Practical Facilities Tips, News & Advice.
As a new academic year begins, the Biden administration has issued a back-to-school fact sheet highlighting guidance and resources available to help protect students and staff from COVID-19 spread and keep schools safely open all year long. The fact sheet calls for vaccination, testing, and improved indoor air quality. It also notes actions the administration […]
Back to Basics is an article series that highlights important, but possibly overlooked, information facilities management professionals should know. Facilities management professionals should ensure that their facilities are adequately prepared in the event of a power outage, which is usually a sudden loss of power. It is important for them to ensure that employees, vendors, […]
Despite a slow start to the hurricane season, “the next Ida or Sandy could still be lying in wait,” warned FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. Atmospheric and oceanic conditions still favor an above-normal 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, according to NOAA’s annual mid-season update recently issued by the Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service. […]
A nongovernmental task force recently recommended that building owners begin taking four steps to address SARS-CoV-2 infection risks in schools and workplaces: verifying building systems are performing as designed, increasing outdoor air ventilation, upgrading air filtration, and deploying portable air cleaners where needed. The Lancet COVID-19 Commission’s Task Force on Safe Work, Safe School, and […]
In the wake of the Uvalde school shooting tragedy, the Door and Hardware Institute, in conjunction with the Door Security & Safety Foundation (DSSF), released the following joint statement: On July 12, NBC News published an article highlighting a basic security feature that is lacking in more than a quarter of all schools across the country—classroom doors […]
As temperatures and humidity increase in many sections of the United States, we are all looking for relief. Facilities managers should understand the importance of making their facilities into cooling centers and consider the best ways they can help keep the public safe. What Is a Cooling Center? According to the CDC, cooling centers are […]
An elderly but long-time Californian remembers 1976 as a fun year. The economy was finally pulling out of a recession that started in 1973. The Watergate “nightmare,” as then-President Ford called it, was behind us. And Californians were having a lot of fun with—of all things—a drought that year. They made up comical jingles to […]
Back to Basics is an article series that highlights important, but possibly overlooked, information facilities management professionals should know. With summer in full swing, along with rising temperatures and increased dry vegetation, facilities management professionals should be reminded that this year’s wildfire season has already begun—and it’s becoming a larger problem than in the past. […]
Update: As expected, Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and President Joe Biden signed it into law on Saturday, June 25. Congress is poised, as of this writing, to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), the gun and school safety measure carefully negotiated over the last few weeks in response to the mass murders at […]
“What can we do?” This is among the most common questions I get after a major incident of violence. It’s not uncommon for there to be a heightened interest for a while, then things go back to “normal.” However, things feel different this time. As I’m writing this article, the news playing in the background […]