Facilities Management articles for the week of 9/15/2019 - 9/21/2019

3 Plastic Piping Options Offer Cost Savings, Flexibility

For decades, copper and galvanized pipe were the dominant piping materials in commercial and institutional buildings.

Read This » Avoiding Winter Equipment Woes

As summer winds down and fall settles in, it is time for grounds departments to get ready.

Read This » Water Watch: Strategies for Conservation

How widespread are water leaks in institutional and commercial facilities? The WaterSense program estimates that on average, leaks account for more than 6 percent of a facility’s total water use.

Read This » How to Implement New Technologies Into Emergency Communication

With all the advances in emergency communication systems, technologies, and appliances, facility managers may find it challenging to understand the new options and how they could affect the operation of their system.

Read This » What Should Be Included In a Networked Lighting Controls System?

A networked lighting control system consists of dimmable drivers or ballasts, accessory devices such as sensors and manual overrides, power controllers (which may be the driver or ballast), and supporting hardware and software used for system programming, communications, and data storage.

Read This » Understanding 3 Common Roofing Problems

A well-designed roof of any system type will effectively repel water and other weather elements, but problems certainly do occur, especially as time goes by.

Read This » Surface Issues: Matching Paints and Substrates

Most institutional and commercial facilities feature an array of painted surfaces that require regular attention in order to create positive impressions among building occupants and visitors.

Read This » Roof Inspections and Extended Performance Life

For most building occupants, the roof of their building is out of sight and, therefore, out of mind.

Read This » How to Specify High-Tech Boilers to Get What You Want

There is a lot of excitement and buzz around new smart HVAC technologies, but building owners making the decision to go all-in with B-IoT or a traditional BAS should take the time to clearly define goals, objectives, and expectations, put together a legitimate business case, and come up with a realistic budget.

Read This » As Cybercrime Increases, More Resources Arrive to Fight It

As technology was evolving exponentially in the 21st century, cybercrime also exploded.  “At the same time as we were seeing all this progress in building automation, we also were seeing the emergence of computer viruses and malware,” points out Alan Bronikowski, engineering fellow and team leader of core platforms at Johnson Controls.

Read This » How to Design for Better Patient Control with Wearable Technology

It’s no secret that many healthcare environments are intimidating and disorienting, and patients often feel powerless, so designers are exploring ways to give patients more control over their environments, not unlike a hotel guest room.

Read This » Sustainable Snow and Ice Strategies

The concept of sustainability is starting to rewrite the rules for keeping exterior surfaces around institutional and commercial facilities free of snow and ice.

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