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FMLink Weekly News Digest I March 29, 2022
According to recent statistics from the Pew Research Center, 60% of workers can’t do their job from home. In light of this, leading health organizations are calling on employers and employees to commit to continued risk mitigation efforts to control the spread of Covid-19 variants and to protect the future health and safety of workers.

The call to action comes on the heels of announcements including President Biden’s new National Covid-19 Preparedness Plan, which is designed to help Americans move forward safely while also preparing for new variants, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announcement enforcing inspections in hospitals and nursing care facilities aimed at protecting the health and safety of healthcare workers at heightened risk for exposure to Covid-19.

by Luis D'Acosta — This article originally appeared in the March/April 2022 issue of FMJ

Environmental change is one of the greatest crises the world is facing. People and organizations are running out of time to limit the increase of the global temperature to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels — a key goal think tanks, governmental agencies and scientists around the world say must be achieved to reduce the impact of climate change. Add the Covid-19 pandemic, and the goals become even more challenging.

As a result of these two seismic challenges, the workplace is evolving. To stay competitive as a building developer, owner and facility manager, meeting the challenges of individual consumers and society is crucial. Despite there being no one-size-fits-all approach, there are important steps that FMs can take as an industry to create more sustainable, healthy and flexible buildings.
The Center for Active Design (CfAD) recently announced the 2022 winners of the Fitwel Best in Building Health leadership awards, its flagship recognition program that identifies people and companies enhancing human health via Fitwel, a worldwide certification system committed to building health for all. This year’s winners were recognized based on project submissions in 2021 to the Fitwel portal.

Created in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. General Services Administration and operated by the global not-for-profit CfAD, Fitwel is a rigorous, third-party healthy building certification system that sets an industry standard for evidence-based strategies to promote health and wellness through the built environment.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has increased the number of acceptable types of credentials that federal agencies can permit as official digital identity. This is part of the latest update to Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 201, ensuring that federal employees and contractors have a broader set of modern options for accessing facilities and electronic resources.

The increase is part of the latest update to FIPS 201, which specifies the credentials that can be used by federal employees and contractors to access federal sites. The update, formally titled FIPS 201-3: Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors, also allows for remote identity proofing and issuing, in addition to doing so in-person as was previously required. 

Healthy Schools Campaign (HSC) and Green Seal recently announced a pilot Healthy Green Schools & Colleges certification standard to support school facilities leaders in identifying and implementing low- or no-cost measures that make a significant difference in facilities indoor air quality.

The pilot standard, said to be the first of its kind, is publicly available for any school district or university to use today to improve air quality in their school facilities. It is designed to be implemented district-wide or university-wide to ensure an organization-level commitment to standard operating procedures, resource distribution, and facility maintenance that supports the health of all students and staff, as well as the environment.

The 9 school districts and 10 colleges and universities that signed on as Early Adopters during the development of the pilot standard will now begin formally implementing it to provide data and advice on thresholds for certification levels. The full Healthy Green Schools & Colleges program, including self-assessment tools, educational resources, a peer network and certification opportunities, will be available this Spring.

For use with Airstage Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems, Fujitsu General America is introducing its all-new Airstage Integration Manager. The new controller is optimized for the Niagara Framework by Tridium Inc., a comprehensive software platform for the development and deployment of connected products and device-to-enterprise applications.

Touted as a dramatic evolution in the integration of Airstage VRF systems used to achieve efficient cooling and heating operation for individual rooms or entire buildings, this new controller features a new global design that functions with legacy systems and is also scalable for future needs.

The Airstage Integration Manager is a compact controller and integration platform for connecting Airstage VRF and devices to any commercial building management system (BMS). It is compatible with all Airstage VRF models, and includes a guided configuration tool, basic monitoring and control functions, an alarm console, and cloud-based access.
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