The issue of water scarcity has often hit the headlines in the past several years. Some states have gone to court over water rights and access even as others have agonized over scarce supplies. University presidents and their staff of directors understand that the days of unlimited, inexpensive water are almost over. While it remains inexpensive…

Being a mentor to young professionals embodies the pay-it-forward concept. Think of the potential impact if one chose to mentor three people, and they then chose to mentor nine more people, and those went on to mentor 27 more people. The results could be prodigious. Successful mentoring programs have become valuable, organizational assets. In a…

It is quite clear that sustainability is here to stay, but in many cases one has yet to determine what it actually is. The buzz words and issues--solar panels, wind turbines, recycling, green cleaning, energy management, green buildings, green products, public transportation, and carbon neutrality to mention a few--have all been part of the…

Maggie Kinnaman is an APPA Emeritus Member, APPA Fellow, and Past APPA President. In this article she provides helpful tips for completing the APPA Facilities Performance Indicators (FPI) survey for 2013, which closed on December 16, 2013. She began by calling attention to some enhancements that have been added this past year, and encouraged…

There are often situations in facilities management where the daily repetition of certain tasks can seem meaningless to the employee if facilities managers are not conscientious. In this article, Joe Whitefield asks and answers the question: If your workplace morale is sagging a bit, what can be done to prop it up? To answer that question, he…

Recently, there have been many discussions regarding APPA's upcoming 100-year anniversary celebration. APPA's international and regional officers are collectively planning an extraordinary event that will take place in San Diego, California in July 2014. There is no doubt that the APPA staff will provide exceptional educational programs…

APPA's Facilities Management Evaluation Program (FMEP) provides an integrated system to optimize organizational performance. The criteria for evaluation not only provide a tool for organizational continuous improvement, they serve as a compelling leadership development tool essential for today's facilities management professional. The senior…

This article will provide an overview of the options for performing facility condition assessments. Quite often, the facility manager will choose a condition assessment method without deliberate examination of what type of assessment is best suited to the needs of the organization. In addition, the needs of diverse audiences usually differ--for…

This article addresses two of the most repeated questions in APPA (1) How can we convert our reactive maintenance operations to a planned and predictable operation? and (2) In addition, how can we do this with little or no additional resources? It seems reasonable to assume that if a department is short on resources and in a full-blown reactive…

In a study for APPA's Center for Facilities Research (CFaR), Cain and Reynolds (2006a; 2006b) linked the quality of campus facilities and the attractiveness of campus to college choice among their study's participants but also noted that facilities may not always be the primary motivation. Further, the physical campus environment can impact…

Consider the waste streams generated in schools and universities. So what is in the typical used water generated in schools and universities? It is typically about 99 percent water, with the remaining 1 percent mainly made up of organic compounds. Used water contains nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous. When one judges it on its quality, it…

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has experienced rapid growth in the last decade. In addition to educating over 17,000 students annually, UAB is a major research facility and academic healthcare center. Due to growth and expansion, UAB requires more and more water to sustain operations. The central chilled water system serves over…

Facility managers have questions about sustainability. How do an organization's physical facilities--its built environment--and the management of them, influence the sustainability of the organization or institution as a whole? How important is Facility Management (FM) to the overall sustainability profile of an organization? Facility managers…

Thermal imaging was used 60+ years ago to enable the targeting of heat-seeking missiles and seeing opposing forces at night. Today thermograpy is employed for myriad uses, from turning on faucets, to tracking and attacking enemies from aerial spy drones, to identifying the scope of moisture infiltration in building envelopes. Thermography for…

In most cases the facilities inventory of an educational institution is its largest fiscal asset. The physical plant or facilities management department is the steward for keeping that asset from becoming a liability. Its principal charge is to make sure that the building inventory maintains its ability to function as intended, that it is safe and…