In a world increasingly defined by the pursuit of sustainable energy, the term "grid resilience" has become a mantra for energy providers, policymakers, and building operators alike. A resilient grid can withstand...
Industry Trends
Vendor-neutral commentary on standards, policy and market shifts that affect operations, budgets and sustainability goals.
AI for the Little Guys: How Small Commercial Buildings Can Tap into Predictive Maintenance
Imagine running a marathon blindfolded—pretty risky, right? Now picture running your building operations the same way, relying on guesswork to fix equipment before it breaks down. Fortunately, AI-powered predictive maintenance...
Part 2: Emergency Lighting: A Beacon in the Chaos
The Role of Building Automation in Disaster Resilience (2/3) In the first part of our series, we explored how real-time data monitoring can enable facilities to detect disasters early and react swiftly. Now, we turn to another...
Open Building Systems are a Hedge Against Future Uncertainty
The social, environmental and technological challenges for the commercial real estate sector are significant. Many building owners and managers are still adjusting to the disruptions of the COVID pandemic, lock downs, remote working, mask mandates, rising energy costs...
Hands-Free Building Tech You Probably Didn’t Know Existed
In a post-COVID workplace, “hands-free” is the new buzz world. It’s also the new hygiene standard. At times, it may seem the pandemic has turned everyone into Adrian Monk. But you needn’t be an OCD-suffering detective to solve the mystery of the old hygiene standard;...
5 Tips for Surviving Supply Chain Issues
Are you finding it hard to procure office equipment? Is your supply closet running short on toilet paper? Supply chain issues are a global problem, and shortages are hitting every sector. Office managers in the U.S. are finding it hard to locate basic office supplies...
HVAC Systems and Hydrogen Peroxide Decontamination (Deprox)
The COVID pandemic increased awareness and use of relatively new decontamination methods for medical facilities. In addition to standard surface cleaning and disinfection, hospital managers employ vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) systems within negative pressure...
Prepping Your HVAC System to Lower COVID Transmission this Winter
Colder weather often brings spikes in COVID-19 and influenza cases. With this in mind, we should continue promoting vaccinations, mask wearing, social distancing, surface cleaning and handwashing inside your buildings. However, we shouldn’t forget about our HVAC...
Best FM Online Learning Resources for 2022
In our quest to compile a list of the best FM online learning resources for 2022, we looked at several important factors. For one, we wanted a good mix of quality and convenience. Some FMs will be looking for professional certification courses, while others may only...
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 contaminants in the air. Hospitals and...
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 often to change their minds as well....
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 lease) for any costs associated with...