Category: Maintenance and Operations

5 Ways COVID Changed How Americans View Public Restrooms

Upon entering the third year of the pandemic, Americans are not only more sensitive to germs in public restrooms, they now hold higher standards for the cleanliness, condition, and technology used in these shared spaces, according to the annual Healthy Handwashing Survey from Bradley Corp. conducted in January. Despite ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks, most Americans have […]

Improving IAQ Decreases Health Risks and Boosts Efficiencies

One of the biggest challenges for building owners and facility managers is maintaining healthy indoor air quality (IAQ). This is especially difficult during the winter months, as everyone spends more time indoors with the windows closed. The result is indoor pollutants having less chance of escaping through ventilation and a better chance of irritating building occupants. […]

FAA Offering $1B for Airport Improvement Projects

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has opened the application process for airports to submit projects for the first $1 billion of the Airport Terminal Program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The grant will fund safe, sustainable, and accessible airport terminals; on-airport rail access projects; and airport-owned airport traffic control towers. Projects may also include multimodal […]

It’s the End of an Era for Plan Rooms

The modern facility campus is packed with the most advanced technologies in the world, allowing facilities teams to see through walls and ceilings via virtual reality and augmented reality, curb energy usage while improving the workplace experience, and analyze data to predict outcomes via machine learning and artificial intelligence—so, why is it that so many […]

3 Ways Smart Buildings Will Change the Role of the Facility Manager

Smart buildings are becoming increasingly popular. These buildings provide the information needed to make more intelligent and efficient decisions when managing them. And, they continue to bridge the gap between physical assets and digital innovations by leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT), data collection, and smart analytics. For FM professionals, smart buildings are reshaping the […]

Preparing the Workplace and Campuses to Meet COVID-19 Challenges

Facility management professionals should advocate that their workplaces and college campuses reconsider their physical spaces and invest in technology to help create safer environments. This would allow workers and students to feel safe to return to in-person experiences after they were forced to go remote because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those suggestions were detailed during […]

Today’s Top Challenges for Facilities Management Professionals

The COVID-19 era has been a challenging time for facilities management staff as they focus on extensive cleaning and indoor air quality issues. However, there are several other large issues that have impacted their profession, including The Great Resignation, supply chain shortages, lead time and building commissioning, inflation, environmental sensitivity, and networking. Facilities Management Compliance […]

Neither Sleet nor Snow nor COVID-19 Stops Supreme Court from Its Appointed Rounds

Editor’s note: The Supreme Court’s recent rulings on vaccine mandates for large employers and healthcare workers are sure to impact facility operations. In this article, a legal expert provides an in-depth look into the justices’ decisions and offers some predictions. It snowed in Washington, D.C., over Jan. 6 and 7, and all federal buildings were […]

Should Healthcare Facilities Adopt New Risk Management Tools?

Is your healthcare facility still using a paper-based system for risk management and compliance? It’s time to join the digital age! Compliance and risk management are crucial behind-the-scenes programs in healthcare facilities. But their success depends on accurate, accessible, and organized records. Three-ring binders crammed with pages of printouts or handwritten reports just can’t cut […]

COVID Highlights Importance of Agile and Activity-Based Working Models

For the past two years, workplaces have had to quickly adapt to the global pandemic, forcing them to utilize facilities management principles of agile working, activity-based working, or a combination of the two. These principles were discussed by Tony Mayfield, the keynote speaker for the recent “Facilities Management Now: An Online Educational Experience Virtual Summit.” […]