Cities globally are at an inflection point, navigating structural changes to how people live and work due to the pandemic. JLL’s new The Future of the Central Business District report explores how city centers are adapting to these changes and how the public and private sector can collaborate to help central districts remain relevant for residents, visitors, businesses and investment.
Traditional central business districts (CBDs) have the opportunity to reinvent themselves in an environment of shifting demand for office space, more variable commuting and travel patterns, and a desire for “experience-based” spaces. While these have been global challenges, North America has faced the most intense adjustment, as return-to-office levels typically range between 45% and 65%, lower than the 65%-85% in Europe and 70%-100% in Asia-Pacific (see graphic). Looking ahead, there is great capacity for value creation in these city centers, due to comparative advantages in infrastructure, accessibility, stock of underused real estate and the ability to scale growth, all of which underscore their resilience.
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Don’t know what you don’t know about getting EV for your facility? Download ABM's expert EV ebook to learn more about the company's unique approach to creating custom EV solutions that drive up occupant satisfaction and get you closer to your sustainability goals. With over a decade of experience — and more than 26,000 charging ports installed — ABM is the leading commercial installer of EV chargers in the U.S.
What’s the easiest road to EV success for my facility? Answer: ABM solutions make EV charging infrastructure a key feature of your facility. And you get all of the power — with none of the hassle.
The journey to broad EV adoption in the U.S.
According to ABM's EV ebook, the number of electric vehicles on American roads is increasing daily — and it’s elevating the nationwide demand for more public and private EV charging stations. Expert forecasts estimate that by 2030, 28 million EVs will enter the American auto market. Meanwhile, the EPA has announced expected new emissions rules that will result in EVs attaining a roughly 60% market share of all vehicles by the same year. To power those, the U.S. will need 700,000 Level-2 chargers and 70,000 Level-3 chargers. That’s an 8-fold increase in the country’s EV charging infrastructure. In just 7 years.
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Building and retaining the FM workforce, the value of FM training, addressing the FM skills gap, and the importance of FM credentials and qualifications were among the four categories addressed in the 2023 FM Training Outlook Survey conducted by the Professional Facility Management Institute (ProFMI) and Building Operating Management (BOM) magazine. The survey identifies top FM challenges and workforce trends, determines the current need for FM training and credentials, and gauges how sentiments have shifted over time since the survey began in 2019.
Among the report's findings: Organizational growth and attrition are driving the need for more FM staff, while providing an attractive work environment and employee development programs can help attract and retain talent. FM managers see improved job performance, confidence, credibility and job satisfaction as a result to FM training, yet basic training dollars and resources are lagging behind the need.
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The Book of the Week from FMLink's new Books section hails from the Architecture category. This collection of peer-reviewed books has been curated by the editorial team at FMLink to provide facilities, engineering and A&D professionals with access to publications relating to the Architecture topic.
In The Architecture of Value, Craig Park updates his 2002 publication Design. Market. Grow! with an expanded collection of observations and lessons learned drawn from more than 40 years in the building industry. Framed as practical direction for aspiring leaders, Park shares real-world examples of how to build a professional service firm through a combination of leadership, collaboration and value — the basis for creating an enduring professional service practice.
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SGA — a national, multidisciplinary firm whose work spans architecture, interior design and master planning for major developers and corporate clients like Titletown Development, Citizens Bank, Related Beal, and Boston Properties — has released its 2023 Workplace Amenities Report. To help developers and employers identify the most desirable workforce amenities, the firm’s interior design team surveyed hundreds of employees spanning generations, locations and industries to gauge their preferences for workplace amenities across four categories: health and wellness, productivity and meeting space, daily convenience, and transportation.
With hybrid work spurring a nationwide “flight to quality” trend in commercial real estate, creating higher quality spaces and amenities that transform the workplace into a destination have become essential components of attracting employees and tenants back to the office. Overall, the results of the survey demonstrate a reflection of larger societal shifts: 1) a greater focus on personal well-being and safety; 2) interest in sustainable modes of transportation; 3) convenient places to grab food and packages; and 4) spaces that facilitate social interactions.
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In Part 1 of Eileen McMorrow’s interview with Josh Lowe, co-founder and chief solutions officer, AkitaBox, he explained how traditionally, Facility Condition Assessments (FCAs) of buildings were performed by A/E firms every five to seven years. That’s no longer acceptable. Contemporaneous data on buildings is in demand as property owners want to know how their real estate is performing or serving the needs of the business. In Part 2, below, Lowe details how new software enables the availability of up-to-the-minute data to be accessible to the facility and building management team and all the technicians who service building equipment.
What are the key barriers to implementing living FCAs and improving the lifecycle of data?
Lowe: The biggest challenge is convincing people they can do it. It does really work, but they cannot do facility assessment the old way. People think they do not want to spend time maintaining data however, it is cheaper to maintain an FCA than to do it cyclically. Status quo is the biggest issue in the industry. It is 43% less costly to maintain an FCA over 10 years.
Expand on why FMs can’t do a continuous FCA or maintain their FM data even though they want to.
Lowe: Some of the reasons are:
- Decentralized data – silos, no single source of truth;
- Hodge podge of different tools that don’t work well together – FCA uses one tool, maintenance uses another, etc. No single platform that manages all FM needs;
- Managing data too broadly – not enough granularity (not managing at the asset level); and
- Data loss/waste – data must be manually moved between tools.
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Flexibility is key these days, and facility managers are at the forefront for many organizations. Stakeholders want more flexibility when it comes to workplaces and workspaces, from hotel desks to collaborative workspaces. More teams — including FM teams — are working remotely or hybrid, which creates new opportunities but also new challenges.
- Gaining insight into the latest flexible workplace design trends
- The benefits and challenges of hybrid workplaces
- Identifying best practices for space management and utilization
- Exploring innovative tools to manage flexible workspaces and support remote workforces
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Global manufacturing and technology company Honeywell recently announced it is working with Urban Visions, a privately owned real estate development firm based in Seattle, to utilize Honeywell technologies to optimize energy usage based on occupancy levels at 200 Occidental, a Class A office building located in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood.
The 216,000 sq. ft. LEED Platinum building will leverage Honeywell Buildings Sustainability Manager (HBSM), part of Honeywell Forge for Buildings, a ready-now autonomous controls platform, and indoor air quality (IAQ) sensors that will detect and report air quality factors with real time visibility. Although 200 Occidental targets being fully decarbonized with regards to operational carbon, energy still gets wasted because the HVAC system is set to a daily schedule even if the building is not occupied.
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