by saying, “In this ever-changing world peppered with so much information, it is truly a pleasure to have a resource which enables one to be immediately more effective in their search of the energy efficiency holy grail.”

“We are very happy with the response received to the first Getting Started guide and look forward to an even greater response to this guide because of the traction received as a result of the initial guide,” said Will Rub, executive director of the IFMA Foundation.

“The large scale implementation of ENERGY STAR is a major priority for IFMA this year,” said Eric Teicholz, executive editor of the Sustainability “How-to Guide” Series. “We have no doubt that FEA’s guide will play a major role in its successful implementation.”

To obtain your own copy of the EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager guide, please visit FEA’s Web site at www.feapc.com.

The IFMA Foundation recently announced the winners of its prestigious IFMA Foundation Trustees Awards, which are presented to those who have demonstrated a passion for supporting and advancing the IFMA Foundation and its work in the areas of education, research, and scholarships. This year’s IFMA Foundation Trustees Awards were given to Bentley Prince Street and Graphic Systems Inc. The awards were presented just before the conclusion of IFMA’s World Workplace 2009 Conference Expo.

A driving force behind the IFMA Foundation, Bentley Prince Street has been an advocate of the foundation’s mission, advancing the organization’s fiscal strength and capabilities through considerable financial and resource support. Beyond its financial generosity, Bentley Prince Street’s staff has volunteered its time and talent at various IFMA Foundation events, offered administrative support, and assisted the foundation with marketing and graphic design services.

Graphic Systems Inc. has also had a significant impact on the IFMA Foundation in recent years. Throughout the past 12 months, the company has voluntarily contributed approximately $40,000 worth of labor to the foundation. Company founder and CEO Eric Teicholz, IFMA Fellow, is an IFMA Foundation Trustee who donates an extraordinary amount of time to the foundation’s research and knowledge management projects.

IFMA Foundation Chair Pat W. Turnbull, MA, LEED AP, president of Kayhan International, presented this year’s IFMA Foundation Trustees Awards.

“Through their generous support, Bentley Prince Street and Graphic Systems Inc. have ensured that the IFMA Foundation has been able to deliver critical programs to help advance the facility management profession and contribute to a more productive, sustainable built environment,” Turnbull said. “Everything they do on behalf of the foundation is achieved without compensation or expectation of reward. This type of leadership and collaboration is essential to making our industry even stronger.”

The IFMA Foundation is pleased to announce that the University of Texas at San Antonio will be offering a new facility management minor program beginning in 2010. The new offering will be part of the school’s Real Estate Finance and Development program in the UTSA College of Business. The announcement of the new program was made at the San Antonio Chapter of IFMA’s September meeting on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at the UTSA campus.

“We’re very pleased that UTSA will be initiating the Facility Management Minor program in the fall of 2010,” said IFMA Foundation Director of Academic Affairs Charles Claar, P.E., CFM, CFMJ. “The private and public sectors in Texas alone need 775 new, competent facility managers each year, so this program will begin to fill a huge void that exists in Texas and nationwide. We look forward to the development of a Facility Management Major program at UTSA as soon as it can be accomplished.”

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 facility management community, including IFMA members, chapters, councils, corporate sponsors and private contributors who are united by the belief that education and research improve the facility management profession.

Facility Engineering Associates (FEA), in partnership with the IFMA Foundation, has released the first of the Sustainability “How-To Guide” Series. Chris Hodges, principal of FEA and an active member of IFMA, has authored this first guide, entitled Getting Started.

The Getting Started guide was created to assist facility managers with a step-by-step process for assessing an organization; finding a starting point; identifying initiatives; evaluating their value; and implementing, measuring, and monitoring their effectiveness. With more than 30 years of experience in engineering and facility management, Hodges has served on the IFMA board of directors, as chapter president of the IFMA Capital Chapter, and in many other roles within IFMA, giving him the necessary experience and expertise to provide beginners with the essential tools they need to get started with sustainability.

“In IFMA’s quest to equip and enable facility management professionals through education, this guide will clarify and lead them through what can be a very complex issue,” said Teena Shouse, senior facility management consultant at FEA and a past IFMA chair. “Now, when someone asks you ‘How do I get started?’ you can refer them to this informative and well designed guide to sustainability.”

“This is the first of the Sustainability ‘How-To’ Guide Series to be published by the foundation, and we’re very excited to see its release and know it will be a success,” said Will Rub, executive director of the IFMA Foundation. “Hodges’ Getting Started guide provides the perfect approach to start out this important series on sustainability.”

There will be a minimum of four additional guides hosted on the Foundation’s Web site, with another eight scheduled for completion in 2010.

Because supporting deserving students helps to ensure the quality of the built environment in a changing world, the IFMA Foundation will present $66,000 in scholarships to 27 facility management students during the World Workplace 2009 Conference & Expo, held Oct. 7-9 in Orlando, Fla.

Sixty-four graduate and undergraduate students representing 26 schools applied for the scholarships, which are awarded based on merit to students pursuing degrees in facility management or a related field. The scholarships range from $1,500 to $5,000 per student, and the winners also receive a free trip to World Workplace.

“IFMA Foundation scholarships are a critical means of bringing future facility managers together with the industry at World Workplace,” said Kathy O. Roper, CFM, MCR, LEED AP, IFMA Fellow, and associate professor and chair of integrated facility management at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Building Construction Program. “With four student scholarship winners, Georgia Tech is especially proud that two international and two U.S. students will be traveling to Orlando to receive their scholarships this year. It’s a real win-win for students and future employers, providing them with a chance to meet each other at our industry’s most important gathering.”

The scholarships will be awarded on Thursday, Oct. 8, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando, across from the Orange County Convention Center. The event is open to anyone who would like to attend. Scholarships are being provided by several IFMA chapters and councils, as well by companies including Sodexo and Davies Office Refurbishing.

Since the IFMA Foundation began awarding scholarships to students in 1991, it has provided a total of 277 scholarships worth $742,750. For more information about the IFMA Foundation’s education, research and scholarship initiatives, visit www.ifmafoundation.org.

To learn more about World Workplace 2009 or for a complete list of details, visit www.worldworkplace.org. Members of the media interested in attending World Workplace may register at no cost on site at the Orange County Convention Center.

IFMA’s World Workplace Conference & Expo is an annual three-day educational and networking event focused on the future of the built environment. Building on the professional development opportunities available through the association year-round, the World Workplace experience includes a conference focused entirely on education and an exposition incorporating product demonstration and instruction. This year’s conference will be held Oct. 7-9, 2009, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. For more information, visit www.worldworkplace.org. To join and follow IFMA’s social media outlets online, visit the conference’s NETworkplace page.

Jeffrey A. Horn, President and CEO of BOMI (Building Owners and Managers Institute) International, has announced a partnership with the IFMA Foundation to bring a Wikipedia-like Web-based glossary of building terms to members of the building industry. FMPedia® is a dynamic, real time, open, Internet-based glossary where contributors are welcome to add new FM terms and definitions and comment on existing ones. It is meant to be as broad and international as possible. The glossary is non-commercial, supported by the IFMA Foundation, and contains no product endorsements or paid sponsors.

BOMI will merge its 343-page Dictionary of the Built Environment, consisting of more than 4,500 terms, with the existing FMpedia, an online glossary for the facility management industry developed by the IFMA Foundation. BOMI’s contribution will amount to a 300% growth in the number of definitions currently available through FMpedia. The format will allow viewers to comment on individual entries and will standardize definitions of terms used in the international building and facility management professions.

Horn said that the expanded FMpedia “will allow people from all corners of the world to be on the same page” when it comes to using facility management and commercial real estate terms. “Standardizing the language, standardizing the definitions, that’s got to help everyone,” Horn explained.

Like Wikipedia, FMpedia will allow industry members to add entries, edit definitions, and comment on entries. “The FM community will help to define the lexicon of the built environment by adding and modifying definitions as the industry evolves,” Horn said. “FM professionals will be able to collaborate to build a consensus.”

“The IFMA Foundation is excited to have BOMI’s support for this venture and to see the current FMpedia glossary double in size,” said Will Rub, executive director of the IFMA Foundation. “FMpedia has been well received since its inception two years ago, and we look forward to the valuable input that BOMI users will bring.”

Eric Teicholz, head of the IFMA Foundation’s Knowledge Management Committee and developer of FMpedia, indicated that “the glossary has more than 3,000 registered users from about 25 countries. The Web site currently receives more than 12,000 hits per month, which should dramatically increase as BOMI’s users start to use the site.”

The process of merging BOMI’s dictionary into the FMpedia database is expected to be completed by the end of November according to Michael Coleman, BOMI’s designation manager. He said that the glossary will also appeal to professionals in related fields, such as realtors, building owners, maintenance managers, and those in any area that involves commercial real estate.

“Our goal is to benefit the entire industry,” he said.

The International Facility Management Association has appointed Catherine Pavick to the position of vice president of education. Pavick will now sit on IFMA’s senior strategy team (SST) with IFMA President and CEO David J. Brady; Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer R. Alan Thomas, CAE; Vice President of Administration Linda Beverly, CAE; and Vice President of Communications Donald Young, APR.

IFMA’s SST is responsible for conducting the business of the association and for implementing strategies to achieve the objectives defined in IFMA’s strategy map and balanced scorecard. The IFMA board of directors sets the strategic focus and the SST aligns staff, volunteers and other resources to achieve the desired outcomes.

“I am excited to be given this tremendous leadership opportunity to help advance the facility management profession worldwide,” Pavick said. “This will allow me to play a more active role in achieving IFMA’s strategic initiatives by working with our members to develop new educational programs and services to advance their careers.”

As vice president of education, Pavick will work directly with facility management professionals, IFMA Foundation Accredited Degree Programs, IFMA members and stakeholders, academic institutions, and students. She will be responsible for the global expansion of IFMA’s educational programs, and credential offerings while playing a significant role in the implementation of IFMA’s strategic plan.

“IFMA’s board of directors and senior strategy team continue to define and prioritize the association’s strategic direction,” said IFMA President and CEO David J. Brady. “This appointment underscores the importance that education and credentialing products and services hold in our forward thinking strategies. It is richly deserved.”

Pavick has a strong background in education and association management. She holds a master’s degree in educational administration from Michigan State University and a bachelor’s degree in business management from Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania. Prior to joining IFMA in 2008 as the director of education, Pavick served as executive director of the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association where she established business partnerships with major Fortune 500 companies and worked closely with federal and state legislators and regulatory agencies.