Category: Design and Construction

photo of a restroom

Question: How Many Bathrooms Are Required at Your Facility?

Every facility needs bathrooms, and your organization’s bathroom requirements will change as its employee population grows. But have you stopped to consider whether or not you are required to provide a specific number of toilets based on the size of your company? Recently, a question came in to the experts at Safety.BLR.com regarding the ratio […]

IoT Smart building concept

How Facilities Managers Can Help Create Agile Workspaces

The environment where people work can have a huge effect on their morale, motivation, and performance. An office’s physical design can make a big difference for employers, and it’s up to facilities managers to help their tenants create the best possible workplace. Here are some tips for creating a more agile workplace at your building.

Manager safety leadership

OSHA’s Alliance with CPWR Focuses on Hazards Related to Facility Construction

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has renewed its alliance with CPWR—The Center for Construction Research and Training—to provide guidance and training resources for construction safety. PWR and the agency agreed to a new 5-year alliance to address hazards that are of concern to facilities managers, including falls, elevator construction safety, emergency response and […]

Rainwater capture at a small facility

Water Recycling: The Future of Conservation

Water conservation technology of today goes far beyond low-flow appliances and fixtures. Many buildings are now being constructed with onsite non-potable water reuse systems (ONWS). These systems allow wastewater from the building or water collected on property from precipitation to be stored, treated, and reused for purposes like toilet flushing and irrigation.

Smog on the NYC skyline

Are We Entering a New Era of Green Buildings?

You may have heard that New York City (NYC), the most populous city in the United States, has passed a groundbreaking law limiting building GHG emissions in an effort to meet its ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target—80 percent by 2050. The new regulation is having a major impact on building owners and facilities managers […]

Photograph of the Griffith Park brush wildfire and the Woolsey fire in California

Wildfires in the West Fueled by Land Use Policy

The summer of 2018 was particularly devastating for much of the wildfire-prone western states. And though the drought has broken in some of the most devastated regions — helping to alleviate some of the immediate danger — wildfire risk remains high in 2019. The lessons learned from battling the Carr and Camp fires can hopefully […]

Infographic: New vs. Used Furniture: Which is Better for Your Facility?

When you or your tenants are looking to design the work spaces at your facility, form should tend to follow function. You need a design, and the furniture, that makes the most sense for your organization’s goals. In the planning stages, then, you’ve got an important choice to make: which furniture option makes the most […]

Worker using a demolition robot

Demolition Robots Pose Injury Hazards for Construction Workers

Facility managers have numerous tools available when it comes to construction, rehab, or demolition work at their facilities. Increasingly, robots are among those tools. Among their appeal is that the operator controlling the robot is at a distance, away from potentially unsafe or outright dangerous work. While the robots assume most of the risk, however, […]

Facility manager reviewing drawings with a contractor

How to Spot an Unqualified Contractor

The process of hiring a quality contractor can be complicated and tiring. Many contractors will claim they are the perfect candidates for a job or that their workmanship is superior to others offering the same service. When it comes to investing in your facility, you want to hire the most qualified contractor for the project.