Innehållsförteckning för Issue 1-2022 från Facility Management

Interacting virtually with objects and spaces, sharing information remotely, and tracking complex building data with simple sensors, the metaverse offers mountains of potential for facility management, property and maintenance, but first one needs to wrap one’s head around it. In Wired last year, Eric Ravenscraft wrote, “To a certain extent, talking about what ‘the metaverse’ means is a bit like having a discussion about what ‘the internet’ meant in the 1970s. “The building blocks of a new form of communication were in the process of being built, but no one could really know what the reality would look like. So while it was true, at the time, that ‘the internet’ was coming, not every idea of what that would look like was true.” In a Forbes article about the metaverse…

TOTAL FACILITIES EXPO (TFX) WHERE: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre WHEN: 10 to 12 May  totalfacilities.com.au WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY SHOW WHERE: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre WHEN: 25 and 26 May  whsshow.com.au AUSTRALIAN CLEAN ENERGY SUMMIT WHERE: ICC Sydney WHEN: 19 to 20 July cleanenergysummit.com.au ARBS (AIR CONDITIONING, REFRIGERATION AND BUILDING SERVICES) WHERE: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre WHEN: 16 to 18 August  arbs.com.au SECURITY EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE WHERE: ICC Sydney WHEN: 17 to 19 August securityexpo.com.au/exhibit/exhibit-in-2022/ AUSTRALIAN WASTE AND RECYCLING EXPO WHERE: ICC Sydney WHEN: 24 and 25 August awre.com.au ISSA CLEANING AND HYGIENE EXPO WHERE: ICC SYDNEY WHEN: 14 and 15 September issacleaninghygieneexpo.com…

In a financial presentation from December, facial recognition technology company Clearview AI told investors it could increase its database of faces to 100 billion photos – more than enough to surveil each of the world’s seven billion people. The company, whose services are currently limited to governmental buyers, mainly law enforcement agencies, also hinted at the potential of working with gig economy workers, retail and commercial real estate industries. A handful of the companies whose logos appeared in the document as possible commercial partners have since distanced themselves from Clearview, saying they have had no contact with the company and have no intention of working with it. Founder Hoan Ton-That told the Washington Post that the company logos, which include Airbnb, Uber and Tinder parent company Match Group, were “examples…

Schneider Electric’s Merten sockets and switches These home energy solutions are made of recycled ocean plastics and debuted at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. New models are made of polyamide fishing nets collected from the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. Abandoned fishing nets are recovered, collected, cut up, cleaned, extruded and inspected before sending to partner company DSM for repurposing into Akulon RePurposed compound. According to a Schneider press release, discarded fishing nets make up 10 percent of the plastic waste in our oceans, and Akulon RePurposed compound has a carbon footprint 82 percent lower than the traditional Nylon 6 used in similar products. The final material contains 15 percent glass fibres for strength. Getac ZX10 rugged tablet The new 10-inch device is built around the Android 11 operating system…

There are three basic levels of mechanical master key systems: • Inline, which is exactly like the front door lock you have at home except it is normally legally protected by a registered design. It is for typically less complex master key systems but is prone to keys being reversed engineered, locks being picked and bumped and attacked in other ways. • High Security, which provides a far higher level of protection against the security flaws of an inline system, legally protects the copy of your keys with a patent and can be used to design and build complex master key systems for larger facilities. • Maximum Security, provides the highest level of protection against attack and in many cases achieves Australian Federal Government security approvals. These systems are protected…

As Omicron’s rapid spread rendered individual testing too slow to track and control the virus, Aaron Hinz and Rees Kassen of the University of Ottowa sought new strategies for watching it. Wastewater sampling has proven a useful method of detecting the virus in the environment rather than in individuals, providing early warning signs. Hinz and Kassen’s surface testing may unlock similar information in smaller settings like rooms within schools, health facilities or workplaces. They began swabbing walls, surfaces, handrails and floors in hospital COVID-19 wards, to understand if positive samples could be compared to understand where the virus particles were more abundant. Comparing results from COVID-19 wards and non-COVID-19 wards from two hospitals over 10 weeks, they detected the virus, which was rarely found on walls and surfaces but commonly…

They’ve long been used to tackle odour, dust and germs, but now air purifiers have taken on new importance as workers and students return to physical attendance and COVID-19 cases remain steady. Over the course of the pandemic, it has become clear that good quality indoor air – when combined with physical distancing, mask wearing, and cleaning and sanitising – can play a powerful role in any sound COVID-19 risk reduction and management strategy. Air purification is especially helpful in spaces where it’s difficult or unviable to circulate natural air from outside. Your facility’s purifier needs will be influenced by your space’s size and purpose. Many additional factors, such as what exactly you want to control with it, should also be considered. Let FM clear the air; take a look…

Reports of the office’s death may have been greatly exaggerated, in fact The Property Council reported an increase in tenant demand for office space in Australia’s CBDs in the six months to January 2022. But how tenants use office space, and how often, is still shifting. In theory, people can now work flexibly, avoid commutes, and balance work and personal life – but in practice it’s cutting both ways. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, Bobbi Thomason and Jennifer Franczak summed up the present conundrum as having three tension points to manage between: • allowing workers to work when they want and expecting them to be available all the time • employees feeling isolated and feeling invaded by communication technology, and • what is made possible by hybrid work…