Table of contents for February - March 2016 in Facility Management

This is my last issue as editor of Facility Management; it has been a great experience and I do hope you’ve enjoyed the changes introduced. I’ll still be around in some form or other, and you’ll likely see me pop up in a feature or two down the line. Ben Creagh takes over as editor and you’ll get to meet him in the next issue. Here, we have lined up powerful thought leaders to expand the debate on sustainability and ask the question: if sustainability is a trend and its merits demonstrable, why are there so few projects with a strong sustainability focus? In our content partnership program, Schindler Lifts explains why safety for the company is a number one priority, detailing the CPSI program that is unique to Schindler…

Rubbermaid’s Slim Jim offers hands-free waste disposal The newest addition to Rubbermaid Commercial Products’ hands-free waste management portfolio, the Slim Jim Step-On is designed to satisfy the diverse needs of any facility, maximising space efficiency with a 20 percent smaller footprint and a slim profile ensuring a perfect fit in even the tightest spaces. Enhancing worker and patron satisfaction and well-being, the hands-free Slim Jim Step-On container features a built-in lid dampener that ensures a quiet and controlled lid closer that minimises noise, allowing patients and patrons to be undisturbed. The lid’s hinge is located inside the container, which prevents wall damage compared to traditional receptacles. rubbermaidcommercial.com.au/products/waste-management/slim-jim-step-on Slimline Aqualean from Lennox The new energy efficient Aqualean water-cooled air-conditioner is suited to shopping areas, hotel rooms and open-plan or cellular offices,…

Education is Australia’s fourth largest export, an industry in excess of $15 billion. The bulk of this relates to higher education and international higher education. It is Victoria’s top export and New South Wales’ second top export with overseas students making up more than 20 percent of the total student population in Australian universities. What draws overseas students to choose Australia? Advertising and marketing campaigns overseas are commonplace for Australian higher education institutions and universities with college accommodation are often at an advantage in attracting students, as it is a high-ranking factor in their decision-making process. Student accommodation today consists of a very diverse estate. In larger cities, some students may opt to live in shared house accommodation, or lease private student accommodation. But, for overseas students, on-site university accommodation…

Do I really need to fix this?’ A thought that many car owners have had when given a list of repairs required in order to get a roadworthy certificate. It’s not the best news one can get, but we bite the bullet and do what’s necessary because, if not, lives could be at risk. Lifts are a form of mass transport, yet, by legislation, safety checks are not mandatory. Schindler Lifts has made safety its priority, refusing to compromise on this aspect with its global safety program known as Confirmation of Periodic Safety Inspections (CPSI) ensuring that 100 percent of its maintained passenger lifts are certified as safe, every year. Since its launch in 2007, a CPSI has been carried out on all Schindler lifts on a yearly basis by…

Stress is a common word used in society today, but what exactly is stress and what effect does it have on our daily well-being and longevity? The truth is that stress has many different facets - different ‘emotions’ and ‘faces’ – and, thus, stress affects our daily well-being in more ways than we are conscious of. Stress also has automated pathways in the body. The body has what we call an autonomic nervous system, this means that this system runs automatically. The autonomic nervous system is a part of our peripheral nervous system and has two parts - the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for our ‘fight or flight’ response and the parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for our ‘rest and…

DEFINITIONS BUILDING AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Web-based maintenance management applications. BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING (BIM) SOFTWARE BIM is the process of generating and managing building data. COMPUTERISED MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CMMS) Used to monitor equipment performance and enhance the efficiency of maintenance operations. ENTERPRISE ASSET MANAGEMENT (EAM) SYSTEM Enables holistic control and optimisation of enterprise assets. ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP) SOFTWARE Manages business processes and automates back office functions. INTEGRATED WORKPLACE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (IWMS) Solutions that span the life cycle of facilities asset management. PROCUREMENT SOFTWARE SOLUTION Automates the purchasing and inventory processes. Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS) FM Innovations www.fminnovations.com.au 03 9600 1646 FM Innovations (FMI) is the only Australian owned software company to take your FM and property management objectives and tailor a software system that measurably helps you…

A Facility Management Content Partner is an organisation with which we’ve entered into a partnership to collaborate on content for the magazine. In this issue, thought leaders from respective organisations are: ASSA ABLOY’S ANDREW EVANS Andrew Evans is national sales manager – Access Control and has almost 10 years’ experience in the security management and access control market. He is wellversed in the capabilities of cutting edge wireless security such as Aperio – developed to complement new and existing access control systems. ISS AUSTRALIA’S MURRAY SLATTER Murray Slatter has 15 and 21 years’ experience, respectively, directing and managing complex, multidisciplinary projects for a broad range of properties both locally and internationally. His experience has leveraged his executive management, construction, engineering and technical skill sets to deliver complex projects in seven…

Project management (PM) is complex and can involve highly technical know-how, but at its very heart, it is a service delivered to the customer. Thus, the service level delivered – encompassing customer happiness, risk management and cost management – is a key performance indicator for successfully managed projects. Using a specific asset as an example, an HVAC (heating, ventilation and airconditioning) system in a commercial property at the end of its life will require action on part of the property owner/customer. He has two options: approach an HVAC specialist who possesses the technical skills of ‘what’ is needed and ‘how’ to install it, or work with a project management provider who will evaluate his needs, taking into account the ‘softer’ aspects of asset replacement and the impact it will have…

The Global Economic Crisis of 2008 had a serious impact on the security industry. Although the advanced technology that was non-existent at the turn of the century had now become available for purchasers, the fragile state of world financial markets made corporate leaders hesitant to actually invest in it. Buyers found themselves with a new pressure – that of justifying security purchases in terms of return on security investment (ROSI). To make things more difficult, traditional calculations used to measure ROSI were complex and cumbersome, due to the many ‘soft figures’ included in them. As executives tried to navigate the new requirement for ROSI, they began to consider viewing security management solutions in three categories, each of which provide incrementally more tangible return on investment (ROI): ● effective security ●…

An interesting anomaly about government funding is that, on the one hand, it is such an attractive source of cash, but on the other hand the majority of eligible companies either don’t know it exists or don’t know how to access it. If I were to simplify government grants I would explain them in two points: ● The first being innovation and the second being assistance for bringing foreign revenue to Australia. ● The benefit involved in attaining government funding can be quite large and at times could amount to between 40 and 50 percent of funds spent on innovation or marketing in foreign markets. The beginning of assessing innovation is quite simple. Ask yourself the following question: are you doing something different that you believe your competitors aren’t doing…

Disruptive business models are dominating the headlines in business, financial and social media. But commercial property thinking appears, in many cases, to be stuck in thinking from a prior era. There is significant tenant demand-side uncertainty, with many businesses unsure what their business offerings and ‘go-to-market’ strategies may look like in 18 months. At the same time, however, there appears to be property supply-side complacency with most owners believing that long leases, mediocre levels of building services and landlord slanted lease agreements will prevail into the future. Over the next few years, new competitive commercial accommodation offerings challenging the current business models of the traditional landlords will emerge from unexpected quarters offering new and disruptive service models. These offerings will shake the foundations of the underlying value in landlord businesses…

Brookfield Multiplex to deliver $307 million St George Hospital Redevelopment Global contractor Brookfield Multiplex has been appointed to construct the $307 million St George Hospital redevelopment at Gray Street, Kogarah. Health Infrastructure announced that Brookfield Multiplex won the competitive tender to build the hospital, having completed an Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) contract to carry out design documentation and prepare the site for main works construction. David Ghannoum, regional managing director NSW at Brookfield Multiplex, says the St George Hospital project is a welcome addition to its extensive experience in hospital construction. “We are delighted to be delivering another project for NSW Health Infrastructure. We completed the Royal North Shore Hospital’s Clinical Services Building last year, as well as the South East Regional Hospital in Bega just recently, and are working…

It is not often that I attend a conference and come across something new, but last August I was presenting at an aged care procurement conference and sat in on the preceding presentation. The presentation’s topic was not only an eye-opener, it also made me think about its wider implications on facilities management and the design of buildings in the future. I had never come across the term ‘LGBTI’ before and some of the information presented challenged my perspective on the diverse nature of the people that potentially constitute the workforce. The acronym LGBTI collectively represents the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex members of our community. It is evident from subsequently researching this topic that significant discrimination exists in the workplace, even though, from 1 August 2013, the Sex…

● A project feasibility study was established by the customer to identify the general air-conditioning system health after a component failure. ● Initial estimates from the HVAC contractor set the project value at $3 million. ● ISS was introduced and conducted a strategic value engineering process to establish the assets: • fit for purpose nature of existing asset • end of life assessment • concept design for plausible replacements, and • implementation study for execution costs. ● ISS put forward a strategic execution plan founded on its Managing Risk and Life Long Risk within assets facilities management and: • was engaged on a project that reduced the capital spend to $2 million • provided a fully compliant design to Australian standards prior to execution • competitively tendered the solution to…

Closing the ROI gap or monetising security Over time, using security as a business enabler will become more prevalent, especially in terms of applying security technology to improve business processes in industry segments ranging from manufacturing to healthcare to education. Security then transitions from being viewed as a ‘cost centre’ to being seen as a ‘profit centre’. Scalability Security management solutions must be an essential part of adaptable, smart, comfortable, efficient and safe facilities. Integrated security management makes it possible to have a common control platform that enables operators to be more efficient and exceed today’s needs. Integration Security command centres rely upon multiple applications to secure a facility. Each application – from access control and video surveillance to intrusion detection, voice intercom or biometric enrolment – typically has its…

The workplace is changing. It is becoming increasingly activity-based and more open plan, with desk to employee ratios dropping below 1:1 and shifting towards 1:1.4 in typical workplace layouts. There is now a focus on creating collaborative spaces to break down silos and engineer ‘serendipitous encounters’ that are widely recognised as fundamental to business success. Office space leasing is also a material portion of a company’s fixed costs, so maximising the utility of this space is important. The lighting industry has also undergone a major transformation in the past 20 years. The first transformation, beginning in the late ’90s, introduced energy-efficient highbrightness LEDs (light emitting diodes) into the workplace. The second transformation, which is unfolding now, builds on the digital nature of LED technology to bring illumination and IT together,…