The editors of The McMorrow Reports & FMLink are always reading about emerging trends in workplace planning and built environments that enable work to flow in a purpose-built space or in the cloud where many teams meet. We are following workplace experts’ wisdom on return to the office, hybrid working, facility management expectations, work culture, and practices in terms of real estate and space usage, planning, corporate culture, and engagement.
Here are links to several articles we think are worthy as workplace professionals respond to the expectations of leadership, collaborators, and fellow workers in built environments:
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Companies everywhere are in the midst of a global workplace transformation. Facility managers and leadership teams are working overtime to ensure they are creating a workplace that is supportive of all their employees and their newly flexible workplace preferences. For some, this means redesigning the office to increase accessibility across the board. For others, they are taking this moment in time as an opportunity to refocus their sustainability initiatives. Meanwhile, everyone is investing in smart office technology to ease transitions in and out of the office for hybrid employees, and make flexible work possible.
Regardless of how your office is transforming, leveraging spatial intelligence allows facility managers and business leaders to make workplace transformation decisions based on employee behavior patterns and preferences. These insights coupled with facility management tools enable CRE leaders to optimize their workplaces.
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The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and U.S. airports have launched an Airport Climate Challenge to help achieve the Biden-Harris Administration goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Airports can take advantage of several FAA funding programs to meet this goal, including grants for low- or zero-emissions vehicles, renewable energy production, energy assessments and other efforts. The challenge is one of a number of initiatives underway to meet the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of a net-zero aviation system by 2050.
Airports Council International-North America and Airport Consultants Council will continue to support airports using FAA programs and funding.
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We spend roughly 90% of our lives indoors, and the past few years have highlighted how our well-being is directly affected by our physical surroundings. Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) consists of several key factors: air, sound, light, temperature, and more. Making sure we have healthy air, impactful acoustics, sufficient lighting and thermal comfort are essential to health and well-being in spaces where we live, work, learn, heal and play. Explore how you can create a space with outstanding IEQ, starting at the ceiling, when you choose sustainable, healthy building solutions.
AIR - Enjoy clean and fresh, instead of stale and contaminated.
SOUND - Appreciate calm and soothing, instead of loud and distracting.
LIGHT - Bask in ideal and natural light, instead of too bright or too dim.
TEMPERATURE - Thrive in stable, thermal comfort instead of temperature swings.
SUSTAINABILITY - Utilize red-list free, responsible solutions instead of products with chemicals and VOCs.
DESIGN - Experience inspiring, integrated, smart design instead of disjointed and boring.
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The strong appetite for data, fueled by continued growth in cloud computing and social media, and the emergence of new technologies such as 5G and autonomous vehicles, is driving increased investor interest in data centers, according to a CBRE survey.
Ninety-five percent of survey respondents, which include many of the world’s largest institutional real estate investors, plan to increase their capital deployment in the global data center sector in 2022. Capital allocated to the sector continues to expand with more than three-quarters of investors allocating over $100 million of equity to the global data center sector for 2022 and nearly half allocating over $300 million.
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Initiated in 2008 by Global FM and earning renewed exposure due to the pandemic, World FM Day aims to recognize the vital work that facility management professionals contribute to business, healthcare and educational institutions worldwide. Further, the day raises the profile of the FM profession due to its influence on the health, safety, productivity, and well-being of people who use the built environment. During the pandemic, FM teams are at the forefront in making environments and digital platforms available to meet unanticipated demands and have been important in keeping many sectors operating. With a renewed emphasis being placed on human health and safety, coupled with building sustainability and resilience, the FM is thrust into the center of the “Return To” conversation.
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NeoCon 2022 is expecting to host a large number of facilities managers, college and university planners, and other workplace professionals as they investigate resources for transforming their offices to meet worker expectations and learning environments that respond to teachers and students following the pandemic. From June 13-15, NeoCon will offer daily on-site keynotes and special programs as well as 47 virtual CEU-accredited programs from leading industry experts from a wide cross-section of fields. The sessions will span eight program tracks: Workplace, Healthcare, Education, Facilities, Wellness, Sustainability, Design Skills, and Industry Direction and delve into the topics that are making an impact on the design industry.
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Embrace the evolution of today’s active environments with Darby. This petite, single-user table moves freely as dynamic spaces shift from individualized focus to group connections and more.
Darby’s unified design intuitively supports the nimble, human-centric needs of engaging workstyles. Two locking and two non-locking casters provide mobility to move around the office or classroom, while the pneumatic height-assist mechanism accommodates preferences to sit or stand. Further encouraging wellness, the ergonomic top promotes proper posture by optimizing reach and maximizing the worksurface.
Practical elements reinforce Darby’s efficiency and flexibility. Wherever Darby takes you, keep supplies at hand with a book tray and retractable cupholder. Radius PVC corners cushion inevitable impacts, taking care of the table and its surroundings.
Enjoy freedom and flexibility with Darby. For more information about Darby, visit Versteel.
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How do you generate and develop new product ideas?
Tinkler: One example is HON’s Cliq task chair, which launched this year. Our product marketing team identified the need for a simple and intuitive chair, one that could be paired cohesively with any product in the office. The focus was on simplicity and comfort for quick meetings and touch-downs; our team saw chairs in workspaces that hadn’t changed position since they were taken out of the box, a sign that some chairs weren’t user-friendly and perhaps too complex. From that research, Cliq was born—and it’s helped people do better work and collaborate safely during uncertain times.
With Cliq, chair height is the only adjustment the user makes. After that, the chair is very intuitive—it responds to body movement, which creates an ideal seating solution for short-duration spaces. Cliq doesn’t just check the comfort box. With modern, streamlined aesthetics and a clean linear back and arms, the chair is sleek and stylish. Plus, Cliq delivers on adaptability and aesthetics. It’s a win/win.
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by Amy Milshtein (Article originally published on fnPrime) — As Covid-19 restrictions ease, more and more people will return to your facilities. Will your cleaning protocols be ready? For over a year, the pandemic turned a bright light on the importance of cleaning and disinfecting surfaces for health. Facility managers answered with amped up cleaning schedules designed to help curb the spread of Covid-19.
Enhanced cleaning goes a long way in easing anxious minds of building tenants.
Employees, occupants and guests remain cautious about their safety and the cleanliness of the enclosed spaces they visit. BusinessWire reports on a recent survey that found that 73 percent of all employees say their workplace should be cleaned daily. The survey also found a rising number of employees want to see daily cleaning and disinfecting. Pre-pandemic, only about half of commercial offices were cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces on a daily basis, according to the CleanLink “Cleaning Costs and Frequencies Report.”
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