7NOX Blog
Insights and helpful tips for facilities managers and property owners
What is the Niagara Framework?
The Niagara Framework (NF) is developed by Tridium, and if you visit the company’s website, you will learn Niagara is a “comprehensive software platform for the development and deployment of connected products and...
How to Use Knowledge Transfer to Lower the Impact of Retiring Staff
Today baby boomers and seasoned FM pros are retiring at a hasty clip. According to IFMA Foundation’s Global Workforce Initiative (GWI), more than 50% of FMs will retire over the next decade or so. The change is having a dramatic...
Positive vs Negative Pressure Rooms
Many industries use pressurised rooms to stop cross-contamination between one area of a building and another. For example, semiconductor makers use positive pressure rooms (PPR) to ensure their integrated chips are free of...
Communication and the Art of Influence
In every act of communication, we strive to influence others. Even when our communication is simply to inform, we seek to align someone else’s view of reality to ours. While we can influence others’ behaviors, the higher aim is...
The FM Checklist for SaaS Procurement
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is a growing trend in FM because of several advantages cloud-based services deliver over in-house development. For one, it’s generally cheaper to outsource your software needs rather than spend time...
6 Skills FMs Will Need Beyond 2021
Facilities managers must master many skills to be effective. Communication, multi-tasking, technical knowledge, and resilience to name a few. But in a market disrupted by pandemics, climate change, tech innovations and new...
Ransomware: Protecting Your Facilities
Ransomware attacks are now a global threat. Between 2019 and 2020, attacks rose by 62% worldwide according to the 2020 Internet Crime Report. Attacks like the Colonial Pipeline in May 2021 are high profile cases that garner...
5 Technical Writing Tips for Facilities Managers
Technical writing skills are essential for today’s facilities managers, who must produce a wide range of communications for a variety of readers. One day, you might be writing a CAPEX proposal for an executive, the next pinning...
Documenting Your After-Hours AC for NABERS
Counting every kWh your property uses is important for your NABERS Energy Rating assessment. The more detailed your records, the more accurate your rating will be. Getting a true picture of your energy consumption means...
Tips for Calculating an After-Hours AC Rate
After-hours HVAC charges are a sticky OPEX budget item. Normal core hour rates are predictable. Power providers determine your property's kWh costs for you. But with after-hours AC, managers must calculate the hourly rate...
What is After-Hours HVAC?
Definition: After-hours HVAC is the delivery and maintenance of a facility’s heating and air-conditioning services, outside regular operating hours, for the benefit of a tenant. Tenants pay an hourly rate (usually specified in a...
4 Reasons to Automate Your After-Hours HVAC Program
If you haven’t yet automated your after-hours HVAC program or, worse, have no program at all, you’re missing out on benefits that maximise your staff productivity and cut out wasted time. Automation also helps increase tenant...
After-Hours HVAC: 5 Reasons to Start Charging Tenants
Charging tenants for after-hours air conditioning (AHAC) presents many difficult questions for FMs. How do I calculate an hourly rate? How do I separate after-hours billing from normal utility OPEX? Do I have enough resources...
Including AHAC Charges in Your Commercial Lease
If you’re new to after-hours air conditioning (AHAC), you may find it hard getting started drafting a lease or tenancy notice. AHAC is a complex topic, and each property requires a bespoke solution. However, there are a few...
Lower Your Staffing Costs with After-Hours HVAC Automation
Scheduling after-hours AC can be an expensive and cumbersome process. It’s usually a mishmash of spreadsheets, sticky note reminders, voice mails, and impatient tenants — all trying to accomplish a task made overly complicated...
How Energy Management Systems Help Your Properties
The move to smart buildings is here, and with it the demand for “smart power.” Innovations in wireless technology, monitoring hardware and cloud-based data are all making energy management systems a must have for FMs. Energy...
Automation Tools Your Office Manager Needs
Few employees have more of an impact on the day-to-day operations of your business than your office manager. Whether it’s scheduling travel arrangements, ordering supplies or planning a birthday party, your office manager...
Post-COVID Tech Trends for Facility Managers
Technology has been reshaping both hard and soft services for years, but COVID-19 has accelerated that process. Owners and managers of larger portfolios tend to be early tech adopters—passing the efficiency and effectiveness on...
Create a Tenant Satisfaction Survey in 15 Minutes
Tenant satisfaction surveys help you spot problem areas with your properties and services, but some facility managers put off creating and administering them because of time restraints. But it only takes a few minutes to create...
Best Online Continuing Ed Resources for FMs in 2021
Art Linkletter summed up professional development perfectly when he said "Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out." Adapt or perish is the mantra for today’s professionals, and so much so...
3 Ways to Improve Tenant Satisfaction
Whether you’re leasing a small two-bedroom or multi-level high-rise, tenant satisfaction is critical to your bottom line. When tenants are happy, they tend to lease longer. This maintains consistency in your properties and...
