Magazine

  We look at the contribution collaborative robots or ‘cobots’ can make to efficiency and manpower in cleaning services and how automation is revolutionising how FMs manage their cleaning regimes Collaborative robots, known as ‘cobots’, designed to work alongside human employees, have seen a marked surge in use over the past 18 months, with more…

I had the good fortune of attending the 2022 Food Waste Solutions Summit hosted by ReFED last month. I’ve thought a lot about that experience since attending because I learned so much and because of the profound challenge of eliminating food waste. This is far from a summary of the Food Waste Solutions Summit, but…

The renewable energy sector in North America is rapidly expanding, with the proportion of electricity the U.S. gets from solar and wind nearly quadrupling in the past decade. Its growth has been driven by rising interest in decarbonization, including 70 percent of utilities committing to 100 percent clean energy goals, changes in customer goals, rapid…

A recent project illustrates how engaging users about how they’ll use the space early in the design process pays huge dividends down the road in terms of occupant satisfaction. Two years after the COVID-19 virus began spreading globally, occupation of commercial office space has been reduced by many tenants in favor of remote and flexible…

Buildings are more complex machines than most people realize. Understanding how to read a Building Management System (BMS) to troubleshoot maintenance issues is in itself complicated and often difficult. Most tenants don’t know how to effectively read their energy or water utility data, nor do many have interest in these items unless they are the…

  The world of the Internet of Things (IoT) is a fast-paced one. With so many new innovations and possibilities in sensor technologies, IoT-connected devices, and the digital tools to manage it all, the potential value that can be added keeps increasing, particularly as the cost of sensors continues to fall drastically. Asset management is…

Back to Basics is an article series that highlights important, but possibly overlooked, information facilities management professionals should know. This year’s hurricane season began on June 1, so it’s time for facilities management professionals to prepare. This is important because above-average Atlantic hurricane activity is predicted for 2022 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration…

Supply chain challenges and increasing material costs have thrown many buildout and construction projects into chaos. Here are some tips on ensure projects run smoothly. The ongoing pandemic has impacted many industries across the globe, including the design, architecture, engineering, construction, and facility management professions. Between increased demand, heightened inflation, supply chain delays, and the…

  Developments in digital mapping are allowing universities to make buildings smarter and introduce new efficiencies in how they operate. Dr Addy Pope, Higher Education Manager at Esri UK, examines the growth of indoor mapping in higher education Landscapes, cities and buildings have long been digitally mapped, allowing better decisions to be made about how…

Society has started the long march toward living in harmony with nature’s realities. There is no other way forward. And where goes society, so goes the economy. As concluded in the seminal circular economy report “Turning Point,” issued by the Council of Canadian Academies, material extraction and waste are exceeding planetary thresholds. We are using…