Magazine

Designers faced challenges of renovating multiple buildings while expanding museum’s grounds concurrently. Working within the context of historic, century-old buildings, while striving to embed fresh, innovative, state-of-the-art design elements was the task that architect OMA, in collaboration with Cooper Robertson, faced in the recent renovation and expansion of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum in Buffalo,…

The first phase of the 600,000-square-foot project is slated for completion in 2028. Construction began on Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center’s $900 million hospital expansion in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The expansion and renovation will build an 11-story patient tower and increase the medical center’s capacity for emergency medicine, critical care, trauma care, surgical services and advanced…

When laying out an office, there are many factors to consider. It’s important, obviously, to maximize the space, but it’s equally important to make sure the design allows employees to work efficiently. It’s crucial to keep in mind not just the number of people who will be utilizing the office but also how they’ll be…

The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) has announced the member-elected executive committee and appointees to its global board of directors for the 2024-25 fiscal year. Effective July 1, Lynn Baez, FMP, SFP, IFMA Fellow, will lead the board as chair. She is joined by First Vice Chair Christa Dodoo, CFM, FMP, CIWFM, CMQ-OE, and Second…

As the electric grid gets more taxed, more facilities are implementing on-site solar technologies not just to help reduce the load but also to increase their sustainability. Meanwhile, some facilities need adequate battery storage during power outages and enough capacity to handle electric vehicle (EV) chargers. These issues and more were discussed during a panel…

Memory chipmaker Micron is pausing construction on a manufacturing facility in northern New York state by at least six months because the wetlands it plans to destroy on the site are home to two species of endangered bats. Micron was aware of the bat risk when it started environmental reviews for the factory, funded with…

Facility management is at the heart of ensuring that buildings operate at their best, day in and day out. It’s the orchestration of processes, systems, people, and technologies to assure not just the maintenance of a structure but its optimized existence. In a time when efficiency and environmental responsibility are more than buzzwords, they’re mandates,…

A significant result of the recent pandemic is a heightened awareness of the need for better control of indoor air quality (IAQ) to include the mitigation of pathogens, gas phase pollutants and particulates from the supply air stream. The industry-accepted minimum standard for ventilation in commercial buildings is ASHRAE Standard 62.1. The standard prescribes the…

For commercial property owners and managers, evaluating the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for purchases is critical to acquiring items at the lowest long-term cost. Assessing TCO requires not only understanding the initial purchase cost but also consideration of the operating costs, longevity, and remaining value beyond its expected life. When managing properties, using the…

Healthcare facilities should advocate for developing a standardized format for instructions for use and making them last the product’s lifespan. Regulatory agencies such as The Joint Commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration require healthcare professionals to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for use (IFU) for cleaning and disinfection. Yet issues surrounding these requirements remain….