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FMJ Articles
The FMJ is written specifically for professionals concerned with developing and maintaining productive workplaces. To view more recent articles on sustainability-related topics, please log in to the FMJ Online: http://www.fmjonline.com/
Green-lighting Your Environmental Strategy
So you've decided to go green. Good choice, because with 80 percent of corporate America expecting to engage in green at least 16 percent of the time by next year, it's a safe bet that your peers and competitors are either doing likewise or about to. And considering the scrutiny real estate companies receive from investors, building occupants, lawmakers and consumers—not to mention the US$24 billion price tag on annual commercial real estate energy consumption—it makes sense to incorporate eco-friendliness as a core business strategy element. The idea ties environmental consciousness to such bottom-line concerns as tenant attraction and retention, compliance, tracking, and reporting.
Sustainability 101: Ask the Experts
Besides implementing sustainable operations and maintenance in my building, what can I do as a facility manager to assure sustainability is part of my company’s core mission? New green products are filling the marketplace but how can I be sure they are actually sustainable? I’m starting a green project and need to know where to look to find green products for my building.
Product Stewardship
Organizations such as GreenSeal®, EcoLogo™ and others often praise the jansan industry for how thoroughly it has embraced green cleaning and the use of environmentally preferable cleaning products. Although there was resistance for many years—often due to the confusion about what is and is not green—the parameters and criteria have been defined more clearly. This helps manufacturers develop healthy and environmentally responsible cleaning products.
In the Green
Brazil is attentive to the movements and changes within the corporate world. Boosted by globalization, the presence of multinational companies and international interaction play integral parts in today’s Brazilian business arena.
To Improve IAQ—Look No Further than Your Feet
There is no doubt that facility managers wear many hats. Whether putting out fires, managing budgets, developing new programs, meeting with vendors or reading up on the latest sustainable practices, the schedule of a facility manager is a full one.
The Response to Rising Energy Costs
In 2007, Johnson Controls sponsored ground-breaking research to get a broad view of how businesses and other organizations were responding to rising energy prices—were they changing their operations, placing more importance on energy efficiency, embracing energy management strategies?
The Green Office Move
Global warming and the environment continue to be the pre-eminent buzzwords of the new millennium. The importance of proper stewardship for planet Earth is understood and nurtured by the youngest child to the most elderly senior citizen.
The Carbon Footprint: A Step in the Wrong Direction
As we seek ways to reduce our overall ecological imprint, the single measure of a carbon footprint is the factor generating news, Web commentary and organizations around climate change. Industrial growth in Asia coupled with the implementation of the Phase One Kyoto Protocol reductions will continue to draw attention to this key environmental impact.
Sustainability 101: Ask the Experts
What kinds of options exist for using renewable resources in a facility? There are so many certifications and seals on green products. How do I know which ones to trust? What kind of tax incentives are available for green buildings?
Socially Responsible Investing
In recent months, there seems to be an explosion of social responsibility and environmental consciousness. There is an increased awareness that our actions, especially our purchasing choices, can help solve present and future ecological problems. Companies have responded to the demand, expanding markets and offering products that meet the green wave.
In the Green
Thanks to all of the IFMA members who participated in the second annual Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Indicator research study. This groundbreaking online survey provides key insights into the decision-making process of facility executives across North America (see related article on page 14). This year’s research uncovers a couple of trends that I think are timely and worth discussing in more detail.
How to Develop a Renewable Energy Strategy
Carbon’s environmental footprint is having a profound impact on the way companies conduct business. Not only are business owners faced with paying higher taxes and increasing energy and commodity prices, but regulatory agencies, investors and customers are also influencing their business and environmental management decisions.
Growing Your Roof with the Right Ingredients
In the few warm and humid states where they grow, palm trees are considered a prized, highly valued plant. Large, older specimens are in great demand and often command a premium price. Where they grow naturally, palm trees are often removed from existing landscape sites or from a commercial nursery field, transported and replanted at another site—creating an instant mature landscape.
Go Gold and Save Green
The pressure is on. Corporate executives are pushing for green alternatives, keen public awareness is reaching a threshold, and while your facility may certainly be doing its part to reduce its carbon footprint, your main objective is resolute—to improve efficiency and reduce expenses. Is it possible to merge the two initiatives into a winning strategy that will reduce expenses and promote environmental stewardship?
Educating FMs about Concrete Recycling
For many facility managers, it is becoming increasingly important to find cost effective yet environmentally friendly ways of developing buildings. Many may not be aware of alternative building products, such as recycled concrete, that are readily available in the marketplace and fill a much needed void in today’s construction fields.
Does Your Landlord Create a Sustainable Space?
When window shopping, we look at items out of our price range, thinking about possibilities. We fantasize about what we could do with this or that. Then we go back to business as usual, what if scenarios relegated to wishful thinking. If what we want stops being a luxury, and through external pressures becomes a necessity, we always seem to find a way to achieve what was once deemed unattainable. It is a tribute to our capability and resourcefulness that nothing is out of reach. Once we set our minds to it, any window can be opened.
Designing with Excellence
Warehouse 7, a drab former military structure, sat on the 138-acre General Services Administration’s Auburn, Washington Campus as an underutilized relic from the distant past. One of eight virtually identical World War II-era warehouses comprising the federal government’s GSA regional complex, the structure, for all practical purposes, appeared to be at the end of its useful life. However, when GSA was faced with finding a new home for the Social Security Administration (SSA) “800”-number call center serving residents of the Pacific Time Zone, the building received a rare gift. The GSA recognized that an adaptive reuse of the existing structure represented a unique opportunity to fulfill their mandate to provide sustainable government buildings, while giving taxpayers added value by transforming a minimally used federal asset into first-class, contemporary office space.
City Trees and Property Values
Urban nature in all its forms—urban forests, parks, greenbelts—provides a range of benefits and services to society, most of which are not readily bought and sold. Economists calculate the use value of nature and ecosystems when tangible goods can be exchanged at market prices, such as timber or fisheries products. Non-use values set up a more complex economic puzzle. How do you estimate values for the many indirect, intangible services and functions that urban nature provides, such as beauty, ecosystem services and psychological benefits?
Breezing Through the Energy Battle
A recent research study has confirmed what some energy-savvy retailers and commercial building owners have known for some time—air curtains (air doors) provide a better environmental separation and save significantly more energy than vestibules.
Accelerating Sustainability
The drive toward sustainability continues unabated. Worried about energy security, unstable fuel prices and greenhouse gas emissions, a growing number of schools, universities, governments, businesses and other organizations are committed to improving their environmental and social performance along with their financial results—their triple bottom lines.
A Global Effort to Address Climate Change
Hybrid vehicles. Biofuels. Solar-powered cars. While transportation often receives the most attention in regard to energy use and environmental impact, it’s not the largest conservation target. Transportation only accounts for 27 percent of the energy consumed in the United States.
Environmental Initiatives for Federal Buildings
The federal government is the largest consumer of energy in the United States, and about 30 percent of that consumption is in federal buildings. With about 1,513 federal assets in its inventory, the U.S. General Services Administration is the civilian government’s largest building owner. GSA is keeping step with the federal government’s ever-increasing efforts to conserve energy and is leading the way in many areas of building design, construction and management.
20 Ways to Go Green
Print smart: 1. Print files to a PDF document first to catch errors, instead of wasting printer ink and paper. 2. Print on both sides of the paper. This option is called duplex in most printer preferences. 3. Keep a paper recycling bin next to printers. Reusing and recycling paper is an easy habit.
Sustainability Knowledge
Browse a variety of sustainability-related content for the facility practitioner including the IFMA Foundation’s “Sustainability 'How-To' Guide Series,” recent research publications and helpful links.
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