May/June 2022 • volume 38, number 3

The Productive, Smart Buildings Initiative

Why Productive, Smart Buildings?

By Lalit Agarwal, CEFP, Adam Gogolski, Rob Murchison, and Jacob Olson

Why Productive, Smart Buildings? With the rising cost of energy and the push to decarbonize, a facilities manager is faced with a complex trilemma: to reduce operational costs, improve operational effectiveness, and maximize the occupant experience all at the same time! In many situations, financial pressures prioritize the reduction in both capital and operational costs […]

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Why Productive, Smart Buildings?

By Lalit Agarwal, CEFP, Adam Gogolski, Rob Murchison, and Jacob Olson

Did you know that Americans spend more time inside buildings than some whale species spend underwater? In fact, humans spend 90% of their time inside buildings. Taking this into consideration, who is more important to the well-being of our employees, students, visitors, and faculty—their primary physician or their facilities manager? As we adapt to the […]

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Productive, Smart Buildings: Pilot Program Results

By Lalit Agarwal, CEFP, Adam Gogolski, Rob Murchison, and Jacob Olson

APPA’s Productive, Smart Buildings (PSB) initiative has taken on the challenge to assist facilities managers to leverage smart technologies to continuously monitor, measure, and improve the built environment to improve the productivity of its occupants. PSB is a free self-assessment decision-making framework to optimize human productivity by investing in the built environment and smart technologies. […]

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Collaborative Learning through Customized Assessments

By Donald J. Guckert, P.E., APPA Fellow

Collaborative learning with peers has proven to be one of the most effective means of learning and discovery. As engaged facilities and business practitioners, we have used the relationships we have built through APPA and its regions to seek advice and guidance on the common ground issues and challenges we share. Whether your organization is […]

From the Editor May/Jun 2022

By Steve Glazner

Facilities Digest May/Jun 2022

By compiled by Anita Dosik

The Bookshelf: May/Jun 2022

By Theodore J. Weidner, Ph.D., P.E., RA, NCARB, DBIA, CEFP

New Products May/Jun 2022

By Gerry Van Treeck

Membership Matters

The Five Ts of Building and Maintaining Productive Remote Relationships

By Mallica D. Reynolds, M.S., LMFT, CEFP

Being far from the embrace of your spouse and children is a great hardship. Yet this is a familiar feeling for those of us who travel for work. You must cover your work responsibilities while longing to be home with your family. You quickly dream up a myriad of ways to reduce your time on […]

Perspective on the Profession

A Few Words Go a Long Way

By Excerpted from "10 Phrases Leaders Use to Build Trust with Team Members" by FranklinCovey

Building a culture of trust starts with a shared vocabulary of simple—yet powerful—phrases that leaders use to say thanks, show empathy, and provide support. Relationships of trust are rooted in understanding. Leaders who engage team members with compassion and gratitude encourage them to mutually invest in the teams and the clients they collectively serve. When […]

Code Talkers

Fire, Life Safety, and Emergency Code Updates

By Richard Roberts

Change is the only constant when it comes to updates to the various codes, standards, legislation and research activities relating to fire, life safety and emergency communications systems. The intent is to continually enhance the safety of emergency responders and the public. While not all state and local jurisdictions adopt these codes and standards, it […]

Facility Asset Management

Funding Sustainability Initiatives: A Reflection on Pandemic-Era Financing Innovation

By Wayne Johnson

Nowadays, we seem to be living in two worlds, caught between a longing for prepandemic culture and the wish for a different tomorrow. We are in a very similar situation regarding energy and sustainability in education. We celebrate our successes from the Y2K era while acknowledging the need for a paradigm shift that refocuses our […]

Technology + Trends

Risk Considerations for Smart Campus Planning

By Ernie Beck, CTS-D, WELL AP

As today’s campus planners consider the student experience of the future, many of them are looking to create “smarter” campuses that promote connectivity, health and wellness, and sustainability. This trend is similar to what organizations are seeing with the return of employees to the office; every campus now has a mandate from students to provide […]

Power Tools

Finding the Sweet Spot for University Energy Efficiency and Procurement

By Azi Feifel

Universities are known for “enlightening” students. But to do so, they must literally keep the lights on. All facilities must decide how to best use and purchase electricity, natural gas, and other energy sources for powering their operations. These decisions are particularly complex for educational institutions with high—and varied—demand for lighting, heating, cooling, and technology. […]