Jack Wynn, Author at Facilities Management Forum | Forum Events Ltd - Page 9 of 11
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Jack Wynn

FM sector peaks in confidence, study suggests…
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A market analysis study from Plimsoll Publishing has indicated that confidence in the facilities management sector is continually rising; with 63 per cent of industry companies surveyed reporting an increase in sales in their latest year.

Delving into the status of 377 of the largest facilities management companies in the UK, the majority are delivering growth rates of 11 per cent and many of these are making a healthy profit return. Furthermore, 106 of these companies have been rated as ‘financially strong’, and, on average, each company has seen sales rise by 3.4 per cent.

Read a summary of the report’s findings here

Mitie awarded Carbon Trust Standard…
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Recognised for its achievement in successfully managing, measuring and reducing its carbon footprint, the facilities management company, Mitie, has been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard for Carbon certification.

Mitie reportedly achieved an 8.1 per cent ‘absolute reduction’ in its footprint for the compliance period ending March 31, 2016; and also received the highest carbon management score in its sector.

Managing director of Certification at the Carbon Trust, Darran Messem, said: “As a business that provides professional facilities and energy management services, you would expect Mitie to be good at reducing energy use and carbon emissions from its own operations. We are therefore delighted to be able to award Mitie certification to the Carbon Trust Standard, independently recognising the real achievements the company has made in making year-on-year reductions in carbon emissions.”

He continued: “I would like to congratulate everyone in the business that has contributed to this award, as well as those working with Mitie’s clients to support them on their own carbon reduction journeys.”

The Standard is an independent certification awarded on a global scale of a company’s progress in taking action on greenhouse gas emissions; establishing that a company has adopted good industry practice and equally demonstrates strong achievements in managing and reducing its carbon emissions year-on-year.

Learn more about Carbon Trust here

Why facilities managers shouldn’t roll over on their recycling obligations…
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Nick Oettinger, The Furniture Recycling Group, comments on obligations to recycle bulky waste and how the circular economy model presents an alternative to landfill

It can often be a difficult task for facilities managers to remove, transport and dispose of mattresses from properties and figures show that in the UK, only a small percentage of mattresses are recycled responsibly, with 7.5 million discarded to landfill sites – usually the cheapest, quickest option.

From a policy point of view, end of life (EOL) mattresses have long been perceived as a problematic waste product, not least because of their size and cumbersome nature. Difficult to handle, mattresses fall under the category of bulky waste; awkward to manoeuvre, expensive to transport and breakdown. All in all, a chore to recycle and as a result, fewer than necessary are disposed of in this way within the FM industry.

Every year in the UK we throw out around 1,600,000 tonnes of what is defined as bulky waste. Approximately 19 percent of this falls into the textile category, largely made up of sofas and mattresses, with the majority of items being sent to landfill instead.

Despite landfill tax having pushed up the costof putting rubbish in the ground in the last 10years, it remains arguably the cheapest and most straightforward option for bulky waste. However, the UK is experiencing an over dependence on landfill. Due to the worrying impact this over dependence has on the environment, bans have already been imposed in many EU countries, with Governments and policy makers realising that alternative, more environmentally friendly solutions are required if countries are to meet their carbon footprint reduction obligations.

With regards to mattresses in particular, an on-going European Union Waste Management Policy Review Process may soon affect UK Government policy on mattress recycling, with the bed industry, and those connected with it, such facilities managers, set to face – at some stage – a legislative requirement to dispose of EOL mattresses in an environmentally acceptable way.

Headway is already being made, with statistics showing that in the UK 450,000 mattresses were collected for recycling in 2012 and just a year later, this had increased by 30 per cent, but despite the increase, this still only accounts for a small percentage of the total mattress disposal in the UK.

While on the surface, the reasons for this slow evolution and widespread acceptance of mattress recycling among facilities managers are largely cost associated as there is no doubt that landfill remains the cheaper option, other barriers do exist. These include the lack of outlets and services that could help facilities managers and their teams dispose of mattresses, as well as the uncertainty around the design and composition of mattresses to recycle their components.

Spotting a gap in the market as well as a clear environmental demand for a solution to this problem, The Furniture Recycling Group perfected a dismantling process, which separates the 14 different material types. Using specially designed tools, the ticking, comfort layers and insulator pads are

removed separately ensuring no cross contamination of fibres. Stitching and staples are also removed. This process is manual, as currently, no machine in the world can accurately separate the likes of cotton polyester mix from denim polyester mix. Our highly trained staff work across two material handling points to ensure that contamination is minimised. We have perfected our manual processes, providing accuracy of segregation of recyclate with excellent throughput due to our handling and material movement system.

Once we cracked this, our main activity was to source sustainable outlets for all of the materials generated.

Having already recycled 700,000 mattresses since launch, The Furniture Recycling Group has identified both a social and business case for partner industries in the FM sector to take notice of their responsibilities regarding mattress disposal. We offer FM organisations the chance to put in place a policy, ensuring they are best placed to respond to any new legislation that comes into force, or perhaps to be seen and credited as leaders and trailblazers in the industry – paving the way for responsible business practice and advocates of the circular economy.

We are keen to work with partners in the FM sector to draw on the principles of a circular economy – where resources are recovered and recycled back into new resources – to educate and inform on the benefits of making good on old mattresses.

It is our vision that the UK’s end of life mattresses be turned back into the very products they were – increasing environmental sustainability and tackling the landfill problem.

With over 700,000 mattresses recycled so far, The Furniture Recycling Group has an average recycling rate of 96 per cent, with the remainder going to energy from waste providing 100 per cent landfill diversion.

 

For more information on recycling mattresses responsibly and efficiently, click here

Guest Blog, Brian Londsale: The current status of energy efficiency
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Energy efficiency is now beginning to enter the minds of consumers and businesses alike. Whether the carbon footprint in your home or the use of travel to and from your workplace, the need to raise awareness and take action is gaining traction. Simple ways in which to do so include:

  • Cost-cutting initiatives of the 1970s and 1980s where organisations began to outsource ‘non-core’ services.
  • Management of varied services both ‘hard’, (e.g. building fabric) and ‘soft’ (e.g. cleaning, catering, and health & safety) to achieve better quality.

The facilities management sector has brought in a mix of new contractors, large multi-service companies along with in-house departments. The task to be addressed includes bettering emissions in travel and insulation of goods, ruses and recycling of goods. Bringing an understanding of why this is important to the longevity of your business.

It is estimated that the facilities management sector employs an estimated 10 per cent of the UK working population and is said to be worth £111 billion a year to the UK economy.

The skill and knowledge required in the management of facilities has now began to gather momentum, continuing to include management of an increasingly broad range of tangible assets, support services and people skills. Attracting a higher level of staff to pursue the sustainability will only strengthen the sectors growth and relevance.

Energy efficiency can be attained through the simple tasks completed in the correct way and, as many of you may find, the management of these simple tasks can be fruitful in cutting costs.

The energy used is more than likely your buildings largest expense, also very much the most unpredictable. Cost effective solution to help reduce the energy usage and improve performance and comfort:

  • Upgrading your boilers, ventilation, and windows.
  • Improving energy efficiency of insulation, window and doors will help improve comfort and energy savings.
  • Upgrading your lighting, with energy efficient lamps, fixtures and controls.
  • Control upgrades of optimizing when the lights are dimmed to allow natural light through and decreasing ventilation usage when not needed.
  • Water consumption and waste water improvements, seeing as electricity accounts for 80% of all water processes.
  • Renewable energy sources, solar, geothermal alternatives to improve efficiency.
  • Servicing and correct maintenance of equipment to further their life cycle.

Having these practises in place will help a long way to the efficiency of your building, before you then decide to tackle other aspects, such as: lowering transport costs, packaging, labelling and uses of biodegradable products.

Outsourcing is a major topic with how to manage your costing and what way brings the best results. Facilities management is a discipline vital to the high level, strategic change required by the decision makers in daily work or living space. Financial management will become very much common practice for many organisations, to nurture their growth. Rather than those who deem it as an unwarranted overhead and not required for the business.

Brian Londsale is a managing partner of Glasgow Boiler Service. The have been experts in energy efficiency for generations. The company use their skills and knowledge to reduce the environmental impact of their customers.

Forum News: 5 successful negotiation tips to implement at industry events…
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Making the most of any time spent out of the office, and ensuring the meetings you partake in are as effective as possible, involves the expert ability of negotiation, which can make the difference between triumph and disappointment with what you set out to achieve.

  1. Look, Listen & Learn: If you talk too much, you won’t learn anything. Be the investigator – ask lots of open ended questions. Allow the other party to talk; then all you have to do is sit back and take notes to help with your decision.
  1. Be assertive: Ask for exactly what you want. Differentiate being assertive and aggressive; it’s getting to the point more quickly and looking after your business needs. Challenging everything is fine too. We all know both parties need to negotiate to formulate a win/win situation; however there are scenarios when companies really are just looking for a higher ‘cut’ rather than a long term profitable partnership, so it’s best to challenge everything to ensure you are getting the very best deal.
  1. Preparation is king: Have you thought about everything you need before you enter the negotiation as well as what the other party may be looking for? You can’t possibly make accurate decisions without fully understanding both sides of the agenda.
  1. Convey optimism: Entering any negotiation is an exciting process, so it’s important to show that you’re excited and be positive about the transaction. People who are optimistic, usually achieve more by expecting more. Suppliers would ask for more than they expect to receive and buyers offer less than they are willing to give – that way everybody walks away happy with the end result.
  1. No need to rush: The best negotiators most likely own the distinctive patient gene. If you rush your meeting, planning or negotiation, this is when mistakes will be made. Be flexible with time and if any steps to the negotiation are hurried, concessions will be made and the deal left on the table.

 

To utilise these tips, contact the team to discuss your attendance at next year’s Facilities Management Forum on January 30 & 31, 2017.

Heathrow Airport awards Balfour Beatty with £170 million deal…
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The international infrastructure group, Balfour Beatty, has announced that it has been awarded a £170 million deal by Heathrow Airport in a bid to modernise its baggage handling process.
Awarded through the Heathrow Airport Limited Delivery Integrator Framework project, to which Balfour Beatty was appointed in 2014, the deal will involve the installation and upgrade of Heathrow’s baggage screening and handling systems at its eastern baggage facility.

Furthermore, the agreement will also allow the company to use its extensive technological expertise — including the latest Building Information Modelling techniques — to determine an efficient approach to design, as well as manage logistics and to interface with live airport operations.

 

IFMA and RICS collaborate in celebration of World FM Day…
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Further to the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) collaboration — which was announced in April of this year — both parties have publicly continued to commend the approximate 25 million facilities management (FM) professionals around the world for the variety of fundamental roles they play.

Consistent with the ‘Empowering people for a productive world,’ theme of this year’s World FM Day (July 13), the collaboration was created to enable facilities management professionals to connect via a global network of education, research, best practices, events, and support.

Celebrations are expected to progress around the world until July 15.

To find out more about the collaboration, click here

 

FM and Sports & Leisure Forums join LIW for ‘forward-thinking’ partnership…
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It has been announced that the Facilities Management Forum and the Sports & Leisure Forum will support the Facilities Management Education Stream at Leisure Industry Week (LIW) on September 20-21.

The education programme will be devoted to all aspects of the design and layout of a leisure facility, and delegates will be able to leave with the knowledge to effectively set up their own facilities to maximize the customer experience and sales.

UK managing director at LIW, Steve Orton, said: “LIW always looks to work with forward-thinking and progressive partners. To ensure the Facilities Management Education Stream of LIW delivers high quality and relevant content, partnering with Forum Events makes perfect sense and allows us to offer solutions that meet the real needs of Facilities Managers within the leisure industry.”

The seminar programme will also feature topics and discussion on: entry systems, energy efficiency, booking software, lighting, flooring, layout, planning and much more.

 

You can learn more about the Facilities Management Education Stream here

Guest Blog, Pete Mills: Can BMS go the distance? Achieving efficiency gains through remote monitoring…
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As facilities managers come under pressure to implement energy saving measures, remote communication within wider Building Management Systems (BMS) is helping to deliver efficiency gains. Here, Pete Mills, commercial technical operations manager at Bosch Commercial and Industrial, explains the role of remote monitoring in the future of buildings.

Facilities managers are faced with the challenge of recommending heating and hot water systems which have the ability to maximise efficiency. This requirement extends beyond saving on utility bills to limiting the number of site visits and even reducing equipment downtime. Intelligent Building Management Systems (BMS) – with the added advantage of being monitored off-site – advocates flexibility and are vital to achieving these goals.

 

Another hour in the day

A key benefit of the latest generation of BMS, which often boasts remote communication capability, is its ability to deliver high quality results without the necessity for a site presence. Remote monitoring may not be a new concept and systems using analogue phone lines to report faults are relatively common. Today, however, intuitive web-based systems are being developed which allow facilities managers and manufacturers to access their own platform and monitor a system’s performance data via a web browser.

Through remote monitoring integrated within BMS it is possible for automatic restarts of equipment to be actioned from off site. We have found this particularly useful in the area of Combined Heat and Power (CHP). Our system for example, allows a CHP unit to be restarted under certain fault conditions, where there is supervision, without the need to send an engineer to site.

Such holistic systems provide the potential to effectively monitor more than one site. Users can remotely access a site’s usage data and even receive text message alerts should a system encounter an error. This cuts down not only on the time spent at each site, but also the travel distance between.

 

Reducing equipment downtime

With preventative maintenance holding the key to avoiding equipment downtime, a BMS can help monitor performance shortfalls. This creates opportunities for equipment to be repaired proactively rather than in response to a breakdown. Maintenance systems can also offer warnings on equipment. In the past, system warnings rarely provided a specific prognosis, however modern systems allow facilities managers to delve into a monitoring platform to view alerts as well as access important maintenance information such as when a service is due.

 

Payback potential

As well as limiting downtime, BMS which incorporate remote communication elements have a positive impact on payback periods. One of the main benefits of monitoring a system remotely is that all concerned parties can be notified via text message or email immediately, should a system or module stop working for any reason; enabling them to resolve the issue as promptly as possible.

As payback periods continue to play a greater role in the UK, guaranteed availability contracts are set to become more common. This means that many service level agreements are stipulating that a site’s equipment must run for a guaranteed percentage of running hours each year. Monitoring systems help place the onus back on the manufacturer to manage and react to individual requirements as and when they occur.

 

Diminishing bills

Monitoring technology can also benefit utilities costs. It is often desirable to have access to proportion usage charges within a building. Modern systems are helping tenants to receive a more representative energy bill without the need for additional monitoring visits.

On a personal level, I think it is exciting to see just how intuitive the monitoring systems of the future will become, but one thing which is already coming to the fore is the inclusion of remote monitoring within the service concepts of today.

 

For more information on Bosch Commercial and Industrial and its range of products and services, please visit www.bosch-industrial.co.uk or call 0330 123 3004. Alternatively, follow Bosch Commercial and Industrial on Twitter (@BoschHeating_UK) and LinkedIn (Bosch Commercial and Industrial UK).

 

Pete Mills has been in the HVAC industry for over 37 years, having started off as an apprentice heating engineer at just 16. Since then, he has gone on to be a technical liaison officer, and is now a commercial technical operations manager at Bosch Commercial and Industrial.

Industry Spotlight: Why sustainable business practices can be quantifiable…
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The CEO of EMCOR UK, Keith Chanter, discusses the company’s committed and successful approach to working with customers in identifying and implementing sustainable business practices, resulting in measured and quantifiable outcomes…

Sustainable business practices contribute to our customers’ success — as well as ours — and can minimise or reduce the impact of operations on the environment. ‘EMCOR EnergyWise’, a bespoke energy model, aims to significantly, and cost effectively, reduce a customer’s energy use and carbon emissions by deploying industry leading knowledge and experience. EMCOR UK ensures collaboration with relevant occupants of the buildings we service when implementing the model, and achieving buy-in from all involved also helps maintain momentum, longevity and maximum efficiencies.

The priority of energy efficiency and supporting customers’ requirements, accordingly, forms an integral part of everyone’s role within EMCOR UK, spanning wider than the company’s core energy team. For example, for one of our real estate customers, we rolled out the ‘one team approach’ and, in doing so, we identified our company’s champions on each of their sites who were responsible for capturing ideas for savings from across the client’s operations. In the first year, this resulted in 89 identified and costed energy saving initiatives all aligned with the customer’s energy reduction strategy. This resulted in potential savings of 1,359 MWh and 4,000 tonnes of CO2.

Alongside energy saving techniques, EMCOR UK is also committed to innovation; we recognise and reward employees to innovate for customers. Recently, an employee developed a retro fitted system that revolutionises mandatory weekly testing of automatic fire sprinklers, saving customers water and money. The device simulates the flow of one sprinkler head in operation, thereby only discharging 25 litres of water versus 8,000 (max.) litres without the system, resulting in an annual saving of approximately 400,000 litres of water per sprinkler valve set. We also provide ‘energy roadshows’, designed to inform and engage all building occupants, communicating our customers’ objectives in a compelling and interactive way.

In addition, our Surbiton based office has recently been awarded the Fairplace Award, an ethical workplace accreditation by the Ethical Property Foundation which covers a wide range of indicators including; sustainability, employee health, well-being, and welfare.

EMCOR UK has taken a leadership approach in the development of a multi-faceted education programme and is a founding member of the Facilities Management Sustainability School, a unique collaboration to develop sustainability competence in the supply chain. As a founding member, we’re seeking to share and advocate best practice in this arena.

The practises we implement in our day-to-day work make good commercial sense because they enhance our customers’ success whilst reducing the impact on the environment. A recent survey carried out by BIFM of facilities management professionals revealed a 20 per cent decrease among businesses in how effective they perceive their organisation to be at executing sustainability policies compared to 2014. This would indicate that there is a need to implement further energy efficiency and sustainability measures across the facilities management industry.

 

EMCOR UK provides facilities management and specialist support services for a diverse range of private and public sector organisations. For further information on EMCOR UK, please visit www.emcoruk.com or telephone 0845 600 2300.