myfacilitiesnet

It is never good when capital renewal makes the headlines, and that has happened twice lately here in Milwaukee. In one case, capital renewal actually became an issue in a local political race. Falling chunks of concrete from one of the county’s horticultural domes — three 85-foot-tall beehive-shaped glass domes constructed in the 1950s and 1960s — caused the local landmarks to be closed for repairs...

In the world of building systems, where things that ain’t completely broke are lucky to get a bandage, decades can go by pretty fast. The results of a recent Building Operating Management survey offer a case in point: 27 percent of respondents have a building automation system that is 20 years old or older. Twenty years ago, BACnet and LonWorks represented disruptive technology innovation. Systems using those...

Experience is a big deal for facility managers, and rightfully so. Experience can help you make the best decision on a building system you’ll be living with for a long time. Experience can make it possible for someone on your staff to detect problems just by listening to equipment run. And experience has shaped the ways that workplaces balance employee preferences with business needs. But what happens in times...

Is your organization a good candidate for a high-performance building? Here are some reasons to consider that approach. See if any of these benefits apply to you and your organization: • Achieve green goals. At last year’s climate change negotiations in Paris — known as COP 21 — building energy efficiency drew a lot of attention. My bet is we’ll see a greater focus on buildings in many organizations’...

Do you know any Luddites? In the early 1800s, the original Luddites destroyed power looms and spinning frames, then-disruptive new technologies that threatened jobs in the British textile industry. Nowadays, the term refers to people who oppose new technology. It’s easy to get the impression that facility operating staffs are filled with Luddite Baby Boomers — skilled mechanics and technicians who aren’t...