FMLink News Digest I November 13, 2024 | |
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By Anand Subbaraj, CEO of Zuper — An innovation revolution is well underway in facilities management (FM) as the built environment is being rebuilt with artificial intelligence (AI) that is helping managers increase efficiencies, cut costs, and improve customer service. AI integration is crucial for boosting efficiency and sustainability in facilities management. It is not just a trend; it's a transformative shift that enables professionals to anticipate needs and streamline operations.
According to the IFMA, FM has become “data-driven,” and new AI-powered technology offers “enormous potential” for the future of the industry. And not a moment too soon, as FM professionals continue to be challenged by budget constraints, staff shortages, and an ongoing focus on making their buildings and facilities more sustainable. The sheer pace of all this change can be dizzying, and top of mind for FM leadership headed into next year will be how to turn AI’s theoretical promise into tangible solutions.
Here are 5 powerful ways FM professionals can use AI to drive value and transformation in the industry:
- Integrate AI with IoT to generate data-driven insights and power predictive maintenance
- Deploy an AI-driven field service management system that can automatically assign technicians to tasks based on multiple variables
- Infuse AI into CRM systems to create a 360-degree view of each customer
- Introduce AI-powered training programs to upskill technicians continuously and encourage professional growth
- Analyze energy usage patterns with AI to reduce environmental impact
Read more . . .
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PVI is a leading manufacturer of industry-best commercial and industrial water heaters fabricated from durable AquaPLEX duplex stainless steel, making its units naturally immune to corrosion. They require no supplemental tank linings or anode protection systems, giving PVI water heaters superior reliability and longevity.
PVI offers water heaters configurable for any common energy source including natural or LP gas, oil, boiler water, solar, steam, electricity and waste heat. Its models range from instantaneous and on-demand water heating to storage water heaters. PVI also offers “engineered-to-order” products to match a facility manager’s specific requirements. Available through a nationwide network of independent and factory sales representatives, PVI units are proudly backed with the industry’s strongest warranties and service policy packages. PVI offers a durable solution for water heating projects.
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By Jason Davis, a senior manager at Axonator — Managing corporate offices, healthcare centers, manufacturing plants and retail stores, among others, brings up several issues. From routine maintenance checks to compliance checks, facilities management (FM) is a combination of coordination, communication and timely activities. Traditional methods track facility operations through paper records and manual data entry. Such approaches are slow and tend to introduce errors. Fortunately, the emerging mobile solutions are changing how facility management is conducted while helping businesses streamline their functioning, lower costs, and increase general efficiency.
This article discusses how mobile technology is revolutionizing facility management and specifically describes how the tools can particularly benefit organizations:
- Greater efficiency through immediate access to data
- Enhancing communication and collaboration
- Cost savings through preventive maintenance
- Improved compliance and safety management
- Streamlined work order management
- Enhancing sustainability efforts
Read more . . .
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Standalone wireless system FirstLink by Bodine integrates all necessary emergency lighting components and monitors the status of the lighting system at all times, helping you maintain code compliance with minimal effort. The FirstLink emergency egress system comprises enabled exit signs, wall packs, emergency LED drivers and the FirstLink app installed on a mobile device. Bodine desires to create a higher and more impactful awareness of FirstLink among FMs, building managers, engineers and the fire/life safety team.
Tom Stoll, Product Manager, Bodine, in a discussion with Eileen McMorrow, Editor-in-Chief of The McMorrow Reports and FMLink, relates how the drudgery of testing lighting systems is eliminated when using a wireless mesh network that connects all devices and ensures a reliable connection through the network. If the app can communicate with just one device, the status of all devices can be read. Once the status is downloaded, the data is uploaded to the cloud.
Is it one network per physical building or does one network serve a campus?
Stoll: We have installations where one network covers one building, and we also have installations where one network covers multiple. If the buildings are close enough, allowing at least one device in “Building A” to communicate with at least one device in “Building B”, the mesh network can span both. In the FirstLink app, installations are organized by “projects,” which are subdivided into “groups.” Groups optionally can be further subdivided into “zones.” For the installation I just mentioned, one project and one group were sufficient to catch all the devices in both buildings. For a large installation, say a college campus, where the buildings are spread out, one possible way to organize it is to assign the campus itself to the "project" level; designate the individual buildings as "groups;" and organize the sections of the buildings/wings/floors/etc. into "zones."
Read more . . .
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By Maureen Ehrenberg, president, Commercial Division, Lessen — Extreme weather, climate-related physical damage, and catastrophic events have increased in frequency and severity in recent years. Record-breaking heat and cold waves, wildfires, more geographically distributed tornadoes, and widespread flooding from unrelenting rainstorms and hurricanes have impacted families, businesses, and communities globally. These weather events have significant implications for the commercial real estate industry and the way that owners, property and facility managers, tenants, insurers and other stakeholders plan and prepare for risk and resiliency.
Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which recently devastated many southern states, including Florida and North Carolina, caused billions of dollars of property damage, leaving many real estate owners, managers and tenants scrambling to recover. Rehabbing properties in some areas will take at least two years to complete, and some communities will never be the same.
In an environment where severe storms have become the new normal, CRE stakeholders, especially those in high-risk areas, need to take a proactive approach to portfolio health and resiliency and create contingency plans that will enable them to prepare their portfolios for identified risks and respond after an event to implement post-storm recovery as quickly as possible. However, this is a massive undertaking, especially for those with large, distributed portfolios.
Read more . . .
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AHR Expo, the International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition, is an annual trade show that brings together HVACR professionals, manufacturers and industry leaders to showcase the latest trends and advancements in the industry. It will be held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, February 10-12, 2025.
At the world’s largest HVACR event, with over 1,600 exhibitors and 50,000 attendees annually, the show offers a variety of events. Education sessions are a key draw for facility and building managers, engineers and architects, and are offered in multiple formats including free industry seminars, New Product Theaters with 146 product presentations, the AHR Panel Series, ASHRAE Learning Institute Courses, and Podcast Pavilions.
Facility manager attendees will learn how to operate their buildings using automation, new technologies, AI, carbon-reduction measures and standards that improve air quality and thermal comfort. FMLink and The McMorrow Reports will be attending the show, and are recommending the following sessions:
Read more . . .
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DOE has announced the winners of the first phase of the Building Envelope Innovation Prize, which targets high-performance, cost-effective secondary glazing systems to improve efficiency of commercial windows. DOE selected seven semifinalists to receive $50,000 each for their design concept submissions. Sponsored by DOE’s Building Technologies Office (BTO), the prize is advancing novel solutions for upgrading inefficient commercial and high-rise residential building windows to enable equitable decarbonization and optimize building envelopes for electrification. Secondary glazing involves installing an additional windowpane on an existing window to improve insulation while minimizing cost and disruption.
According to DOE’s Decarbonizing the U.S. Economy by 2050: A National Blueprint for the Buildings Sector (PDF), “to meet the 2050 vision of a highly efficient, net-zero emissions building sector, the retrofit rate for commercial building envelope components would need to increase up to 25x by 2030.” The prize will enable faster and more affordable building envelope upgrades.
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Landscape Forms, a leading North American designer and manufacturer of high-design site furniture, structure, lighting and accessories, has just introduced the Booth line of outdoor social seating as well as the Contour line of ADA-compliant public site-grade tables.
The Booth line of social seating was designed to create interaction spaces that are fresh yet familiar, taking the warmth, comfort and semi-privacy of a widely enjoyed indoor seating experience and reimagining it for the outdoors. It’s a social design, intended to define spaces that bring people together and encourage closeness and quality conversation. Designed by the Landscape Forms design team, Booth was initially created for internal use on the company’s own campus. Following much positive reception and an unmet need for this type of seating solution voiced by its customers, Landscape Forms is introducing Booth as a widely available standard product. The Booth line includes two silhouettes — a tall-back booth and a low-back booth — designed to meet face-to-face in pairs.
Contour is Landscape Forms’ first collection of high-design, highly durable tables that can comply with existing Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design. Touted as a first in the outdoor site furnishing space, Contour is a system of mutually compatible components that can be combined to create different ADA-compliant tables that address a range of site needs and can appear all throughout a given setting. Central to the design of Contour is the idea of achieving true inclusivity, adapting the design to create a universal user experience that is the same for both non-disabled users and users with a disability.
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This week's Featured Book from FMLink Books is part of a collection of peer-reviewed books curated by the FMLink editorial team to provide facilities, engineering and A&D professionals with access to publications relating to the Plumbing/HVAC topic.
From basic arithmetic to using formulas, this fully updated edition of Practical Problems in Mathematics for Heating and Cooling Technicians applies essential practical math skills directly to the field of heating and cooling technology. All math concepts use terminology specific to the HVAC-R trade to help technicians prepare for problems they will encounter on the job. The entire range of math problems used in the field are covered — from whole numbers, fractions, ratios and proportions to percentages, measures, formulas, and trigonometry. Useful practice opportunities in the book also help readers learn to write up estimates and bills.
This and other Plumbing/HVAC titles are available for purchase on FMLink.
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