Practical Facilities Tips, News & Advice.
Florida International University (FIU) and Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) have unveiled a solar-powered energy microgrid—the latest project to emerge from a decades-long partnership between the university and the utility. In the event of an outage due to severe weather, the FIU-FPL microgrid is capable of supplying backup power to FIU’s engineering center for approximately 24 hours […]
Eighty percent of U.S. companies have sustainability initiatives in place, according to a new study released by Honeywell. Businesses around the world are taking notice of their carbon footprint, and sustainability has fast become an important investment—and commitment—for companies across all industries. A company can achieve numerous benefits by investing in a sustainability roadmap—from lowering […]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced 33 Safer Choice Partner of the Year award winners across 16 states and the District of Columbia for achievement in the design, manufacture, selection, and use of products with safer chemicals, as part of Pollution Prevention Week.
Cheers to clean energy and sustainability! With many facilities across the globe turning to alternative fuels, such as green electricity and natural gases, to fuel their operations and fleets, major whisky brand Glenfiddich is using on-site renewable natural gas (RNG) from its distillery to power its delivery trucks.
It seems as if we have been here before. But for some reason, this time it’s different—it is worse. So much so that it looks and feels as if we are headed for a real game-changer. I am referring to the drought now in California and many parts of the western United States. This year’s […]
In the year since the mass COVID-19 shutdowns of 2020, facilities spending across trades—notably on HVAC, janitorial, and plumbing—has rebounded to surpass the pre-pandemic rates of 2019 by 5%, according to a new report. New data released from ServiceChannel, an online platform for the procurement and delivery of distributed services, examines facility spend and service cost […]
Safely getting employees, clients, and customers back into buildings remains top of mind for facilities professionals of all stripes, and many are looking to technology to help with the process. UV light has tremendous potential to help mitigate airborne pathogens, but unfamiliarity with this decades-old germicide has prevented some building and facility engineers from incorporating […]
Electric vehicles (EVs) are gaining in popularity at a staggering rate. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s EV Outlook, “Over 2 million electric vehicles were sold in 2018, up from just a few thousand in 2010, and there is no sign of slowing down. We expect annual passenger EV sales to rise to 10 million […]
On October 21, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced updated COVID-19 guidance, specifically the definition of “close contact.” The expanded definition states that the 15-minute exposure period should be measured based on a cumulative amount of time over 24 hours and not just a single 15-minute interaction.
With facilities across the country slowly reopening, workers are returning to a changed landscape with new procedures and office norms. This means that companies must review their emergency preparedness plans and adapt them to the realities of the pandemic.