Published 2010

Flu Preparedness and Business Continuity Plans Combats the Spread of the H1N1 Virus
The UGL Unicco Flu Preparedness and Business Continuity Plan is a comprehensive set of procedures and cleaning services that are designed to help ensure the health and safety of customers’ personnel, the public and UGL Unicco employees during flu events, up to and including pandemic events. more...

Facilities Managers Still Tackle the Temperature Wars
IFMA’s new survey reveals the ongoing importance of the thermal comfort of workers in the workplace. For many years, the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) has conducted surveys of its facility management members to find out the top office complaints among employees. more...

Green Jobs expand, says report
A landmark study on the impact of an emerging global "green economy" on the world of work says efforts to tackle climate change could result in the creation of millions of new "green jobs" in the coming decades. more...

Published 2009

Empire State Building Begins $500M Energy Retrofit
The Empire State Building, one of the world’s most famous office buildings, is undertaking a more than $500 million upgrade program to incorporate comprehensive project with goal to reduce energy use by nearly 40%.  more...

Energy Audits on the Rise
WASHINGTON, D.C. — According to a survey by FMLink, the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International, U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Association for Facility Engineers (AFE), more and more facility managers are implementing re-commissioning and energy audits to measure and improve their building’s energy performance. more...

Green Building is the Economy’s Bright Spot
WASHINGTON, D.C.—New studies and reports point to green building as one of the growing bright spots for the U.S. economy. In fact, as economic experts call for a recovery plan focused on green jobs and infrastructure, as consumers look to live in more economically sustainable homes, as businesses strive to cut operating costs, and as our national security needs depend on an end to reliance on foreign energy sources, green buildings’ ability to deliver solutions to these pressing challenges promises to change the way we view the building industry. more...

Cleaning Product Standard Defines the Leaders
Washington, D.C.—Green Seal, a 3rd-party certifier of green products and services, has revised and re-launched its standard that takes environmental stewardship and the protection of human health to a new level due to increased concerns about the impact of chemicals on health, particularly our children’s health, and the environment. Green Seal first published its standard for institutional cleaning products—GS-37—in October 2000.

Green Seal Partnership Addresses Facilities Maintenance
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The introduction of Green Seal’s GS-42 Environmental Standard for Cleaning Services in 2006 ushered in a new era of understanding; laying out the requirements necessary for cleaning service providers (CSPs) to become Green Seal certified; CSPs attaining GS-42 certification are the vanguard of their profession, and demonstrate a greater understanding of the concept of “green” facilities maintenance operations.

Economics Drives Sustainability in Existing Buildings
by Christopher P. Hodges - If you've been watching the political landscape lately, you can't help but notice the sea-change in American politics. Rather than debating climate change and what we can do about it, the presidential candidates' platforms are narrowly focused on energy conservation, alternative energy exploration, and yes, even a reduction in our dependence on fossil fuels. The next few months will show if these stated initiatives will truly set the agenda for the coming years, or whether they are but a means to a political end. 

University of Maryland, Baltimore Reaps Energy Conservation Awards
by Beth Leibson  - A series of official agreements, coupled with a long-term commitment to energy conservation, planted the seeds on the greening initiative at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). And now the facilities managers at UMB are reaping the results of their efforts: Energy load across the campus’s 62 buildings has fallen by 20 million kWh in two years. And hopefully, there are more savings to come. 

Green Metrics for Facilities Managers 
by Fred Klammt - When it comes to the built environment, there are many measurements to assess how green a building is.  And measuring the green-ness of buildings is critical—our built environments are responsible for half of our emissions and consume about 76 percent of our electrical supply, according to Architecture 2030.
GHG (Greenhouse Gases) regulation is coming, and sooner or later, this regulation will affect every single existing or new building.

How Going Green Means $aving Green
by Scott H. Lawson - In recent years, there has been substantial growth in environmental awareness in a wide variety of industries. Green technology, green buildings and green products have entered the thoughts and lexicons of professionals world-wide. Major car manufacturers like Toyota, Honda, Lexus, Nissan and Ford constantly strive to maintain a competitive edge in the rapidly growing green automobile market. Even the Nobel Prize for Peace was granted, not to someone negotiating a treaty between warring nations, but to people working to make peace between industry and the environment. 

Published 2008

Power Predictions
Regular-grade gasoline prices should peak at a national average of $4.15 a gallon in August, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The average price for the ear is expected to be $3.78 a gallon for 2008, or 97 cents more than the 2007 average price

It’s All Happening at the Zoo
by Beth Leibson - When you try to envision New York City’s first LEED-certified Gold-landmarked building, you probably picture Manhattan institutions such as the New York Public Library or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But actually, in the greening of this city of skyscrapers and subways, of cultural icons and financial powerhouses, it is the lions who are leading the way. And you can see it for yourself, starting mid-June.

Whole Systems Green Cleaning
by Fred Klammt - Most green cleaning programs focus on using less toxic cleaning chemicals. While using greener cleaning products contributes to a healthier and greener workplace environment, facilities managers can do so much more.

Climate Change Goes International
by The Climate Group - Climate change shot to the top of global agenda in 2007, according to The Climate Group. In the business and political realms, talk no longer centerd upon questions of whether to address climate change, but finally turned to how.

Booknotes: The ABCs of Going Green
This slim (218 pages) paperback addresses environmental site planning, energy-efficient building design, water conservation, carbon dioxide emission reduction, use of recycled and locally sourced materials, and healthy buildings in language that is clear, concise, and highly informative.

Sustainable Facility Management is the Next Wave
Even for those remaining skeptics, there is little argument that we can produce buildings and design workplaces that are energy efficient while minimizing their impact on the environment. What was once considered innovative, progressive design has become mainstream. The design community deserves credit for changing the landscape of building construction and introducing us to environmentally friendly facilities.

Walk-Off Mats are Green & Contribute to Building Safety
by Amy Streeton - Being green encompasses a myriad of considerations—costs, the health and well-being of building occupants and visitors, and environmental impacts related to product selection and maintenance. Decisions you make on a daily basis can contribute to a greener work environment.

Federal Agencies Cut Energy Costs
The White House honored five energy management teams from the U.S. Departments of Energy, Defense, Homeland Security, Interior, Justice, and the Environmental Protection Agency for their dedication and leadership in the prudent management of energy use in their facilities and operations.

A Sustainable Future is Promised by Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh
by Beth Leibson - As one of the 10 best pediatric hospitals in the country, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Children’s Hospital had a reputation to keep up. And it had a leadership mandate to go green, according to Eric Hess, assistant to the CEO. But, more immediately, it had an overcrowded and outdated facility to revamp.