While Americans don’t agree on much these days, the overwhelming majority do agree that handwashing is important. According to the Healthy Handwashing Survey from Bradley Corporation, 93% of adults believe handwashing is essential to maintaining their overall health — a sentiment that’s nearly universal across gender, age and geography.

For businesses, poor restroom maintenance makes more than just a negative impression; an unclean or unpleasant restroom can be a sales inhibitor. A full 52% say an unkempt restroom impacts whether or not they’ll return to the establishment again. On the flip side, nearly 60% say they are likely to spend more at a business that has clean, well-maintained restrooms, and the same percent make a point of stopping at a location that offers pleasant facilities.In public restrooms, Americans are keenly aware of coming into contact with germs and take a variety of evasive measures, with 82% saying it is important to have touchless fixtures.

Traditionally, Facility Condition Assessments (FCA) 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.

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. Eileen McMorrow, editor-in-chief, The McMorrow Reports and FMLink, learns how data is obtained and managed continuously in a discussion with Josh Lowe, co-founder and chief solutions officer of AkitaBox.

Lowe: The FCA allows building owners to identify equipment that is at risk of failure. It’s not just the risk of failure, but the timeframe for failure and the costs associated with repairing vs. replacement. It allows the facility manager to ask, "What is at risk of failure?" The FCA identifies things and develops a plan of action if paired with a five-year spending plan. If it’s in bad condition, you can devise a continuous management plan and capital planning to manage it to the end of its lifecycle or to replace it sooner.

by Dave Lubach — The last three years have seen facility managers deal with plenty of unforeseen challenges thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.

What’s top of mind for managers as the calendar turns to a new year and the country approaches the third anniversary of Covid changing life forever? fnPrime turned to a select panel of managers to find out. Editors interviewed advisory board members from Facility Maintenance Decisions and Building Operating Management magazines to find out what they’re seeing in the industry.

The first facilities industry event this year returns to Baltimore with NFMT 2023, the National Facility Management and Technology Conference & Expo. The McMorrow Reports & FMLink have been attending for at least 20 years, and we know our readers should, too. Facilities managers, executives, engineers and allied professionals will gather March 21-23 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland. Both the educational conference sessions, starting on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. and ending on Thursday at 4:45 p.m., and the expo floor are bountiful with exhibitors from all segments of FM. 

Use NFMT’s event explorer while registering to pre-register for sessions. Build your agenda to include conference sessions roundtables, networking functions, product zone sessions, and time in the exhibit hall. Research the education sessions and the exhibitors to successfully choose the ones that apply to your position and company needs. The conference tracks include: Asset Management, Energy & Sustainability, Future Trends, Health & Safety, Maintenance & Operations, Security, Technology and Think Tank.

Fujitsu General America’s Airstage VU-V systems offer greater flexibility, efficiency and capacity for commercial and light commercial applications. Airstage VU-V outdoor units can serve either as heat pump or heat recovery systems with simple setting changes and the addition of refrigerant branch units (RBUs). The new VRF platform offers broader size ranges, with single modules from six to 16 tons, and up to 36 tons per combined system. As many as 64 indoor units can be connected to a single system. Operation in a wider range of outdoor ambient temperatures is provided, and a new service window provides instant access to the PCB switches and error indicator.

This week's Featured Book from FMLink's new Books section is from the OSHA Safety 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 OSHA Safety topic.

High-Rise Security and Fire Life Safety, Third Edition, spells out the unique characteristics of skyscrapers from a security and fire life safety perspective, details the type of security and life safety systems commonly found in them, outlines how to conduct risk assessments, and explains security policies and procedures designed to protect life and property. This latest edition clearly separates out the different types of skyscrapers, from office buildings to hotels to condominiums to mixed-use buildings, and explains how different patterns of use and types of tenancy impact building security and life safety.

The Exam Room Counter Door by Clopay Corporation helps ensure a safe environment for patients by providing an anti-ligature door. Available through the company’s Cornell and Cookson brands, the Exam Room Counter Door creates multipurpose exam rooms that can be easily converted when needed, as the door is completely concealed when not in use. This allows facilities to utilize the same room for both medical and behavioral health patients back-to-back, saving healthcare providers money and resources.

Each year, the Professional Facility Management Institute (ProFMI) and its partners ask facility managers from around the world to share their opinions on FM training and credentials. Results are shared publicly to help FM professionals and employers prioritize and justify their training investments.

If you have opinions on your level of training and that of your staff, now is the time to share your opinions in the 2023 FM Training survey! Facility management professionals and employers are encouraged to complete the survey by Friday, March 4th. All survey participants will receive a complimentary Pro Level registration to NFMT Baltimore, March 21-23. 

The 2022 FM Training Outlook Survey provided valuable insights in four categories: building and retaining the FM workforce, the value of FM training, addressing the FM skills gap and the importance of FM credentials and qualifications.

In this article, Inyouths looks at how sustainable renovation can help your hotel or business stand out from the crowd, looking at some of the advantages that green renovations provide for both guests and staff.