Practical Facilities Tips, News & Advice.
In February 2020, the University of Pittsburgh announced its goal to go carbon neutral by 2037—13 years sooner than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s call for global carbon neutrality. A new report, the Pitt Climate Action Plan, spells out how the university will achieve that goal through investments in clean energy, transportation, efficiency, and other areas. […]
With a series of significant changes over the last two years, from a global pandemic to an accelerating climate crisis, corporate sustainability has become increasingly important across almost every industry. As talks around the climate crisis continue to ensue, businesses will have to act appropriately in adopting sustainability strategies to keep up with the global […]
As part of the new Biden-Harris Action Plan for Building Better School Infrastructure, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a Request for Information (RFI) for a $500 million grant program from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for K-12 public school energy upgrades. According to the DOE, the program will help deliver cleaner and healthier classrooms, […]
With the arrival of 2022, the world has begun to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and many things have changed about the way we live. This sweeping change has clearly created challenges in virtually every industry and every workplace, and this is certainly true for facilities managers. Of course, it is worth pointing out that […]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that 93 U.S. manufacturing plants earned the agency’s ENERGY STAR certification in 2021. ENERGY STAR-certified plants are verified to be among the most energy-efficient plants within their industries. Together, they prevented more than 5 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the industrial sector, which is […]
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 […]
For those who might have missed it, the Nov. 3, 2021, broadcast of Good Morning America had a fascinating segment about the steps New York City is taking to protect the city, its residents, and of course, its scores of buildings from the progression of climate change. According to the segment, Hurricane Sandy, which in […]
Today, facility managers face challenges that can jeopardize profits, including volatile utility and operating costs. With geopolitical uncertainty and unprecedented climate events resulting in energy supply vulnerability and soaring energy prices, companies have increased pressure to make their businesses more resilient. For example, during the Texas Freeze of 2021, electricity prices surged to $9,000 per […]
The Biden administration has taken an important step forward to decarbonize all U.S. federal facilities, with two major agencies launching a request for information (RFI) to help meet the clean energy goal. Issued by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the RFI aims to gather market information and […]
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced the ranking of its annual Top 10 States for LEED, with Illinois once again topping the list and demonstrating leadership in green building. Illinois certified 3.16 square feet of building space per person under LEED in 2021. LEED is the world’s most widely used green building program and was created by […]