Practical Facilities Tips, News & Advice.
The U.S. Department of Education revealed the 2024 Green Ribbon Schools, District Sustainability Awardees, and Postsecondary Sustainability Awardees. The announcement came as the White House hosted the first-ever Summit for Sustainable and Healthy K-12 School Buildings and Grounds. Across the country, 41 schools, 10 districts, three postsecondary institutions, and one early learning center are being […]
As life outside gets greener, spring is also a good reminder of the importance of green practices in facilities. HVAC systems use 40-50% of a commercial building’s energy, translating to high energy usage and significant greenhouse gas emissions. However, this also presents ample opportunity to find efficiencies. Balancing occupant comfort with sustainability is not always […]
Facilities Management Advisor’s “Under Construction” series highlights some of the latest, most interesting facility project announcements every month. A Greener JFK Airport In light of Earth Month, April had a bunch of clean energy project announcements. John F. Kennedy International Airport—which topped our inaugural installment of this series with a multibillion-dollar facelift in 2022—takes the […]
The University of Connecticut (UConn) recently made headlines after its Huskies basketball teams fought their way to the March Madness Final Four games for both men and women. Ultimately, the men’s team won their NCAA tournament and became rare back-to-back champions. There’s no wonder UConn is known as the “Basketball Capital of the World.” However, […]
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it has delivered on Congress’ mandate to cut emissions from new or newly renovated federal buildings through the Clean Energy for New Federal Buildings and Major Renovations of Federal Buildings Rule. By meeting the requirements of the rule, federal buildings will reduce pollution, improve air quality, create good-paying jobs, […]
Unless Elon Musk stops messing around with Twitter and gets us to Mars, Earth is our only home for the foreseeable future. That means we’ve got to take good care of the planet and conserve its finite natural resources. It’s also why sustainability is a hot topic all year long and why facilities managers are […]
Since 1970, Earth Day has provided an annual reminder of our responsibility to protect the planet. Though corporate pledges and sustainability standards are more common than ever, many businesses still view going green as a daunting, costly effort. Google Cloud’s latest Sustainability Survey reflects this contradiction. Though 96% of surveyed organizations say they have at […]
Nearly 60% of employees received some form of return-to-office (RTO) mandate in 2023, with the percentage of fully remote employees dropping to 33% last year (from 44% in 2022). Yet, more than half (54%) of employees surveyed in the Appspace 2024 Workplace Experience Trends & Insights Report agree that going to the office “feels like a waste […]
On April 12, the Biden administration finalized congressionally mandated energy efficiency standards for the most common residential and commercial lightbulbs. The standards will go into effect in July 2028 for newly produced bulbs. Over 30 years, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) projects the standards will save Americans more than $27 billion on their utility bills […]
Smart technology has been on the rise in recent years. Data collected by Google shows that 61% of people now own a smart device like a virtual assistant, smartwatch, or smart TV. The trend towards increased smart-tech adoption applies to businesses, too. Google data shows that industry leaders are 1.5 times as likely to utilize […]