Facility Management: August | September 2016

SOLUTIONS FOR THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016

FACILITY MANAGEMENT

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Australia’s first Indigenous FM company The digitisation of the elevator industry

Hospitality energy management approaches AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016

The emergence of wireless access control

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Contents OPENING FEATURE

14 FM skills shortage intensifies Despite employment conditions improving, a skills shortage continues to emerge in the FM industry.

SOFT FM

18 Harnessing the secret to front-of-house services First Contact is demonstrating that hospitality service principles are well-suited to corporate building environments.

GREEN ZONE

20 Green infrastructure and the WELL Building Standard Paul Richards looks at how green infrastructure can assist building owners in achieving WELL certification.

30

36

FM INSIGHT

Why energy management remains relevant in hotels

Educational facilities look for mobility

24

Joe Essex from Schneider Electric examines different hotel room energy management approaches.

Mobility-defined network solutions are shaping the role of FM providers in educational facilities.

SECURITY

FITOUT

32

38

Finding the right digital visitor management solution

Mirvac sets smart building standard

Stephen Darracott explains why digitally managing on-site contractors and visitors should be a priority.

The company has opened the doors to its latest development at 200 George Street in Sydney.

TECHNOLOGY

HARD FM

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42

Technology integration shapes building future

Tales of the unexpected

The power of community Martin Leitch analyses the role communities play in the development of the facilities management industry.

CONTENT PARTNER FEATURES

26 Wireless systems continue emergence David Ward of ASSA ABLOY outlines the emergence of wireless locks in the access control industry.

28 A digital transformation Robert Seakins tells FM about how digital technology has transformed Schindler Lifts Australia.

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Facility managers in Australia have an opportunity to add value to their roles as building management systems become more integrated.

Paul Angus explains how a plumbing system’s acoustic performance plays a pivotal role in building performance.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

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Contents FM REGULARS

FM INDUSTRY

44

08 10 12 62 66

Editor’s comment News New FM products Opinion Events

FM collaboration to shape standards Robert Hardie discusses the collaboration between the RICS and the IFMA.

46 Driving belief into Indigenous Australians Australia has welcomed its first Indigenousowned facility management company – Evolve FM.

SOFTWARE FM

48 How to prevent security breaches when patching is not an option Gavin Coulthard examines why facility managers should not rely on patches to keep organisational networks safe.

CASE STUDY

50 Lighting up the Great Ocean Road New toilet facilities developed along Victoria’s iconic Great Ocean Road have been fitted with environmentally friendly lighting systems.

ENERGY WATCH

52

PROPERTY WATCH

WORKPLACE HEALTH

54

58

Strategically aligned or going nowhere boldly?

The connection between posture and communication

Rodney Timm explains how organisations can be more effective at aligning and delivering facilities and property outcomes.

Allison Van Ommen explains how our posture relates to body language and the way we communicate.

WORKPLACE CULTURE

FM INDUSTRY

56

60

How to motivate others to embrace change

More to it than meets the eye

In times of change knowing how to motivate colleagues in the workplace becomes a crucial element of the process.

FM consultant Graham Constable takes a novel, yet real-life look at how a practical and durable solution can be developed to approach a facility management challenge.

SOFTWARE GUIDE

Being energy and power quality savvy

64

Ken Freestone discusses how a power quality check-up can help facility managers to reduce electricity costs.

FM ’s annual software guide features detailed overviews of products and real-life applications from the world’s elite software development companies.

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Building intelligence

Are you monitoring your energy consumption?

As the importance of energy conservation continues to grow, monitoring your energy consumption is the first step in reducing your carbon footprint.

If you cannot measure it, then how can you improve on it? The key is a complete energy management system to help understand, tune and track your sustainability initiatives, ultimately improving efficiency.

It is this combination of scale and knowledge that makes NHP

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Take the first step to achieve an energy management solution.

Visit nhp.com.au/more/EMCS for a free brochure download!

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08 | EDITOR'S COMMENT

While the facility management industry has not been a major victim of Australia’s sluggish economic performance in recent years, neither has it been exempt from the change in conditions.

As other industries around the country, such as mining, oil and gas, and manufacturing, have been severely impacted by a downturn in their markets, this has caused a flow-on effect for some facility management disciplines.

Workers who prospered in mining or oil and gas over the past decade are now turning to areas of facility management for employment opportunities as prospects in their former industries have dried up.

In this issue’s lead feature Hays Recruitment outlines that this has resulted in FM employers seizing control. Recruiters are now being more selective when sourcing employees and when offering salaries, which have shown little increase.

Despite competition heating up for FM positions, however, a skills shortage is emerging in the industry – one that also reflects how these other industries are reacting to the changes in their markets.

As is the case in an industry like mining, the need for skilled professionals with strong technical and data analysis skills, which lead to improvements in operational efficiencies and productivity, has become crucial.

Personnel with this expertise are in demand more than ever before, and a skills shortage for this area looks like it will only grow across the board. Interesting times ahead in the FM recruitment space.

Meanwhile, in our content partnership program this issue, ASSA ABLOY analyses the emergence of wireless systems in the access control industry.

Schindler Lifts tells FM about the digitisation of the company in Australia and how new technologies are benefiting its clients and workforce.

And finally, Schneider Electric looks at how different hotel room energy management approaches accommodate both green expectations and guest comfort.

I hope you enjoy the read.

BEN CREAGH

Publisher Joanne Davies

Editorial Editor Ben Creagh ben.creagh @ niche.com.au Subeditor Madeleine Swain Assistant online editor Sara Kirby Advertising National advertising manager Lachlan Oakley lachlan.oakley @ niche.com.au (03) 9948 4952 Production Art director Keely Atkins Production manager Jamuna Raj jamuna.raj@niche.com.au Design and digital prepress Monique Blair Publishing Chairman Nicholas Dower Managing director Paul Lidgerwood Commercial director Joanne Davies Content director Chris Rennie Financial controller Sonia Jurista Subscriptions Subscription enquiries Call 1800 804 160 or email subscriptions@niche.com.au Printing Graphic Impressions FM online — fmmagazine.com.au — twitter.com/FMmagazine_au — facebook.com/facilitymanagementmagazine — linkedin.com/Facility Management magazine FM is a publication of HH & M Media Pty Ltd, a member of the Niche Group.

HH & M Media ABN 81 091 724 588 Niche Group ABN 20 097 172 337 1 Queens Road Melbourne, Victoria 3004 Tel: 03 9948 4900 / Fax: 03 9948 4999

CONTENT PARTNER CONTRIBUTIONS A Facility Management content partner is an organisation with which we’ve entered into a partnership to collaborate on content for the magazine. In this issue, thought leaders from respective organisations are: PRIVACY POLICY

ASSA ABLOY’S DAVID WARD David Ward, ASSA ABLOY business development manager, has more than 15 years’ experience in security management and access control services.

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SCHINDLER LIFTS’ ROBERT SEAKINS Robert Seakins, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the elevator industry, is managing director of Schindler Lifts Australia.

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC’S JOE ESSEX

Joe Essex is business technology adviser in hotels and entertainment at Schneider Electric Australia.

This issue of FM magazine may contain offers, competitions, surveys, subscription offers and premiums that, if you choose to participate, require you to provide information about yourself.

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FM ISSN 1320-3975 Advertisers and contributors of editorial to FM Magazine acknowledge they are aware of the provisions of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 and the Trade Practices Act 1974 in relation to false and misleading advertising or statements and other unfair practices and of the penalties for breach of provisions of those acts. The publisher accepts no responsibility for such breaches. FM Magazine is published bi-monthly. Opinions expressed by contributors are their own and not necessarily endorsed by the publisher. © 2016 HH & M Media Pty Ltd

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10 | NEWS

MYOB office fitout in Melbourne reflects employee demands When planning its new Richmond office in Melbourne, accounting software provider, MYOB, asked its employees how they would like to work and what features they would like.

With these insights, interior design and architecture agency, Futurespace, designed a visionary workspace that first and foremost caters to the needs of employees.

Converted from a dilapidated warehouse, the new tech hub incorporates futuristic workplace design based on the principles of agile working, including inception rooms to foster innovation, plug-and-play technology and informal meeting spaces.

The new office space reinforces MYOB’s investment into local technology talent, according to the company. The office houses over 200 of the company’s engineering and development employees, in a centrally located space among other creative technology hubs.

This has enabled MYOB to attract talent from all areas of Melbourne, and has opened

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up its talent pool to those living in the CBD and who value working closer to home.

Futurespace managing director Angela Ferguson says the MYOB site is not your typical corporate office.

“The way we work is becoming more fragmented and the MYOB office is an embodiment of this. We took the time to understand what MYOB’s employees

wanted from the space, plus how they worked and combined this with MYOB’s values of innovation, collaboration and high performance,” Ferguson says.

She adds that the space is not only designed to attract and retain employees, but it also aligns with the principles of lean and agile software development with the physical space.

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University of Sydney rolls out technology to track workplace climate The University of Sydney’s IEQ (Indoor Environmental Quality) lab, in partnership with several major corporations, is rolling out new technology that will track indoor climates in a survey of Australian workplaces.

Today, we spend more than 90 percent of our lives indoors, so monitoring our indoor climate is possibly more important than monitoring the outdoor climate, says researcher Professor Richard de Dear, who is director of the IEQ Lab, part of the University’s Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning.

According to de Dear, no one has been able to capture holistic IEQ data with one piece of technology and make sense of the science, until now. The prototype for the technology, called SAMBA (Sentient Ambient Monitoring of Buildings in Australia), was developed by University of Sydney PhD student Tom Parkinson and his brother and research assistant, Alex Parkinson, under the leadership of de Dear in 2015.

Hundreds of SAMBA units are now in production and are being set up in around 50 offices across Australian capital cities.

Built on revolutionary sensor technology, the compact SAMBA devices are placed on workstations a couple of metres apart across an office floor, from where all the vital IEQ factors are tracked. In all, it measures around a dozen different parameters: air temperature, radiant heat, air movement, humidity, light, sound, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, along with various pollutants emitted from building materials.

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Data captured by SAMBA is wirelessly relayed in real-time to the University of Sydney’s IEQ lab. The data is immediately analysed and interpreted by the lab’s IEQ analytics software against IEQ performance standards set by Green Star and NABERS rating systems.

One of the first organisations to sign up for the pioneering technology is Investa Property Group.

Investa’s general manager of environment and safety, Shaun Condon, says.

“It will give us the evidence to pinpoint what IEQ data is important and how to best capture, analyse and effectively report this information back to our tenants to improve their workplace environments.”

The huge volume of data collected by SAMBA will give building owners, operators and tenants timely and intelligible reports on their building’s IEQ performance. The IEQ metrics will provide rich intelligence about the indoor climate of Australian workplaces and the impact of high rises on a city’s carbon footprint.

“It will quickly become the world’s largest instrumental database on the climate of the indoor work environment. The intelligence SAMBA will give us and our partner organisations provides the perfect opportunity to reset the barometer for healthy and productive workplaces inside buildings,” adds de Dear.

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12 | NEW FM PRODUCTS

Lumens camera improves picture quality Lumens has added its first 4k ultra high definition pan, tilt, zoom (PTZ) camera – the VC-A70H – to its range of optical solutions. Designed to be one of the most intuitive solutions from Lumens, the VC-A70H has up to 128 user-defined pre-set modes, ensuring it is compatible in virtually any environment. The versatile PTZ camera delivers a level of picture quality suitable for a wide range of applications, including boardroom videoconferencing, lecture hall presentations and live event broadcasting. The VC-A70H has the ability to pan from 170 degrees to 170 degrees, as well as a tilting angle up to 90 degrees and down to -30 degrees. www.lumens.com.tw

Save time, money and space with NHP’s switched neutral RCBO NHP’s range of earth leakage solutions has expanded to include the compact Din-Safe DSRCBS 1P RCBO, which offers the additional feature of a switched neutral. This 6kA rated RCBO, with a switched neutral, retains the same footprint as a regular MCB and, at just 18 millimetres wide, is suitable for either a standard 18-millimetre buscomb (typically found in load centres) or 3P busbar chassis (typically found in panelboards). Another advantage is that a 4P chassis is no longer required. In its place, an off-the-shelf 3P panelboard can be offered, resulting in an average 30 percent space saving, 20 percent cost saving and reduced lead time.

The DSRCBS series provides solutions available for a wider range of applications, offering unmatched reliability and assurance. www.nhp.com.au

Rubbermaid design provides superior cleaning Rubbermaid HYGEN Disposable Microfibre System is revolutionising the cleaning sector by providing a highly effective method of halting the chain of infection. The product is built with zigzag scrubbers to remove dirt without streaking or smearing. In testing, Rubbermaid HYGEN products showed they were effective at removing 99.9 percent of microbes with water only. All facilities need to be able to rely on products that do more than just remove visible signs of dirt and pathogens; they must also remove the food sources bacteria rely on to grow. The Rubbermaid HYGEN Disposable Microfibre System provides optimal infection prevention, superior cleaning performance and improved productivity. www.rubbermaidcommercial.com.au

FM AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016

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www.fmmagazine.com.au

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Honeywell launches Bluetooth ring scanner Honeywell has released a new high performance 8670 ring scanner with Bluetooth technology. The company describes the product as a compact, lightweight scanner that fits comfortably on a finger to allow workers to keep both hands free when completing tasks. The scanner uses Bluetooth technology to connect to a range of computing devices, such as PCs, laptops, tablets, vehicle-mounted computers and smartphones. The scanner delivers high-speed decoding, motion tolerance and the ability to decode poor quality or damaged barcodes. www.honeywell.com

A new standard has arrived – Caroma Cleanflush Drawing on a 75-year history of product innovation, Caroma sets a new standard for toilets with Cleanflush. The cleverly designed rimless bowl improves efficiencies in cleaning, as the hard-to-access area has been removed, allowing greater visibility of the bowl. In addition, Cleanflush incorporates Caroma’s latest flush-and-flow technology, which creates seamless water flow, optimum bowl coverage and superior washdown to deliver a cleaner clean. The result is improved hygiene levels, less time spent manually cleaning and the resultant cost savings in facility cleaning maintenance services. www.caroma.com.au/bim-cleanflush

Automatic transfer switch controllers from NHP The NHP ATL610NHP automatic transfer switch controller is easy-to-use, expandable and provides reliable transfer switch control for secure supply of power to your facility.

The unit includes all the necessary features to supervise two power supply sources and to control the relative transfer equipment your application requires. The main type of transfer switches work with ATL610NHP, including: circuit breakers based MCCB and ACB, and load break switch based. The ATL610NHP has the ability to sense under voltage, over voltage, phase loss, asymmetry, under frequency and over frequency conditions, with measurements shown on the graphic LCD display, with a white backlight ensuring readability even under conditions of poor visibility. www.nhp.com.au

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AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

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14 | LEAD FEATURE

FM SKILLS SHORTAGE INTENSIFIES AS SALARIES REMAIN STAGNANT Despite employment conditions improving in FM, a skills shortage continues to emerge and salaries are showing few signs of increasing. BEN CREAGH reports.

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skills shortage continues to intensify in Australia’s facility management industry despite an increase in job vacancies in the fi rst half of 2016, according to recruitment company, Hays.

In its 2016 facilities management salary guide, Hays

reports that business activity and headcounts in the industry are rising. Despite this recruitment trend, however, Hays states that it is not translating into a wide-ranging salary increases for Australia’s FM professionals.

That is unless the FM professional has the niche, technical skills that are currently in high demand throughout the industry.

Austin Blackburne, Hays Facilities Management regional director, says demand for ‘highly-skilled FM professionals’ continues to grow, and it is these people who are also securing high salaries or wage increases.

“We are seeing demand mostly in the technical FM space.

FM managers with a trade background, or managers that are familiar with specialised building management software or in HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) – they are really in demand,” Blackburne tells Facility Management “These guys are asking for and getting large salaries, and are probably lifting up the overall median salary in the industry.

It is likely pressure will come from existing employees in these areas who are aware of this – they know they are in demand and they will want to see salary increases accordingly.”

Blackburne adds that the growing professionalism of the FM sector is also affecting the attractiveness of candidates and the salaries they can expect, with flexible and adaptable staff in demand for both soft and hard services.

“Candidates who are more corporate client facing are attractive to employers at the moment. Ultimately, it is people that are able to assimilate well into an existing culture of a client, and have the right personality,” he says. “As the profession becomes more service oriented that is what employers are wanting to see.”

Small salary increases The Hays salary guide includes salary and recruiting trends for over 1000 roles in 14 locations in Australia and New Zealand. It is based on a survey of 2752 organisations, representing over 2.6 million employees. According to the guide, 25 percent of construction, property and engineering

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16 | LEAD FEATURE

employees can expect a salary increase of between three and six percent in their next review, while four percent can expect six to 10 percent rises.

Just one percent of employees can expect an increase above 10 percent. Instead over half of Australia’s construction, property and engineering workers (57 percent) will receive an increase of less than three percent. The fi nal 13 percent will receive no increase.

“The FM outlook is for more spending and employment in the coming year,” says Blackburne. “However, it’s clear that employers remain reluctant to offer substantial increases unless absolutely necessary to secure a candidate with skills in short supply.”

Blackburne believes that the reluctance to increase salaries is partly to do with prevailing concerns about the

What a lot of established buildings are doing is spending up on new fitouts, trying to rejuvenate existing assets. We are seeing a lot of that and that is where a lot of the movement in terms of areas of demand is coming from.

broader economy in Australia, which has been hurt by the downturn in the resources industry. Specifically in the

According to Hays, over the last year 16 percent of construction,

FM sector, Blackburne says there are additional factors

property and engineering employers offered no salary

affecting salaries and shaping recruitment trends.

increases. Those who did receive a salary increase found that

“On a whole we are seeing the FM industry successfully

their wallets were not that much heavier. The guide outlines

transition quite well – better than most parts of the economy,”

that 46 percent received an increase of less than three percent,

he explains. “However, employers have been back in the

27 percent saw their pay increase from three to six percent,

driving seat in recent years and we haven’t seen salaries

and eight percent saw an increase of six to 10 percent. The final

change at the lower end for some time. It is unlikely we

three percent received an increase of more than 10 percent.

will any time soon because people can easily transfer [into

In the guide, Hays warns employers not to be complacent,

these areas] from other industries, such as mining, where

because employees may start to take matters into their

employment conditions currently aren’t as strong.”

own hands.

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FM trends

seeing a lot of that and that is where a lot of the movement in

According to Hays, the public sector, and in particular the

terms of areas of demand is coming from.”

education sector, has provided a surge in funding nationally

He adds that this situation requires FM service providers

and a push to streamline work by outsourcing to FM service

to cross over into areas where traditionally they may have

providers.

never had a presence.

Blackburne says the strong trend towards outsourcing of

“They are asking these FM service providers to manage

FM services will continue as major building owners transition

a complete fitout to make the building competitive in the

their property management models.

current leasing market,” he says.

“In-house FM teams are becoming less prevalent and

“The FM service provider is in turn hiring technical FM

the trend towards the outsourcing of services is continuing.

managers, schedulers, help desk, service coordinators and

But what large asset owners are saying to the outsourced

more to schedule the works for maintenance and other

companies is that they don’t want to lose their anchor tenant

services.”

to a new building that is being constructed,” Blackburne

State contrasts

explains.

He says that the current boom in construction, primarily

While in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT FM service

in Melbourne and Sydney, has significantly increased

providers have benefited from large federal government

competition for commercial building space, and changed the

outsourced accounts, Hays has observed contrasting fortunes

demands on FM providers at the same time.

in other Australian states.

“Recently we have been seeing a lot of new building stock,

In Western Australia, permanent roles have been scarce for

both residential and commercial,” he says. “If I am a major

many months due to the downturn in the resources industry.

anchor tenant, like one of the big banks, I would be attracted

Many quality candidates have reacted to this by moving

to some of the new buildings that are going up. They are often

interstate to fi nd employment.

green star buildings that offer tax rebates,” Blackburne explains.

“What a lot of established buildings are doing is spending up on new fitouts, trying to rejuvenate existing assets. We are

Meanwhile, there has been an increase in demand for soft services in northern Queensland and the Northern Territory for gas, mining and defence projects. ●

HAYS 2016 SALARY GUIDE AUSTRALIAN CITIES FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

BUILDING MANAGER

FACILITIES COORDINATOR

FACILITIES MANAGER

SERVICE MANAGER

OPERATIONS MANAGER

ENGINEERING MANAGER

GENERAL MANAGER

Sydney

75 – 85

55 – 75

80 – 120

90 – 140

120 – 160

110 – 140

150 – 250

Melbourne

55 – 80

50 – 70

70 – 120

85 – 130

90 – 130

80 – 120

140 – 250

Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast

60 – 80

45 – 60

70 – 120

70 – 115

85 – 140

70 – 110

110 – 230

Adelaide

65 – 80

50 – 60

70 – 85

80 – 100

90 – 130

75 – 100

120 – 200

Perth

65 – 80

55 – 65

80 – 100

80 – 110

110 – 130

100 – 120

160 – 200

Canberra

65 – 85

50 – 65

80 – 120

80 – 130

90 – 140

90 – 130

120 – 250

Hobart

65 – 75

50 – 70

70 – 95

70 – 85

85 – 125

70 – 95

110 – 160

Darwin

65 – 90

65 – 85

70 – 140

110 – 150

100 – 160

100 – 165

130 – 250

SOFT SERVICES

CLEANING MANAGER

CATERING MANAGER

FACILITIES HELPDESK

Sydney

85 – 110

80 – 90

55 – 70

Melbourne

85 – 110

80 – 90

55 – 65

Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast

75 – 105

75 – 90

50 – 60

Adelaide

80 – 100

75 – 80

50 – 60

Perth

75 – 90

70 – 90

50 – 60

Canberra

85 – 110

80 – 90

55 – 65

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Notes: Figures in ‘000s Includes superannuation Source: Hays 2016 salary guide

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18 | SOFT FM

Harnessing the secret to front-of-house services First Contact is demonstrating that service principles from the hospitality industry are well-suited to corporate environments and enhancing facility management. BEN CREAGH reports.

A

ustralian company First Contact is turning front-of-house services into an integral part of how a facility is managed by taking principles from the hospitality industry into commercial building environments.

Since 2009 the Melbourne-based company has challenged traditional models of corporate reception and concierge services in commercial buildings by introducing five-star hotel services into premium office facilities.

First Contact now provides executive hospitality services to clients in a diverse range of industries, including banking, insurance, mining, and oil and gas, in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

Chief executive officer Paul Schmeja says the company’s business model harnesses the secret to keeping corporate tenants happy by applying the well-established service principles of hospitality into these environments.

“It’s a well-known fact in the world of luxury hotels that the most influential person for an organisation is the one who makes the first contact with the customer. So why wouldn’t companies want this for their business,” Schmeja, an experienced hotelier prior to founding First Contact, tells Facility Management.

“We become an extension of the building management team and we are the eyes

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and ears of the lobby. We are the face of the building, so our employees have a really interesting relationship [with facility managers] because they become a part of the facility management team, but at the same time they are there to represent us and our values.”

Schmeja says the term ‘concierge’ is generally understood, but often misused, so it has been First Contact’s mission to educate the corporate sector about the level of professionalism and service that can be provided when a good one is engaged.

And so far its clients have seen the value in the training and development given to staff to deliver their services, which include concierge, VIP support, client floor/meeting room management and reception.

Schmeja continues: “You have this cross pollination of the values of First Contact, which are all about service and anticipation, and then marrying those with the values of the different organisations.”

FRONT-OF-HOUSE EXPERIENCE First Contact’s growth around Australia has been backed by the belief that the most influential person for any organisation is the one who makes first contact with the customer, Schmeja reiterates.

While the front-of-house roles of security, cleaning and reception overlap, First Contact’s vision is that these roles should not be interchangeable, meaning a highly-trained concierge will deliver better results. He says this ensures the front-of-house experience leaves tenants and visitors in awe of the company and, in the process, the service First Contact provides.

“It isn’t [our client’s] area of expertise and that’s why they have brought us in. We are there to make the building an inviting, welcoming and well-presented place… and that has a flow-on effect to everyone’s business,” Schmeja says.

First Contact has established the cross-

industry service concept by recruiting employees from luxury hotels across Australia and placing them front-of-house at premium commercial buildings.

According to Schmeja, the company’s growth stems from its service culture, training in the luxury hotel industry and a strong network in the hospitality industry. After launching with 16 employees, the company now has more than 180 employees across Australia, with plans to expand internationally into Asia.

Using thorough recruitment processes led by a team of Australian hoteliers, First Contact only employs people with a high level of fivestar hotel experience.

Schmeja says First Contact’s employees must understand the key role their service has in the presentation of a company’s brand and reputation, which has been noticed by many of the FM providers they represent.

“Our employees come straight from hotels and they are wanting to please [our clients],” Schmeja explains. “The good ones actually go on to work in facility management – quite a few of our staff now actually work for our clients.”

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EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT First Contact trains its concierges to address the need to engage with building tenants by linking them to premium services and amenities in and around the workplace, such as dry cleaning, end-of-trip facilities or even leading local restaurants.

Aaron Rooney, who is a chief concierge at ANZ’s global headquarters in Melbourne, says his team is basically the front face of the organisation.

“First and foremost our role is about customer service – we provide that connection for people when they come into these buildings,” says Rooney.

“We provide a five-star hotel service for our clients, but it is a bit different from a hotel where people arrive internationally or from interstate. In a building in Melbourne people already know the product, so it is fun for us to go above and beyond that service.

“People still want those restaurant seats, or those theatre seats. It is about us being able to deliver it. As First Contact is a network we have a strength with that side of things.”

First Contact employee Ahmed Beirachi says, from a service perspective, his role as a

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concierge at a premium Sydney office building shares similarities with working in a hotel.

“The service standard is the same, but in this role my clients are busy businesspeople. I still respond to the little things like giving them a tissue when they are crying or an umbrella when it is raining. I have building policy and procedures that I must follow,” says Beirachi, who worked with a major international hotel chain for 15 years.

“I give directions to visitors to make their way to their appointments, I do VIP meet and greets for executive visitors, I provide general information and help the employees with whatever they require: limos, flowers, tickets, travel or special requests.”

WHAT’S NEXT? In a competitive marketplace, high-end concierge services are now seen as a must for prospective tenants in the commercial real estate market, and could even be a deciding factor for major corporations when selecting an office location, according to Schmeja.

While First Contact has demonstrated the importance of a high quality front-of-house service for FM providers, Schmeja says

the company’s clients keep asking about innovations it plans to introduce next.

He explains that First Contact always keeps an eye on technological advances and the potential they have to complement the service provided by the company.

However, Schmeja is quick to point out that First Contact does not intend to allow technology to take away from the personable nature of the company’s offering.

“We came into this environment to solve a problem. The problem was lack of VIP recognition, lack of groomed receptionists and a lack of arrival experience – we have addressed all of those problems. In order to innovate that service further you have to tell me what is the next problem,” Schmeja says.

“We feel that we actually got it right in the first place, but we are on a continual improvement where we are looking at technology and digital opportunities, and how visitor management systems can enhance arrival experience.”

In a society where technology and apps are prolific, the established skills of customer service remain a key part of a successful business model, Schmeja concludes. ●

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

21/07/16 2:40 PM

20 | GREEN ZONE

How green infrastructure is relevant to the WELL Building Standard PAUL RICHARDS provides an overview of the WELL Building Standard and how green infrastructure can assist building owners in achieving certification.

A

lot of property developers and facility managers in Australia have been talking about the WELL Building Standard.

WELL launched less than two years ago, but there are already a couple of hundred registered or certified WELL projects across five continents. The number of projects in Australia is approaching 20 and, of these, Macquarie Bank’s platinum-certified 50 Martin Place is the flagship.

Another sign of WELL’s momentum is a recent partnership between the administrative organisations behind WELL and the wellestablished Green Star rating system.

So, WELL looks set to have a big influence on the construction and management of Australian buildings in the future.

HOW WELL WORKS WELL focuses on how a building affects the well-being of the people that occupy it. The system is grounded in scientifi c and medical research, and organised into seven concepts, which comprise 100 features: ● air – indoor air quality (features 1-29) ● water – water quality and accessibility (30-37) ● nourishment – healthy eating habits (38-52)

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● light – window and lighting requirements

● new and existing buildings: applies to

(53-63) ● fitness – physical activity (64-71) ● comfort – productive and soothing (72-83), and ● mind – mental and emotional health (84100).

Each of the 100 features addresses a specific aspect of the health, comfort or knowledge of the building’s occupants. Each feature also relates to one or more of the human body’s systems, such as the respiratory system, and existing government or industry standards support many of them.

Each feature is one of two types: ● a precondition feature: which means that it must be addressed for a building to be WELL certified, and ● an optimisation feature: the level of optimisation determines the level of certification of the building – silver, gold or platinum.

In the assessment, each of the seven concepts is graded independently, and all applicable preconditions in every concept need to be met for WELL certification to be awarded. In addition to the seven concepts, projects can receive credit for up to five innovation features (101-105), which encourage development of novel wellness-related features that are not already covered.

So far, WELL has only been applicable to commercial and institutional office buildings – this is version one of WELL. However, there are pilot programs for other types, such as residential and retail.

Assessment covers both the building itself and the tenancy, such as how companies treat their staff.

To recognise that not all features apply to all buildings, given different stages of development, WELL is organised into project typologies. There are three of these:

entire buildings, so this typology has the most opportunity to implement WELL features ● new and existing interiors: applies to projects that only occupy a portion of the building, or an entire building that is not undergoing major renovation, and ● core and shell: applies to construction projects seeking to implement fundamental features into the building for the benefit of its future tenants.

To keep their WELL certification, buildings need to be recertified at least once every three years. This ensures that building conditions are not allowed to deteriorate over time.

HOW WELL CALLS FOR GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE One way in which buildings can gain credit for some of the features is through green infrastructure, such as green roofs and walls.

Green infrastructure and biophilia Most notably, green infrastructure satisfies features 88 and 100. These features are both categorised as biophilia, which refers to the innate affinity human beings have with the natural world.

In WELL, these features are listed under the mind concept, as a benefit to the nervous system. It recognises that a connection with the natural environment can have a positive effect on human health, stress and productivity.

Feature 88 is called Biophilia I – Qualitative. It is a precondition for new and existing interiors, and new and existing buildings, and an optimisation feature for core and shell. It takes its inspiration from the Living Building Challenge, which is a US certification program for sustainability in buildings.

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To satisfy this feature, there is a need to conduct historical, cultural, ecological and climatic research and use it to guide design.

Specifically, there are three parts that make up this feature, all of which need to be addressed to receive credit for it, and all require the development of a biophilia plan: ● nature incorporation: your plan must include a description of how the project incorporates nature through its environmental elements, lighting and layout ● pattern incorporation: your plan must include a description of how the project incorporates nature’s patterns throughout the design, and ● nature interaction: your plan must provide opportunities for human-nature interactions both within and external to the building.

Feature 100 is called Biophilia II – Quantitative. For all three typologies, it is an optimisation feature. It calls for the provision of outdoor gardens and landscaped areas, and indoor design elements reminiscent of the natural environment, including water features.

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Unlike Feature 88, it sets quantitative targets: ● outdoor biophilia: at least 25 percent of the project site area must feature landscaped grounds or rooftop gardens accessible to building occupants, with at least 70 percent plantings including tree canopies. ● indoor biophilia: potted plants or planted beds must cover at least one percent of the floor area (per floor), and there must be a plant wall on every floor (covering either a wall area at least two percent of the floor area or the largest of the available walls, whichever is greater), and ● water feature: there must be at least one water feature for every 9290 square metres, and it must be at least 1.8 metres in height or four square metres in area, with technology to address water safety.

Green infrastructure and nutrition Green infrastructure may also enable satisfaction of the nutrition concept. Feature 51 (food production) calls for the cultivation of

produce, with the aim of increasing access to healthy foods and encouraging engagement with food production processes.

It is an optimisation feature that is intended to benefit a few of the body’s systems: cardiovascular, digestive, immune, muscular and skeletal. It includes a requirement that a space of at least 0.1 square metres per occupant (up to 70 square metres) is allocated for a garden or greenhouse, or both.

It seems that there is considerable flexibility in the type of space that can be provided. For example, one possible solution is the type of rooftop community garden that has been successfully created by insurance company, GMHBA, on its head office building in Geelong.

Recommendations for additional green infrastructure use A solid understanding of the value delivered by green infrastructure is critical to maximising its use in WELL. For example, the insulation benefits of a green roof may be applicable in the comfort concept. Knowing how your green

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

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22 | GREEN ZONE

AUSTRALIA’S WELL OFF BUILDINGS Australia had 18 registered WELL projects up to June 2016, according to the International WELL Building Institute. While many of the Australian developments are listed as private, a few of the known registered WELL projects include: 50 Martin Place – Sydney, New South Wales This Heritage-listed building, constructed between 1925 and 1928, has been transformed into a state-of-the-art commercial workspace over 11 floors. The project involved a refurbishment of building services and systems, fitout of the interiors, widening of the existing atrium, and construction of a two-storey glassdomed roof and glass shuttle lifts.

480 Queen Street – Brisbane, Queensland This building includes a food and beverage precinct, a nature based in-building parkland and a rooftop entertaining area. 480 Queen Street provides 600 bike spaces, 500 lockers and 45 male and female shower facilities. A 1400-square metre park on level four is designed as a restful meeting place, while a rooftop tree grove on level 32 is available for functions.

200 George Street – Sydney, New South Wales Unveiled in June, this building has been designed and constructed to become one of Australia’s most environmentally advanced and sustainable developments. It features 257 bicycle spaces for tenants and 54 visitor bicycle parking spaces, as well as public art, leisure and event spaces. Learn more about 200 George Street on pages 38-40.

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infrastructure is innovative will enable you to receive credit in the innovation feature: ● consult a green infrastructure specialist who is familiar with WELL for a full account of how green infrastructure can increase your WELL scorecard.

To conclude, the arrival of WELL in Australia is a welcome development that will reward long-term performance of buildings. One of the likely consequences of WELL is that the way developers and facility management think about green infrastructure will change, not only in terms of design, but also in operations, management and maintenance.

Investing in maintenance and operational activities guarantees value from green infrastructure. The operational phase should also include programs to engage the building occupants, enabling it to realise the green infrastructure’s full potential. ●

Paul Richards is an environmental scientist at Do it on the Roof, specialising in green infrastructure, landscapes, water, soils and ecosystems. He studied geography at Swansea University and has worked in environmental science in Australia for over 10 years.

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22/07/16 7:54 AM

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16/06/16 4:33 PM

24 | FM INSIGHT

The power of community Martin Leitch.

MARTIN LEITCH analyses the role communities play in the development of the facilities management industry around the world.

W

orld FM Day, which took place during July, represents a focal point for the global facilities management community to come together. Instigated by Global FM, World FM Day recognises “the vital work that facilities management professionals and the facilities management industry contribute to business worldwide”.

Among other messages, the promotional information uses the term ‘community’ in relation to the FM profession. For one day every year, this event brings the global FM community together to share knowledge, ideas and trends with the ultimate objective of raising the profile of the profession.

Although the event is to be commended, it raises the question of what occurs during the other 364 days of the year. Certainly, there are other regional and local events, such as annual conferences, occasional industry lunches and various networking opportunities, but participation in these by a balanced representation of industry stakeholders seems to be very limited, with the predominance of attendees being suppliers and service providers.

BusinessDictionary.com defines a community as being a “self-organised network of people with common agenda, cause or interest, who collaborate by sharing ideas, information and other resources”.

Although this very much reflects the aspirational essence of our FM community, how mature is the FM community in practice?

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Leading the way are organisations such as the Facility Management Association of Australia (FMA), the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), with a great deal of their operations being undertaken by voluntary contributions from members.

In addition, less formal structures are continually evolving in the virtual and physical environments with varying levels of success, and there is a growing recognition of the value of building relationships between organisations and their local, non-business communities.

THE VIRTUAL FM COMMUNITY Lasting more than 24 hours, the IFMA global virtual conference during World FM Day is a great example of using the internet and virtual communication tools to best advantage. This event, along with others of a similar nature, offers real-time interaction and sharing of global experiences covering a wide range of subject matter. But one day does not make a community.

At the other extreme, various virtual platforms, dominated by LinkedIn, offer the opportunity to participate in the community 24/7 through membership of a range of FM specific online groups. Combine this with the plethora of newsletters, blogs and videos, and there is no shortage of virtual sharing opportunities. Unfortunately, this is also generating so much noise that it is difficult to identify really valuable information and, as a result, many valuable community members become disengaged.

One of the challenges with LinkedIn is that the information discussed is transient – to try to find a discussion on a particular topic from six months ago is very difficult. Therefore, in terms of building a body of knowledge, virtual platforms are limited to real-time issues, with their strength lying in being able to find

an answer to an immediate question with reference to peer groups.

LinkedIn itself is evolving, unfortunately for the worse, with the appearance of many more discussions that are not specific to business and more aligned to the sort of content found on Facebook. Also, community mindedness seems to be related to the number of connections in one’s virtual network, not by their quality or relevance.

This focus on increasing the number of members in one’s network does nothing for building relationships. As with all other social media, it is too easy to remain relatively anonymous, and it is impossible to build relationships and a community with anonymity.

This raises the question of its sustainability in relation to contributing to the FM community.

On the other hand, virtual platforms offer the opportunity to leverage virtual connections into the real world for those that are willing and have the foresight to see the value in a physical FM community.

A PHYSICAL FM COMMUNITY As already stated, one of the issues with many community activities is the imbalance of representation between facilities managers and suppliers. In the main, the latter group dominates, thus creating an increasing trend of practising facilities managers staying away with the risk that the community becomes totally supplier focused.

The primary activity of a community, as stated in the above definition, is collaboration.

In the case of facilities management, productive collaboration means sharing challenges and solutions. In an ideal world, facilities managers should be able to share their challenges and experiences with suppliers, and those suppliers, in response, focus on listening and understanding with a view to coming up with solutions that will assist with working smarter and increasing efficiency.

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The most effective way to achieve this level of innovation is through face-to-face interaction. The resulting innovative ideas can release facilities managers’ time and relieve the significant pressures to which they are exposed.

In much the same way that individuals need to belong to a community, communities need to build relationships. The FM community is no exception and needs to look externally to broaden an understanding of the challenges and issues to which FM is exposed and the value that it can add.

The real value, therefore, of events such as annual conferences and World FM Day is the manner in which they are promoted outside the profession and their success should be considered in terms of the level of participation by non-FM stakeholders, such as CEOs (chief executive officers), CFOs (chief financial officers) and other community groups. As designing, delivering and operating the modern workplace becomes more sophisticated, collaboration with other key business communities becomes even more essential.

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LOCAL COMMUNITIES There is also value in engaging with communities that are local to places of work and play. Although not necessarily directly related to FM, these can open up two-way opportunities for accessing knowledge, experience and physical facilities. These types of relationships can not only support local economies, but also demonstrate corporate social responsibility.

THE CHALLENGE OF TIME In line with all organisations and communities, the fundamental building block is a cohesive network of relationships. Strong relationships can only be established in the real world, through physically meeting and interacting with others. But herein lies the current day problem – finding the time to establish and manage these relationships. Ask any facilities manager why they don’t get involved in the FM community and the answer will generally be that they are too busy and don’t have the time.

So the challenge for the majority of facilities managers is how to find the time to build relationships, continue to expand

knowledge and experience and to participate in other related business communities.

Addressing these challenges will contribute significantly to achieving job satisfaction, career development and a balanced healthy life style. The answer lies partially in leveraging the capacity of the broader community.

In practical terms, the power of our global, national and regional FM community comes, first and foremost, from face-to-face networking, collaboration among facilities managers and suppliers, and engagement with relevant non-FM stakeholders. It is about being able to call on a fellow member for help and advice within the context of respectfulness of others' needs, wants and general circumstances. ●

Martin Leitch FBIFM MRICS, workplace management consultant, FM Scope, is a workplace management professional with in excess of 30 years’ experience in delivering a wide range of facilities management consultancy and education services in the UK and Australia.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

21/07/16 2:46 PM

26 | CONTENT PARTNER: ASSA ABLOY

Content partner: ASSA ABLOY Wireless systems continue emergence in access control industry DAVID WARD outlines the emergence of wireless locks in the access control industry and how they are being integrated into building management and security systems.

W

ireless locks continue to be

complicated and disruptive, 65 percent believed

one of the fastest growing

a wireless upgrade would not be expensive and

segments of the electronic

84 percent did not expect onerous maintenance

access control industry.

costs.

Australia, along with the

Two years later and 69 percent agree that

US, France, Germany, the UK, China and Japan,

wireless access control is a cost-effective

has emerged as a major growth market for

alternative to its wired equivalent – and

wireless locks in recent years.

wireless locks have indeed been instrumental in

Given the critical advantages wireless

reducing the cost of installing electronic access

technology has over both mechanical locks

control. This message appears to be getting

and wired access control, it is expected that the

through.

Australian market will continue its steady move

There is also a widespread perception that

towards wireless alternatives in the coming

the ongoing costs of wireless systems are now

years.

lower, with 69 percent agreeing that wireless

The data in ASSA ABLOY’s 2016 Wireless Access Control Market survey, developed in

access control is a cost-effective alternative to wired systems.

conjunction with IFSEC Global, backs up this expectation.

In the 2014 survey, it was reported that 23

A wireless future The 2016 survey reveals a number of interesting

percent of businesses used a fully wireless or

points that show how wireless alternatives will

hybrid wired/wireless system for access control.

shape the future of the access control sector.

Fast-forward two years and that figure has risen

David Ward, business development manager for wireless access control at ASSA ABLOY Australia.

For example, wired access control systems

upgrade to an existing building management

to 29 percent, with five percent already having

(57 percent) are still much more prevalent than

system. The survey shows that 80 percent judge

adopted a fully wireless solution. The installed

wireless (five percent) or hybrid wired/wireless

the integration task to be no more difficult than

base for wireless is growing rapidly, it seems.

(24 percent) alternatives. This suggests that

‘somewhat challenging’, with 42 percent even

replacement or expansion of installed systems is

fi nding it ‘fairly easy’.

The latest survey also confi rms that a majority of end users recognise the effectiveness and return on investment (ROI) potential

potentially a significant market in the future.

For those with experience of the installation

To make the switch to wireless attractive, multiple benefits must be in place for buyers,

of wireless systems over traditional access

process, integration of a wireless system is not

including a significant reduction in disruption

control. Back in 2014 some 63 percent thought

seen as a major challenge, whether it is part of

during installation, cost-effective maintenance,

integration with existing systems would not be

a new access control installation or part of an

easy integration and, most importantly, an

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42079_26-31_Content Partners.indd 26

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21/07/16 3:06 PM

equivalent level of security compared to that of a wired access control system.

Although, it is possibly the familiar uncertainties around the security of wireless access systems that may be an obstacle, as half of the respondents believe that wired systems are more secure despite the fact that wireless locks, including in the Aperio range, provide all the features of a wired access control door.

Cost-efficiency continues to be a key strength of wireless technology, with more than two-thirds of respondents believing it to be a cost-effective alternative to wired access control.

Mechanical key loss is a significant security risk in the minds of most (86 percent) professionals and, along with burdensome key administration (77 percent), is seen as a major weakness of mechanical locks.

In addition, 62 percent of professionals in the survey think few business premises will have mechanical locks within a decade, which, if true, represents a major opportunity for wireless access control in the coming years.

Server racks (78 percent) and other nondoor applications of wireless access control (including cabinets at 57 percent) are attractive to many potential customers, backing up the 2014 research, which found 73 percent of professionals were interested in these flexible

For example, providing certified products to

applications of wireless access control.

customers nervous about the security of wireless

locks, administration staff can use electronic

For example, in universities using wireless

versus wired technology and ensuring customers

access control to create fi ne-grained access to

Current access control systems

have an understanding of the difference in

different areas of the building. Some areas can

So, if wireless alternatives are the future of

wireless access control technologies, including the

be made open to everyone, including visitors

access control, but are still slow to take hold in

advantages and disadvantages they may have.

issued with temporary access cards. Offices can be restricted for staff use only. Students

the industry, what do current systems look like?

Electronic versus mechanical locks

can use an access card to enter library services,

professionals or other stakeholders in the survey

Electronic locks are continuing their gradual

communal areas and other spaces.

currently operate a fully wireless system, while

takeover of the market from mechanical locks,

almost a quarter has a combination of wired

and results from the survey indicate this is

mechanical locks, however, and a belief their

and wireless systems.

expected to be the case in coming years.

decline is inevitable, the ratio of respondents

Just one in 20 facility managers, security

Respondents who do operate a combination

It is well-known that the cost of replacing

Despite concerns about the limitations of

with mechanical locks with plans to upgrade

of wireless doors were asked to what extent

a lock can be considerable when a key is lost,

some of their doors to electronic access control

integrating it with a hard-wired system is a

whereas a lost smart card can be disabled

remains relatively low.

challenge. It turns out 86 percent of respondents

almost immediately and cheaply.

with a combined system have successfully

In addition to the significant 86 percent

While a lack of a business or security need to monitor movement between building areas

integrated it with CCTV (closed circuit television),

majority that considers losing mechanical keys as

is the most common reason why some doors

lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-

a security risk, 67 percent believe that mechanical

are not secured with electronic access control,

conditioning) or other building functions.

key systems fail to offer a high level of security

other reasons include: external access doors,

or control. This complements the 62 percent of

fi re exit doors and mechanical keys acting as a

wireless access control for manufacturers and

respondents who predict that few buildings will

secondary lock, according to the survey. ●

resellers is twofold: demonstrate the benefits of

have mechanical locks a decade from now.

The key to increasing the acceptance of

adding access control to lower-security areas of

Taking this into account, there are many

David Ward, ASSA ABLOY business development

the wide range of facilities, as well as matching

reasons why electronic access is useful in a

manager, has more than 15 years’ experience in

the right solution to the customer’s needs.

building, and it’s not just about security.

security management and access control services.

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AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

21/07/16 3:06 PM

28 | CONTENT PARTNER: SCHINDLER LIFTS

Content Partner: Schindler Lifts A digital transformation ROBERT SEAKINS tells Facility Management the digitisation of Schindler Lifts Australia has transformed its service capabilities and the day-to-day activities of its field technicians.

D

igital technology continues

technologies have been implemented and

to transform the elevator and

utilised throughout the industry.

escalator industry in both manufacturing and in the

The Schindler approach

way that maintenance services

At Schindler Lifts we believe that by digitising

are organised.

the company in Australia we are able to deliver

Recent advancements in technology have

a greater level of service within the elevator and

led to improved reliability, better performance,

escalator industry, both now and into the future.

greater sustainability, superior scheduling

For the past two years the digitisation of

methods and more intelligent equipment.

Schindler in Australia has gathered pace. This

Now, digital technology is raising the bar

transformation is on track to culminate with

even higher and Schindler Lifts Australia is

the completion of an upgrade project that will

committed to being at the forefront of this

see our systems integrated into one seamless

revolution.

platform during the fi rst half of 2017.

By harnessing the capabilities of leading

However, the company has already

digital technologies, Schindler Lifts is

developed into a real-time service business

enhancing the reliability, speed and safety

where technicians are leveraging mobile

performance across a wide range of product

technologies to communicate more effectively

offerings.

with customers, colleagues and directly with the

The industry has undergone widespread transformation in tandem with digital

Robert Seakins is managing director at Schindler Lifts Australia.

equipment.

The majority of Schindler’s workforce is

technologies that significantly increase mobility

made up of field technicians, who spend a

and enable communication with clients and

substantial amount of time at building sites and

interaction technicians have with the equipment

equipment 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

properties around Australia working with the

they are servicing. It also allows them to access

company’s clients.

information for clients live on-site, in terms of

Servicing elevators and escalators has certainly come a long way from the days when

Equipped with the latest handheld devices

engineering information, drawings and up-to-

field technicians would carry numerous binders

on-site, such as iPhones and iPads, our

and folders with them to building sites to

technicians are providing commercial building

undertake scheduled maintenance on critical

clients with a level of mobility and real-time

Mobile service advantages

equipment.

responsiveness unheard of in the industry just a

By combining the latest technologies with

decade ago.

the expertise of highly trained technicians,

No longer are technicians forced to search through the traditional, heavy manuals for

Modern day technologies like smartphones

date maintenance progress.

our team provides services and repairs on the

equipment information, or required to make

and tablet devices also present opportunities

spot when required, with fewer callbacks and

regular trips back and forth to their office to

to develop custom applications that bring our

inconveniences for tenants and visitors.

carry out paper-based tasks.

technicians and clients even closer together.

Field technicians have become more mobile and responsive than ever before as digital

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42079_26-31_Content Partners.indd 28

Having access to real-time information through these custom applications increases the

This capability has not only shaped our current service offering, but also how our technicians communicate, the way they provide

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21/07/16 3:06 PM

maintenance and how the company functions together as a business around Australia.

Real-time scheduling and alerts for maintenance jobs has become a reality for our workforce through these devices. This includes when equipment requires immediate attention or if it is due for routine maintenance.

With real-time scheduling, our supervisors and technicians identify and prioritise needs with minimal disruption to operations. It also allows them to optimise travel routes, meaning technicians spend less time on the road and more time on-site working with customers and equipment. With this capability supervisors and technicians can change schedules as required, to meet urgent needs.

The digitisation of Schindler Lifts has also had a positive impact on the environment by reducing the need for printed material and decreasing travel time, thus lowering fuel consumption, leading to an overall drop in our carbon footprint.

Upgraded systems While improving the mobility and responsiveness of technicians was a major step forward in the digital transformation, there will continue to be opportunities for the company to leverage technology to communicate more effectively, both internally and with customers.

The backbone of this ongoing development will be the new SAP platform, which will add to the harmonisation of our processes across the country, further improve the connection we have with clients and align us more closely with Schindler’s operations globally.

When the system goes live next year

return equipment to normal service much

in the evolution of smart buildings on the

more quickly than in the past. When fully

Australian landscape.

Schindler’s clients will be able to access new

implemented, the new technology will have the

In Australia we are at the beginning of the

applications from their iOS and Android devices

capability to prevent breakdowns, by predicting

industry’s next wave of technological change,

that provide real-time information about the

when the lift may require intervention.

which will almost certainly take us into the

lifts and escalators in their buildings, including

realm of remote monitoring – something we

the equipment status, maintenance and callback

Technology partners

are already seeing in overseas markets. With

history, as well as a range of other enhanced

To consolidate our commitment to digitising

new offerings, like remote monitoring, shaping

reporting functions.

the company, Schindler Lifts has established

vertical transportation services and maintenance

partnerships with high-profi le technology

in the future, Schindler Lifts Australia can assure

technicians have the right information when

companies, including Apple, GE and Microsoft.

building owners that the company is committed

they need it to fi x a lift or escalator, minimising

This will ensure that our workforce remains

to setting a digital standard for the industry.

downtime and increasing productivity for the

at the forefront of the digital movement with

building’s occupants. As part of the digital

access to the latest technology and devices

digitising its business, visit www.apple.com/au/

technology commitment, Schindler plans to

being developed by these companies.

business/schindler. ●

The new SAP platform will ensure that our

also apply the technology to older equipment to improve reliability, safety and performance.

Most importantly, the new platform will provide the foundation for Schindler Lifts to

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42079_26-31_Content Partners.indd 29

For more information on how Schindler is

It also positions Schindler for the next stage of the broader industry’s digitisation,

Robert Seakins, who has more than 30 years’

which will likely involve further integration

experience in the elevator industry, is managing

with the Internet of Things (IoT), a key element

director of Schindler Lifts Australia.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

21/07/16 3:06 PM

30 | CONTENT PARTNER: SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC

Content Partner: Schneider Electric Why hotel room energy management is relevant JOE ESSEX analyses different hotel room energy management approaches that accommodate both guest green expectations and comfort for facility managers.

M

ore travellers are looking for

room energy management to accommodate

sustainability credentials

both guest comfort and energy efficiency?

when they book their hotel accommodation. TripAdvisor’s

Energy management simplification

global travellers survey,

Imagine a hotel where staff members have quick

TripBarometer, reveals that 79 percent of

and easy access to screens that enable them

travellers place importance on properties

to control and monitor energy consumption in

implementing eco-friendly practices1.

rooms, responding to whether the rooms are

Once they arrive, however, guests’ comfort is a top priority for hotel operators, especially

occupied, rented but not occupied, or not rented.

From an energy and comfort perspective, all

for ensuring repeat visits. On average, guests

of these categories of rooms need to be managed

remain outside of their rooms for long durations.

differently. Sensors within the rooms gather

When comfort parameters are not adjusted

an abundance of comfort, safety and energy

during these periods, considerable amounts of

consumption data, while building analytics software

energy are wasted.

converts that data into actionable intelligence that

Guest room energy consumption accounts for between 40 and 80 percent of energy use within the hospitality industry, which could be as much

improves the energy efficiency performance of the hotel and boosts the satisfaction of the guests.

The smart algorithms identify problem

as 80 kilowatts of energy per room per day for a

conditions or opportunities with main plant and

luxury guestroom.

in the various rooms, and then offer suggested

For facility managers, the challenge is that

Joe Essex is business technology adviser in hotels and entertainment at Schneider Electric Australia.

proposals and actions to address the situation.

hotel guests and staff don’t have visibility to nor

This type of automated fault detection and

Guestroom energy management systems utilise

are they directly accountable for, a hotel’s overall

diagnostics is captured in the cloud – where it’s

sensors and controls to adjust heat, ventilation

utility bill, beyond the standard environmental

analysed by qualified experts.

and air-conditioning (HVAC), lighting and

appeal on the bathroom wall. Consumer

The reports generated from this data, in

other environmental factors in rooms, based

scepticism to green washing is understandable

addition to identifying equipment and system

on whether or not the room is occupied. These

from this perspective.

faults, identify a prioritised sequence of operational

systems are deployed in different ways, including:

The energy cost in hotels typically is three

improvements, and energy usage trends.

to six percent of overall operational cost and

To get to this point of integration hotel

Keycard-holder system: utilising this system,

therefore often dismissed as too insignificant

operators will need to familiarise themselves

when a guest enters their room, they place their

to bother with; however, this does represent a

with the various approaches available and

card in a special holder that activates the room

substantial proportion of controllable cost –

ascertain which scenario makes the most sense

HVAC and lighting settings. This system has

second only to labour costs.

in order to address both immediate and long-

a weakness, however, because it can affect the

So how can hotel facility managers approach

term hotel energy management needs.

guest comfort.

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42079_26-31_Content Partners.indd 30

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22/07/16 8:47 AM

Enhanced guest presence detection: many

The ROI of networking

been rented to the occupied set point – instead

hotel operators use a guest presence detection

While stand-alone solutions pay for themselves,

of waiting until the guest enters the room

system based on a combination of movement

much greater savings can be achieved when

detection and door status. This approach has

the guestroom systems are networked

several benefits: it is seamless to the guest, it

and integrated with the hotel’s building

cannot be bypassed and it is compatible with

management system (BMS) and property

new access control devices.

management system (PMS).

As these systems continue to evolve,

The use of open standards allows both

● greeting the guest in his/her own language

on the thermostat (when integrated with the PMS), and ● identifying when a hotel room or window

has been left open for a long period of time, especially in rented but unoccupied rooms,

advanced presence detection approaches

BMS and room controls to be integrated with

so maintenance personnel can be dispatched

are now merging with the concept of ‘target’

a facility’s front desk and PMS. This provides

to check up on things.

temperature settings to manage activation of

hotels with centralised control of room comfort

heating and cooling systems in guestrooms.

and promotes a building-wide approach to

Decreased maintenance costs – typically,

managing energy and guestroom comfort.

traditional maintenance practices don’t

Hotel operator-selected variances, setback

Importantly, many controllers offer wireless

leave facility managers the time they need to

and deep setback settings: these help to

communications capability, making them easy

optimise the hotel facility. Time is spent on

keep the room at desired temperature ranges

and non-disruptive to install in existing buildings.

manual checks of equipment or reviewing

throughout various room status scenarios.

Networking and integration provide significant

data, historical trends or alarm logs to identify

benefits, the most important of which are:

issues or opportunities. Networking guestroom

The purpose of these variable fluctuations is to ensure that the target temperature is maintained

controllers combined with powerful analytics

for guest comfort, while eliminating unnecessary

The ability to go into deep setback

provides an opportunity to cost-effectively

‘vacant energy expense’ while guests are out of

mode when a room is unrented – rented

implement a predictive maintenance approach.

the room. When a guest re-enters, temperatures

but unoccupied rooms can be set to adjust

Analytics uses automated fault detection

return to the guest’s preferred setting, with the

temperatures to save money, but this saving

and diagnostics to highlight those issues

ability to make manual adjustments.

is limited because temperatures must be

and opportunities most impacting building

maintained within a certain range to ensure

performance in terms of energy waste, comfort

guest comfort.

conditions and operational impact.

When the energy management system determines a room is unoccupied, it sends a signal to each light switch and turns off any

With networking and centralised control,

With this information available to them,

light that is left on. Similar to the heating

however, a hotel can easily adjust unrented

facility managers and their contractors can

and cooling settings, a time delay can be

rooms to deep setback or, in some cases,

act immediately on high priority issues, and

programmed to system operator preference.

temporarily shut down rooms to eliminate

direct maintenance activity to address the most

unnecessary expense. Deep setback permits

impactful issues or opportunities.

As soon as the door opens again, guests can be greeted by warm courtesy lighting.

increased energy efficiency by reducing the set

Rules can also be set to not activate courtesy

point in heating and cooling seasons.

lighting during daylight hours when natural

The ability to fi ne-tune these settings can

Information is available to calculate an ROI for fault rectification or sustainability improvements.

Issues can be addressed before building

light is sufficient, thus maximising the energy

significantly impact ROI and reduce the initial

occupants are even aware they exist, resulting in

savings potential.

payback period. Since most hotels operate at

lesser impact on the guest experience.

a 70 to 80 percent occupancy rate, this means

The stand-alone system

that 20 to 30 percent of rooms could be in deep

ROI elements to consider

The most basic energy management approach

setback at any given time, potentially reducing

The ROI of a hotel management system is affected

is to deploy room controls as a stand-alone

overall HVAC costs by 20 percent or more.

by a number of key drivers. Understanding these drivers can help to maximise energy efficiency

system, using presence detection sensors and door/window contact sensors.

Temperature is relegated to a setback position

Increased guest comfort for increased

benefits derived from improvements and help to

revenue – guest comfort is always the

assure rapid payback periods.

when the room is unoccupied and deep setback

number one priority and directly affects hotel

after a predefined unoccupied period. Electrical

profitability. Networked controllers improve

installation costs, management strategy,

circuits are turned off when the system detects

guest comfort by:

individual room efficiency, property size,

that the room is empty (except for some outlets

● enabling the BMS to send an alarm if a room

location, demographics, incentives and funding.

The key drivers to consider include:

Ultimately any investment, green or not,

that can remain active to enable guests to

is out of a certain threshold when rented,

recharge laptops and devices at any time they

allowing preventive maintenance before the

needs to make good business sense. To be

wish), and turned back on when guests return.

guest complains

successful in achieving the projected ROI,

In a stand-alone system, devices exchange

● providing the ability to change room

guests and staff are more likely to engage and

information inside the room, but are not

parameters remotely to accommodate a guest

cooperate with the hotel brand if they know that

connected to other systems outside the room.

or tweak a room that has been troublesome

they are doing their part to ensure a healthier

Even this basic approach yields strong ROI.

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42079_26-31_Content Partners.indd 31

● pre-cooling or pre-heating rooms that have just

world environment. ●

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

22/07/16 8:47 AM

32 | SECURITY

Finding the right digital visitor management solution STEPHEN DARRACOTT explains why digitally managing on-site contractors and visitors should be a priority for businesses across Australia, and how to find the one that best suits your office’s needs.

T

o keep pace with today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, leading organisations are implementing digital strategies, processes and solutions to remain relevant and deliver the best solutions for the workplace.

Organisations today need to look beyond the implementation of digital solutions to achieve greater productivity and utilise digital solutions as a means to manage practices, such as Workplace Health and Safety (WHS), to ensure proper compliance processes are being met.

MANAGING WHO IS ON YOUR PREMISES IS MORE THAN JUST TAKING ATTENDANCE WHS legislation in Australia has serious penalties for non-compliance but in the event of an emergency, those penalties are nothing compared to the risk you can carry if you aren’t sure who is in your building or where they are. Ensuring the safety of your staff, contractors and visitors should be a top priority for any workplace.

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42079_32-33_security.indd 32

The days of a lobby sign-in sheet for all visitors are gone. It’s no longer enough to simply have a guest write down their name to gain access. In the event of an emergency, you need to know you have captured enough meaningful visitor information to find and protect your staff, contractors and visitors.

Effective workplace safety plans should include a high-quality photographic record to go with a contractor’s or visitor’s name, purpose of visit and contact details. Today, the advanced technology that underpins digital visitor management systems allows photos and data to be captured more seamlessly than ever before.

FINDING THE BEST SOLUTION FOR YOUR OFFICE NEEDS There are basic components of digital lobby visitor management solutions that should become the first layer of defence for any business trying to make critical improvements in WHS procedures and policies. Digital visitor management systems ensure contractors and visitor information can be presented to organisations to determine when visitors are on premises, while simultaneously providing visitors with necessary information, such as safety plans and emergency procedures.

Advanced digital visitor management systems also print visitor badges, generate real-time reports and capture emergency contact details to ensure all employees and visitors can be located as quickly as possible should they face critical safety situations.

FINDING THE BEST SOLUTION FOR YOUR OFFICE FOOTPRINT There is a large range of technology solutions available to satisfy WHS, security and visitor management needs. However, organisations looking for new digital visitor management

Stephen Darracott.

systems need to be aware of the fine line that exists between systems fitting seamlessly into current workflow and office procedure, and them becoming intrusive. Organisations should be looking for systems that streamline the welcoming process, rather than those that make it more cumbersome.

While many systems can run from smaller office equipment such as tablets, many of the smaller systems do not provide adequate solutions to improve the security of a workplace. Facility managers need to search for systems that offer advanced solutions to meet their individual requirements and cannot easily be removed or misplaced from the lobby or office.

Many substantial solutions still have small footprints that enable them to blend in to lobby space, offering intuitive touch screens that simplify check-in procedures, but also offer a level of onscreen and printed badge customisation. Additionally, the data entered can be retrieved from off-premise locations in case of emergency.

ANSWERING CHALLENGES IN UNIQUE LOBBY AND COMMUNICATION SITUATIONS Organisations today face a range of lobby and reception area challenges. Front lobby staff are often expected to be more agile and handle more business functions than the perceived routine tasks of greeting guests and directing incoming calls. Workplaces need to find specific solutions that meet their individual office needs, whether that is through a staffed front lobby or a staffless greeting area.

Whether or not by lobby greet staff contractors or visitors, a digital lobby visitor management solution can be a great asset to communicate critical information to visitors.

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21/07/16 2:49 PM

Many solutions provide organisations with the opportunity to share a short orientation for visitors and contractors, alerting them to emergency procedures and exits.

These options are extremely effective in customising individual office requirements and creating a central process that can easily be rolled out across the entire organisation to keep up with the evolving number of staff, contractors and visitors on-site. This process can go a long way to helping you satisfy some of your WHS requirements.

CUSTOMISE VISITOR BADGES FOR ADDED BRANDING AND SECURITY Top of the line systems offer organisations many options to create customised welcome screens and visitor badge formats. They ideally allow organisations and their security staff to create badges with features such as company logos, visitor photos and contact details for the employee sponsoring the contractor or visitor. This also allows other employees to assist in office security, as they will easily be able to stay alert to visitors who may be unescorted.

SECURING YOUR DATA AND CONNECTING TO THE CLOUD Any smart visitor management system should allow a level of interconnectedness and confidentiality that paper logs simply cannot match.

With both secure databases and cloudbased technology, visitor details should only be retrievable by authorised employees in-house or, in case of an emergency, from off-premise locations using cloud-based technology.

Optimally, these solutions should also stay connected to the workplace through realtime personal alerts to employees when their

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42079_32-33_security.indd 33

contractors or visitors arrive and complete the check-in process.

There are a number of additional things organisations should consider when searching for the best system to suit their office needs: ● Can you incorporate unique brand graphics and messaging to the system’s welcome screen? ● Do you have the ability to create customised visitor badges to add another layer of security for your premises? ● Can you customise the sign-in process so visitors acknowledge compulsory information? ● Does the system include a notification feature that alerts employees via email or SMS when their visitor arrives, reducing the time visitors spend unattended? ● In case of emergency, can you generate real-time reports and emergency contact details for occupants? ● Can you safeguard confidential visitor

information with secure storage features?

WHS for visitors and contractors is a major concern for organisations today and finding non-disruptive solutions that enhance operations can be difficult. The winning combination for any visitor management system should feature critical components that combine to create the best solution to maximise safety, security and the latest technology to protect the office, staff, contractors and visitors.

The digital management solution adopted

by Pitney Bowes offers cloud-based data storage technology that makes data accessible from anywhere in the event of an emergency. ●

Stephen Darracott is the country manager for Pitney Bowes, Australia/New Zealand, a global technology company that has found success with its pbLobbyTrac visitor digital management solution.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

21/07/16 2:49 PM

34 | TECHNOLOGY

INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGIES SHAPES FUTURE OF AUSTRALIAN BUILDINGS Facility managers in Australia have an opportunity to add value to their roles as building management systems become more integrated, explain GAURANG PANDYA and OON WEE CHIN from United Technologies Corp. BEN CREAGH reports.

C

ommercial property owners in Australia can capitalise further on building technologies and energy efficiency opportunities despite the country already being one of the most evolved

markets in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, according to United Technologies Corp (UTC) Climate, Controls and Security APAC president, Gaurang Pandya.

UTC Climate, Controls and Security, a provider of HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) and refrigeration systems, building controls and automation, and fi re and security systems, continues to expand its offering in the APAC region to be part of this regional opportunity.

In Australia, the company recently consolidated its position by acquiring the commercial HVAC product sales and commercial service divisions of AHI-Carrier Ltd, a UTC joint venture in Australia.

In terms of the development of sustainable and highperforming buildings, Pandya describes Australia as one of the more ‘mature markets’ in the APAC region. He believes that government agencies and building owners in Australia are ‘pushing the limits’ to get the most out of building projects to achieve cost and energy efficiency outcomes.

Pandya says the Australian marketplace can mature even further, however, by learning more about the local and international solutions being developed by integrated technology providers for commercial buildings.

“You have some operators who are at a high level [already] and they keep pushing us in terms of delivering more. [But] the majority of them out there still would not know as much, or would be worried about making investments and not knowing how their returns come back to them in terms of time-frame,” Pandya tells

Facility Management . “So it is an educational process and something we are driving pretty hard.”

UTC Climate, Controls and Security Southeast Asia president Oon Wee Chin says much of the education that is needed centres on the capabilities of new technologies and how they can be applied to both new and existing buildings.

“What used to be going green, or what was right for the environment, is now becoming a business necessity,” Wee Chin explains.

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“You need to do this to save costs otherwise you are not competitive. We are now seeing that ‘going green’ is no longer about feeling good, or a social responsibility – it is a business need.”

Education process UTC’s education of building owners focuses on the level of cost savings they can potentially gain by implementing different technologies, and how an integrated system is important in achieving this.

Over the past decade UTC Climate, Controls and Security has developed an integrated offering across its business to reflect this global trend, with the acquisition of Carrier the latest example of the strategy in Australia.

As part of UTC Climate, Controls and Security, Carrier Australia has direct access to established global Carrier operations, factories and engineering centres. The acquisition also facilitates closer collaboration in Australia, as well as more direct access to UTC Climate, Controls and Security’s global resources. The newly acquired organisation will conduct business as Carrier Australia Ltd, part of UTC Climate, Controls and Security, a unit of UTC. Carrier Australia will operate in nine locations and deliver a range of commercial HVAC solutions and services.

Pandya says the ability to offer more complete building solutions has been identified as a crucial differentiator for UTC Climate, Controls and Security. He adds that Carrier’s synergy with UTC brands, such as Chubb Australasia, strengthens its overall range of integrated solutions.

“There are opportunities that we believe we can bring to the market [in Australia]. And with the technologies we are talking about – integration, controls and system solutions overall – I think there is a lot of play available to us to come over here and make full investments for the businesses,” he says.

FM impact Pandya believes the integration of building systems is also contributing to the evolution of the FM profession. He says it is commonly the facility managers that are interacting with, and must understand, the solutions being implemented in their buildings.

“They are starting to pull together data in a big way now. The next level is starting to take the data and actually analysing it, use it in terms of driving both behaviour and also pricing – in terms of how do you price one building compared to another one,” Pandya says.

Oon Wee Chin agrees that facility managers have an opportunity to add value to their roles by developing data analysis skills.

“Traditionally [facility managers] make sure they run the building properly and keep it clean and maintained,” he says.

“But now they have an opportunity to look at what else they can improve in terms of energy efficiency, as well as operational efficiency using the technology they have. We think that we can

INTEGRATED BUILDING ACHIEVEMENTS As UTC Climate, Controls and Security expands in Australia, APAC president Gaurang Pandya says the company is confi dent of replicating its achievements on building projects from elsewhere in the APAC region. Pandya believes this will be possible if awareness of the level of savings that can be achieved grows.

UTC Climate, Controls and Security has worked with many clients in the APAC region that have not only ‘gone green’, but also made signifi cant cost cuts at their buildings.

For example, the Furama City Centre Hotel in Singapore underwent green retrofitting with energy effi cient chillers and saw its system effi ciency improve from a fair to an excellent level, resulting in annual savings of US$238,000 a year.

This represented a 36 percent energy saving in the chiller plant system, about 16 percent of the hotel energy usage. Encouraged by the results, the hotel owner commissioned a similar retrofit for the 600-room Furama Riverfront Hotel, resulting in a reduction of energy usage in the chiller plant by 45 percent and savings of US$370,000 a year.

Singapore is leading the way in the APAC region, in terms of green building initiatives and energy effi ciency projects, according to Pandya.

This movement has been aided by government initiatives, including the Singapore Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Scheme, which was introduced in 2005 and is a green building rating tool that evaluates a building for its environmental impact and performance.

The number of Green Mark certified buildings in Singapore continues to increase, putting it on track to meet a target of greening 80 percent of buildings by 2030.

In Hong Kong, the iSQUARE building project is an example of how UTC Climate, Controls and Security can provide value to the client with integrated building solutions.

“The shoppers’ paradise underwent intelligent building optimisation, resulting in energy savings, predictive maintenance and people flow management,” Pandya says.

The project involved retrofitted Carrier chillers, advanced video analytics for elevator dispatching and an intelligent building management system, delivering energy savings of 30 percent.

At Shanghai International Finance Centre (IFC), a Carrier heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) upgrade project, completed in 2015, led to a 40 percent improvement in chiller plant efficiency and returned annual savings of US$1.2 million.

At its own sites UTC Climate, Controls and Security has also improved the company’s energy efficiency standards after launching factory reduction goals in 1988, and expanding these targets to broader global environment, health and safety metrics in 1997.

By 2015, UTC Climate, Controls and Security had achieved a 54 percent reduction in water consumption, 49 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, 59 percent reduction in total industrial waste and a 78 percent reduction in air emissions (nongreenhouse gases).

help them add value to what they can provide customers.” ●

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AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

22/07/16 7:57 AM

36 | TECHNOLOGY

EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES LOOK TO A MOBILE FUTURE The implementation of mobility-defined network solutions is shaping the role of FM providers in educational facilities.

BEN CREAGH reports.

O

ur future generations are destined to grow up in a society that benefits from a high level of digital mobility supported by modern day technologies.

So it is only natural that schools and universities

are developing into facilities that provide a more mobile environment than in the past.

Tech company Aruba is involved in seamless technology use and facilitation of learning and teaching across a variety of educational facilities around Australia and the world.

The company’s solution, which is implemented in primary and secondary schools as well as universities, provides seamless mobility-defi ned network and wireless outcomes.

Increasing mobility at schools and universities continues to be a common demand at educational facilities, which are looking to utilise the capabilities of digital technologies to create this environment, according to Mark Verbloot (pictured), Aruba systems engineering director, South Pacific.

Verbloot says educational facilities are implementing scalable mobility solutions that can support the growing number of devices and device types. A reliable network is essential, as many learning and teaching initiatives are hinged on a seamless wireless connection, he adds.

“As educational facilities are becoming increasingly mobile environments, and staff and students often are utilising more than one device, automation of on-boarding devices is also critical,” Verbloot tells Facility Management.

“By providing automatic on-boarding and placing the

responsibility of authentication into the user’s hands, it reduces the requirement for facility managers to have to configure thousands of devices across a campus, leading to a seamless experience for not only users, but facility managers too.”

For facility managers, technology use in the educational space is freeing up their role to focus less on tech-related issues and more on the user experience, Verbloot continues.

“With the right technology in place, day-to-day management of the various IT requirements is simple, and their attention no longer has to be focused on IT issues,” Verbloot says.

“Technology is also allowing facility managers to work smarter, providing insights to better utilise educational spaces.

Access to instant information, such as when and if classrooms

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22/07/16 8:51 AM

are in use, based on the location of devices, is allowing facility

“In fact, in a recent Forbes article, it is highlighted that in

managers to plan better and utilise school resources.”

a few short years, the VR industry is expected to be a $120 billion market. Educational facilities are benefiting from this,

Education technology trends

by introducing new teaching methods.”

According to Verbloot, the utilisation of analytics and data is also changing the way educational facilities operate and are

More complicated process

managed.

While technology provides undeniable benefits for the

For facility managers, the ability to have access to data that details what technology students and teachers are using and how they are using it is allowing them to build an infrastructure that benefits the educational institution, he explains.

education industry, the implementation of technology within a school or university is not as simple as it once was.

In the past, Verbloot says, there would be a couple of IT rooms with a number of computers and the setting was

“Being able to quickly and easily identify the benefits and key

contained, and therefore easier to manage. With technology

pain points associated with the use of technology and devices

moving so fast, however, the IT environment has become far

is allowing facility managers to prioritise network activity, to

more complicated.

create efficient learning environments,” says Verbloot.

“Technology is part of everyday life, as are mobile devices,

“For admin staff, the use of Bluetooth enables staff to

and this presents a challenge as technology changes occur

identify where students are on campus and automates the

rapidly, which can be a challenge for facility managers to keep

task of roll checking.”

up-to-date,” Verbloot explains.

Another technology that Verbloot believes is

Another obvious difference between new and existing

revolutionising the classroom and gaining significant traction in the education sector is virtual reality (VR).

Wi-Fi deployments is security, says Verbloot.

“Security needs to be front of mind when implementing

“A handful of schools across Australia are offering

technology, especially in the educational space. The sites

students the ability to engage in immersive learning by virtually

that students can access need to be tightly monitored and

visiting 3D worlds outside of the classroom, changing the way

permissions need to vary based on course requirements and

students digest and process key course material,” says Verbloot.

users,” he concludes. ●

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FM APRIL | MAY 2016

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www.fmmagazine.com.au

21/07/16 2:51 PM

FITOUT | 39

MIRVAC SETS THE SCENE FOR A SMART BUILDING FUTURE As more smart buildings arrive on the Australian landscape, Mirvac has opened the doors to its latest development at 200 George Street in Sydney.

BEN CREAGH outlines the key elements of the building.

M

irvac Group, with joint owner AMP Capital,

According to Mirvac, use of leading technology and working

opened one of Australia’s newest smart buildings

principles has created a building that accommodates

at 200 George Street in Sydney during June.

workspaces highly responsive to its workforce.

Home to Mirvac and Ernst & Young’s (EY)

The building supports environmentally sustainable

new Sydney headquarters, and named EY Centre, the office

commuter options with 257 bicycle spaces for tenants and

building was constructed to embrace industry-leading design,

54 visitor bicycle parking spaces. Five retail tenancies on the

technology and sustainability features.

ground floor provide an array of food options, as well as public

So what does it take to be part of the new breed of smart buildings in Australia?

Standing at 37 storeys, the tower offers a net lettable area of

art, leisure and event spaces, creating a social meeting place for workers or the wider Sydney community.

Not only has Mirvac strived to enhance the day-to-day

approximately 39,200 square metres of premium grade office

activities of the building’s inhabitants, but also the area of

space, with a closed cavity façade featuring timber blinds that

Sydney in which the building is situated, as Mirvac managing

give the building a distinctive appearance.

director Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz explains.

According to Mirvac, plans to activate the ground floor

“As Circular Quay re-establishes itself as Sydney’s

plane and surrounding laneways with diverse, food and

premium destination for commerce, entertainment, travel

beverage outlets, public art and leisure spaces will deliver a

and culture, 200 George Street with its activated laneways

vibrant lifestyle destination for workers and the wider Sydney

and public art and Heritage displays, is ideally placed to make

community.

a significant contribution to the reinvigoration of the wider

The building’s design, from architecture practice Francis-

Circular Quay precinct,” she says.

Jones Morehen Thorp (FJMT), features golden curves that enhance the views of Sydney Harbour and contribute a

Technology and innovation

sculptural form to the city skyline.

The EY Centre features technologies that monitor air quality,

Set to be one of Australia’s most environmentally advanced and sustainable developments, a six-star green star – design

needs of the building and its occupants.

office v3 certified rating, a six-star as-built rating, and a five-

The building’s technology enables it to respond to its

star NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating

external environment. For example, the closed cavity façade

System) rating are being targeted. Mirvac’s headquarters will

(CCF), used in conjunction with a timber blind system,

also become one of Australia’s fi rst WELL-certified offices.

enhances comfort by improving the transparency of the

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power and water usage, enabling adjustment according to the

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

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40 | FITOUT

adopted its own form of activity-based working, which supports greater agility in the workplaces.”

An interesting element of the fitout is the use of an urban planning model to organise three key office areas: ● Town Hall: This is a communal space, including a café,

located in the middle of all six floors for employees to meet and interact. ● Main Street: A thoroughfare connecting all of the

neighbourhoods, Main Street is where all personal allocations are located, including storage and lockers.

Mirvac anticipates a great deal of activity will take place along the Main Street, which leads into the Town Hall, promoting workplace interaction and mobility. ● Neighbourhoods: These are workspaces, meeting rooms

and offices configured around the Main Street, including sitto-stand and drafting height desks, traditional workstations, quiet spaces, synergy points and collaboration pods. ● glass and increasing the connection with the outside, while controlling light and heat and reducing glare and energy use.

This is the fi rst time a CCF system has been used in Australia and the fi rst time timber blinds have been incorporated into a CCF system anywhere in the world, according to Mirvac.

Interactive display screens and a ‘smart tenancy’ app are available for visitors to the building, and allow them to access real-time information about the building.

“The app for Mirvac’s headquarters can also be used for onboarding and showing employees and guests how to work within the building in real time. It gathers information from over 100 beacons and sensors throughout the space and provides live information on usage and availability of facilities, including workspaces at Mirvac’s headquarters,” according to a Mirvac case study.

Additionally, the app provides visitors with credible, transparent and timely information on sustainability performance, guides tenancy tours and links to view live data on how the building is performing.

Transforming how Mirvac works For Mirvac’s headquarters, which cover 6780 square metres across six floors, the company’s vision was to “create a bespoke workspace that supports the diverse and specific needs of the Mirvac workforce while actively promoting collaboration and flexible working, all underpinned by a diversity and inclusion program.”

To achieve this, Mirvac ran an extensive consultation and observation process to better understand the wants and needs of the team, with the research guiding the design and fitout.

“Flexible floor plates across the six levels connect teams horizontally and vertically and points of activity around the staircases encourage interaction and improve the flow of people throughout the space,” the case study adds.

“Presentation spaces located on the edges of the staircases

MIRVAC’S 200 GEORGE STREET – FAST FACTS ● building is jointly owned by Mirvac Property Trust (50 percent) and AMP Capital Wholesale Office fund (50 percent) ● 37 storeys, including 38,650 square metres of PCA (Property Council of Australia) premium grade office space ● 13 tower passenger lifts, two car park passenger lifts, one goods lift ● 63 car parking spaces, 257 tenant lockers, 257 bicycle spaces and 50 visitor bicycle spaces ● EY has committed to 26,000 square metres or 66 percent of the lettable space ● Mirvac has 6780 square metres across six floors ● targeting a: fi ve-star NABERS energy, four-star NABERS water rating and Gold WELL Certification

● the first time a closed cavity façade system has been used in Australia and the first time this kind of façade has been used with timber blinds anywhere in the world ● blinds adjust automatically according to the sun’s natural cycles, the weather and surrounding buildings, and ● a ‘smart tenancy’ app in Mirvac’s headquarters gathers information from over 100 beacons and sensors and sends updates in real time to Mirvac’s tenancy users.

Developer: Mirvac Projects Pty Ltd Principal contractor: Mirvac Construction Pty Ltd Architect: Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (FJMT)

heightens the sense of activity throughout. Mirvac has

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“World leading technology that enables reliability.�

Installation | Service | Repairs | Modernisation 13 1874 | www.au.schindler.com

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12/07/16 11:20 AM

42 | HARD FM

Tales of the unexpected Paul Angus.

PAUL ANGUS explains how a plumbing system’s acoustic performance plays a pivotal role in how well a building or facility functions.

A

n occupant’s expectations within a building or facility have a significant impact on their overall experience.

For example, if the hot water in the shower is operating as it should, nobody complains and it is simply business as usual.

However, an unexpected experience caused by the plumbing system can have a significant impact on the continuity of any business.

The operation of any plumbing system within a building generally goes unnoticed, almost taken for granted – at least the majority of the time. A recurring overflowing toilet, shower running out of hot water or poor water pressure can all influence how well a building or facility performs.

In the majority of cases, these occurrences can be prevented. However, unwelcome noise within the facility’s plumbing system is construed as a nuisance. So how can this pose a significant risk to the tenants of the building or facility?

Customer satisfaction is crucial to any business. Research indicates that a satisfied occupant within a building or facility will be more likely to share their experience in a positive manner. However, a dissatisfied occupant is more likely to inform a considerable number of friends and colleagues of their experience.

Unfortunately, there is a trend to tell their story on social media, which can have a disastrous effect, leading to a tenant ending their lease prematurely and loss of revenue to the business.

Unwelcome noise is a nuisance. Excessive

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noise experienced in the plumbing system that is transmitted from another part of the building can often be considered as highly intrusive.

In an existing facility, this can be one of the most difficult sounds to alleviate without major repercussions.

A high degree of noise transmission can be tolerated if confined to local usage, for example, if you are the one instigating the noise. However, noise transmitted from another dwelling or part of the building, resulting in an interruption to another occupant’s wellbeing, is an annoyance. More often than not it will result in a complaint being made and potentially a costly exercise to provide corrective measures within an existing facility.

I still recall the first occasion when I experienced an unexpected encounter with a noisy plumbing installation. Earlier in my career as a service engineer, I spent one week every month travelling around the UK, predominantly focusing on and around London.

Bleary eyed and exhausted after sitting in long traffic jams on the notorious M25 in rush hour traffic between appointments, I finally checked in to the hotel. I proceeded to quickly jump in the shower to get refreshed and grab a bite to eat, before falling into bed to get some much needed rest and recuperation for the next day.

On this occasion, it was a cold, wet and windy winter evening in Brighton, south England. I was staying in a very old, art deco style hotel, dating back to the early 1900s.

The hotel itself was eerily empty, with only a few guests, who were nearly as old as the hotel itself. I was suddenly awoken at three am by the sound of a toilet being flushed in the room above me, probably the elderly couple I had noticed earlier.

Then, just as I was getting back to sleep, the noise of the WC being flushed reoccurred, with the wastewater whooshing within the pipework and reverberating throughout the room. I was now wide awake from my deep sleep.

As I was cursing the couple in the room above me for flushing their toilet (not once but twice), I was now racking my brains for why the plumbing pipework configuration in the hotel room above would be designed so badly, with absolutely no thought on its acoustic performance to the occupant of the room.

So when does a noise become an issue?

The average WC or shower when operating produces around 75 to 85 decibels (dBA), when confined to the amenity area itself.

In Australia, the method and arrangement of establishing the sewer and wastewater pipework diameters and velocities should conform to AS 3500.2:2003 Part 2, Sanitary Plumbing and Drainage, as referenced by the National Construction Code (NCC).

In addition to the NCC, AS 717.1 2004: Acoustics – Rating of sound insulation in buildings and building elements: Part 1 – Airborne sound insulation, and Part 2 – Impact sound insulation, make provisions to ensure that the acoustic performance of the plumbing system is carefully considered.

As mentioned within the CIBSE (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers) Guide G, 2014, public health and plumbing engineering, the location of the pipework, as well as how the space is being utilised, are all relevant to the acoustic performance. For example, if the horizontal pipework at high level is located within the car park of the building, the pipework material and acoustic requirements will be minimal.

For areas where noise is potentially an issue, such as office tenancies, residential areas or hotels, acoustic pipework treatment will be necessary to limit the noise to around 40dBA. This can be undertaken in a variety of ways, such as insulating the riser or pipework, installing pipework with a superior mass in comparison to unplasticised polyvinyl chloride (uPVC) pipework, or alternatively locating amenities and associated pipework away from noise sensitive areas.

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An acoustic consultant can assess and provide expert advice to any potential noise impact within a building or to the occupants of a particular area of the building.

Wastewater and sewer pipework conveys the discharge from the sanitary appliances through the building to connect to the main discharge stack, located within a riser. The location of the riser is paramount to ensure it is not penetrating a noise sensitive area of the building.

Architects have a tendency to limit the number of risers within buildings, which has an adverse effect on the amount of offsets and long horizontal runs of high-level pipework within the plumbing system. Noise can be transmitted from a fixture reverberating quite a distance throughout the building if designed and installed incorrectly.

The sound of wastewater conveying though the sewer pipework can be transferred directly from the surface of the pipework as airborne sound. This can then reverberate throughout the building structure in any instances where the pipework is not isolated from the surfaces, for example, via the pipework support or the pipework connected to the appliance being operated.

As well as airborne noise within the drainage system, structure-borne sound issues may be dealt with utilising the building’s mass and insulation properties. Structure borne sound can be extremely complex to address. In order to reduce potential problems, the number and location of bends within the drainage system should be minimised, while any direct contact between the sewer drainage pipework and structure should also be prevented.

Noise in the normal day-to-day operation of plumbing systems is not only restricted to drainage systems either. For example, on a new state-of-the-art police station facility occupants were complaining of a random high-pitched noise occurring after a few weeks of occupying the building.

After numerous attempts by the contractor to locate the noise, we were engaged to provide independent expert advice. Unfortunately, the noise could not be replicated at the time of the inspection. By interviewing a number of occupants, the noise was understood to be most prominent within the basement car park.

The only operational plant within the basement was the stormwater pump; however, this had been reviewed by the manufacturer on a previous occasion and understood to be fully installed, as per the manufacturer’s

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requirements with no issue. All the pipework was cast in the slab, as well as within the external wall cavity, so could not be inspected.

Further investigative works with other occupants revealed that they could hear the noise at the ground floor reception areas, as well as outside the building, which seemed peculiar. The only hydraulic related items located externally were the fire hydrant booster assembly, domestic cold-water meter and the gas meter.

Even more unusual was the noise was only being experienced between the hours of five and seven am. This coincided with the shift patterns and naturally narrowed it down to frequency of showering being a domestic water supply pressure related issue.

From assessing the utility water pressure and flow, and incoming water supply pipework diameter valve arrangement we identified the pressure reduction station required maintenance to remove any debris or be replaced as being faulty in operation.

The noise originating from the faulty pressure relief valve (PRV) was transmitting along the copper pipework, located in an external enclosure, which was being reverberated via the water services pipework supports. It had not been installed with the rubber inserts, plus the pipework penetrations had not been sealed between fire compartments between the building, which all contributed to the noise being amplified and being most audible within the basement.

Minimising unnecessary noise in the plumbing system does not have to be complex or expensive. A simple and common

sense preventative approach to avoid sound transmission in plumbing systems involves: ● acoustically treating any horizontal drainage pipework, water supply pipework and stormwater pipework located within ceiling spaces and risers (as an alternative measure, the ceilings or risers containing the pipework should be acoustically treated, along with any penetrations) ● installing pipework insulation in accordance with the manufacturer’s requirements and making sure it contains no gaps ● not bridging flexible pipework connections to ensure no noise transmits past the flexible joint ● minimising any bends in the pipework (should bends be required, 90-degree knuckle bends should be avoided and replaced with long radius bends or two 45-degree bends) ● reviewing the pipework diameters and velocities in accordance with AS3500 ● avoiding chasing pipework into common shared walls between dwellings, and ● considering the use of new technologies, such as acoustically sound pipework, which can be installed without the requirement of pipework insulation. ●

Paul Angus is the hydraulic and fire discipline leader at Erbas and Associates. He has strong commercial and technical capability in developing and delivering hydraulic design strategies and solutions. For more information, contact: www.erbas.com.au.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

22/07/16 8:03 AM

44 | FM INDUSTRY

Collaboration to help shape consistent standards ROBERT HARDIE discusses the recent collaboration between the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the International Facilities Management Association.

I

n the classic Sinatra song, love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage. So why, might you ask, have professional standards in the built environment not always been seen together with facilities management? A recent global collaboration is looking to set that record straight.

Professional qualifications, in any industry or profession, are what separate serious practitioners from the rest. Professional qualifications denote rigour and commitment; they demonstrate the willingness of the professional to submit themselves to ongoing training and professional development. And, for chartered surveyors in the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), it means regulation of membership against the highest professional standards.

Earlier this year, RICS signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA), enabling the transformation of the US$1 trillion facilities management industry.

By joining our strategic resources together we can create an unprecedented level of industry support to meet growing demands from 25 million facilities management practitioners around the world, as well as launch a single and compelling career pathway into the profession.

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The collaboration represents an opportunity to view the management of the built environment as being just as important as all other stages of a building’s life cycle. Further, it recognises that fragmented professional qualifications and standards is actually no standard at all, nor does it help raise the profile and status of built and natural environment professionals.

Over recent years, the facilities management industry has advanced in stature and evolved into an increasingly strategic discipline. IFMA and RICS research has demonstrated the tangible advantages of effective facility management, ranging from improved productivity and cost savings to energy efficiency and employee well-being.

The goals of the IFMA-RICS collaboration include: ● advancing global knowledge sharing and cohesion within the FM community ● expanding the existing informational and networking infrastructure for members of both organisations ● unifying the facilities management career path through both IFMA credentials and RICS qualifications ● incorporating facilities management trends and best practices into a more comprehensive picture of the built environment ● encouraging graduates and young professionals to select careers in FM, and ● asserting the strategic value of facilities management to business in order to further elevate the profession.

The RICS and IFMA collaboration will be shaped over time, but initially will leverage both organisations’ existing resources in education, research, conferences and events, and external relations. We will also work together to align credentials and qualifications to shape a single facilities management career path with demonstrable professional status, which is recognised and respected globally.

Robert Hardie.

RICS professionals who have qualified in facilities management will automatically receive IFMA member benefits. In turn, IFMA members and credential holders will be able to attain RICS professional qualifications and benefit from RICS’ international standards and global professional network.

WHY DO INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS MATTER? If you answer ‘because they do’, you’re already on the right track. But, thinking more deeply about the question, what is it about a standard, international or not, that seeks to provide an end user with confidence in the approach adopted by the professional? After all, it’s only really a standard if the other party agrees to it, right?

For nearly 150 years, the RICS has sought to establish and maintain the highest professional qualifications for professionals in the built environment. To do so, we have established a clear and robust regulatory framework, ensuring our professionals are accountable against the established standards to deliver the confidence markets need to inform good decisions.

And, as the business world has become more global, the demand for globally consistent standards has never been greater.

Standards in the built environment seek to establish universal consistency in the way our profession approaches its task, reducing risk and improving transparency for the end user. At the RICS, we have been leading the world in the development of these consistent standards through collaboration.

INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY MEASUREMENT STANDARD Most professionals are familiar with the standards that are relevant to them in the market in which they operate. However, few probably understand how they are developed, or that there are different standards applying in different countries (and sometimes even within countries).

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A study by JLL found that inconsistent measurement standards lead to a 24 percent variation in the way space in a building could be measured. Depending on which standard you use (a problem in and of itself) the resulting calculation will mean a different thing for a different end-user.

All too often, standards are taken for granted. The phrase is often misused to denote common practice – an industry standard can sometimes just mean the way something is done that has become the most common way of completing a task. But that is not a standard – as Standards Australia notes, a standard establishes “requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose”. A standard is robust and, when implemented properly, those who use it are held accountable for its proper implementation.

“The International Property Measurement Standard will ensure that property assets are measured in a consistent way, creating a more transparent marketplace, greater public trust, stronger investor confidence and increased market stability.

It will also address a major barrier to creating an international benchmark for building sustainability performance.”

(New South Wales Government, 13 May 2016) The International Property Measurement Standard (IPMS) is a new global standard, developed by leading international bodies, which will deliver a globally consistent means of measuring property. It is part of a suite of standards for the built environment focused on developing, and implementing, consistent, reliable and accurate methods of measuring buildings and construction projects around the world.

IPMS has four components – office, residential, retail and industrial. The first, for offices, was released in 2015 and the residential standard will be released shortly.

The standards seek to establish a global benchmark for the measurement of space in property – in essence, we want to reduce the variance from 24 percent to zero.

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Enhanced, and consistent, standards will give confidence to investors, occupiers, developers and owners alike – it will allow consistent comparison of space across different markets ensuring that a (building) square metre, measured once, is a (building) square metre across the world.

International standards are part of a growing trend toward the identification of global best practice. As we look to tackle the built environment’s impact on climate change, there is a growing recognition that if you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it. RICS is working with the New South Wales Government, and the NABERS (National Australian Built Energy Rating Scheme) team, to see the adoption of IPMS in the NABERS system. NABERS has been recognised around the world as a leading means of measuring energy efficiency in the built environment, and IPMS will enable it to push into global markets as a recognised world-leading energy rating scheme.

Further standards under development include the International Construction Measurement Standard (ICMS), the International Land Measurement Standard (ILMS) and the International Ethics Standard (IES). Further information is available at www. rics.org/standards.

Australia leads the world in the development of smart, energy efficient solutions to mitigate the built environment’s impact on climate change. Through energy efficiency ratings tools, such as NABERS, Australia’s biggest commercial office towers have reduced energy consumption and driven smarter behaviour by occupiers, developers and investors.

Many of our members are actively engaged in research, utilising their skills as chartered surveyors to develop solutions to problems facing the world. This has led to the development of a world-first RICS guidance that is helping owners, facilities managers, occupants and other building users to develop green roofs and walls.

The RICS ‘Green Roofs and Walls Best Practice Guide’ was launched on 27 July 2016 by the NSW Minister for Planning, the Hon Rob Stokes MP. The guide looks at green roofs and walls from the surveyor’s perspective, encompassing technical factors,

value and community impacts. It is aimed at commercial and medium to high-density residential buildings.

Co-author, associate professor Sara Wilkinson, FRICS, says in the July/August RICS Property Journal, “Green infrastructure is an essential component of liveable, healthy cities. Roofs represent up to 32 percent of horizontal surfaces in urban areas, and a 2009 study found the Melbourne central business district could retrofit around 17 percent of these.”

Benefits of a green roof include improved thermal performance, reduction in carbon emissions and heat loss to upper floors of buildings, lower energy costs, extended life cycle for roof coverings, lower energy consumption by provision of shade, improved health and well-being for occupants and aesthetic appeal.

The guide addresses previous barriers to the use of rooftops. Wilkinson summarises the guide’s approach, saying: “A barrier to third party use of rooftops has been the need for owners to access them for maintenance or other purposes, and here the guidance note proposed a licence, which does not confer exclusive possession of the roof. The owner and their representatives can access the roof whenever needed. In the licence, commencement and termination dates are agreed, as is an ongoing schedule of condition and a commitment to make good at termination.”

The guide, available from www.rics.org is a fantastic resource for facilities managers looking to mitigate their building’s contribution to climate change. ●

Robert Hardie is the corporate affairs manager at the RICS. He is based in Sydney, and joined the RICS in January 2016 after more than a decade working in the Australian Government.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

21/07/16 2:53 PM

46 | FM INDUSTRY

Driving belief into Indigenous Australians through the FM industry Australia has welcomed its first Indigenous-owned facility management company – Evolve FM. BEN CREAGH reports.

E

volve FM has been established to help drive belief into Indigenous Australians, and the facility management industry is the ideal vehicle to achieve that goal, explains company director Troy Rugless.

Evolve FM, the first Indigenous FM provider in Australia, started its inaugural contract in May this year, providing services to Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) at 15 sites around the country.

The three-year contract, which has possible extensions, involves facility and property management services, including strategic portfolio management, transaction management, contract management and maintenance management. “[Evolve FM] is about doing the right thing

by Aboriginal people and trying to give them a fair go,” Rugless, who is also founder of Pacific Services Group Holdings (PSGH), one half of the Evolve FM joint venture, tells Facility Management.

“We want to let them be masters of their own destiny – I think a lot of Aboriginal people feel they are trapped. They have grown up not seeing their parents or grandparents go to work… they are in a vicious circle they feel like they can never get out of.

“But they can, and they are the people who put their hand up [to work with Evolve FM] – we will do anything to help these people achieve their dreams.”

The other half of the Evolve FM joint venture is global FM provider JLL, which engaged PSGH in 2013 to provide sub-contracted cleaning, security and administration services to JLL’s clients.

PSGH is one of Australia’s leading Indigenous-owned companies, employing

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about 60 staff nationally. Rugless and his cousin Shane Jacobs, who are descendants of the Wiradjuri Nation and grew up in Sydney, founded the company in 2011.

Having a partner like JLL has allowed both PSGH and Evolve FM to be years ahead of where it would have been otherwise with an initiative such as this, Rugless explains. He adds that the Australian Government’s contribution should not be overlooked as well.

On 1 July 2015, the Australian Government announced a new Indigenous procurement policy (IPP) designed to improve engagement of Indigenous businesses.

For the 2015/16 financial year, the government mandated that 0.5 percent of all government external expenditure must be spent with Indigenous businesses, increasing incrementally each year to become three percent by 2019/20.

“We wouldn’t be able to get here without non-Indigenous people in federal government giving us this opportunity. I hope it shows all of Australia that it works together. A nonIndigenous organisation or business and an Indigenous business can actually join to have the same vision, same ideas and can make a difference – they know it is the right thing to do as well,” says Rugless.

As part of Evolve FM’s commitment to engaging other Indigenous businesses, the fledgling company is already working with several Indigenous organisations, including the appointment of two businesses on 12-month contracts to deliver services to IBA. “When a call from a client comes through our team must exhaust all of our Indigenous supply chain first. We believe this is a first in our industry and we believe that

Evolve FM director Mark Coleman and chief executive officer John Owens.

this will grow the Indigenous economy quite fast,” Rugless explains.

Evolve FM chief executive officer John Owens says the formation of the company can have a genuine multiplier effect for Indigenous companies in Australia.

“Evolve FM is the only Indigenous majorityowned full service facilities management company in Australia, and we think we can make a real difference by maximising the engagement of other Indigenous businesses in our supply chain,” says Owens.

JLL’s Australasian head of integrated facilities management Chris Hunt says the strength of the relationship between JLL and PSGH over the past two years led to the development of Evolve FM. “We saw in PSGH a passion, energy and commitment to customer satisfaction and sustainable outcomes for Indigenous Australians and the joint venture evolved from this,” says Hunt. ●

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48 | SOFTWARE FM

How to prevent security breaches when patching is not an option GAVIN COULTHARD examines why facility managers should not rely on patches to keep organisational networks safe and the alternatives they have to prevent security breaches.

M

any organisations mandate the installation of security patches, which is an important part of keeping networks and devices secure. However, the very nature of patches means facility managers should not rely on them to keep networks secure.

Security patches are always released after a flaw or security breach has been detected. That means your network was unsecured and vulnerable until the patch was released. In some cases, installing the patch is a bit like closing the gate after the horse has bolted.

Facility managers who rely too heavily on software patches overlook the fact that software is inherently vulnerable. And a cyber breach that enters the organisation through one of these vulnerabilities can literally bring down the entire network, causing many hours of extra work for IT managers, and the potential for serious business ramifications.

These vulnerabilities in software stem from a number of factors: ● First, vendors sometimes release software without adequately testing it. This means the bugs that were present in the original code are still there when the software is used in a production environment, opening it up to attack. The attacks can be many and varied, targeting the network or the device itself. ● Second, the vendor may have thoroughly tested the software but, as is often said, you don’t know what you don’t know.

Sophisticated, creative hackers make it their life’s work to fi nd vulnerabilities in software, and then they exploit those vulnerabilities for fun or personal gain. ● Third, the application developer may, in fact, be malicious.

Users within organisations are downloading and using apps at a rate never before seen. When company-approved, authorised software does not fit their needs perfectly, business users often take matters into their own hands. This is known as shadow IT. And users, focused on getting the functionality they need as quickly as possible, are rarely aware of the provenance of such apps, let alone the security risks they may pose.

The bottom line is that there are no flawless systems or applications.

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Patches can shore up the inevitable flaws and vulnerabilities in software. However, often patches are only developed in response to a hacker discovering the flaw in the first place, meaning the cyber security of the systems and applications will be a step behind and potentially exposed to cyber attacks.

Even worse, when vendors release new versions of applications with the patches built in, attackers can reverseengineer to work out the vulnerabilities in the previous versions and target them. So even though relying on patches alone is ineffective against hackers, it is still imperative that organisations install patches as soon as they are available to avoid this situation.

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For example, Internet Explorer is by far Microsoft’s most vulnerable application and has received more vulnerability patches than the entire Office suite of applications1.

However, despite that fact there are multiple known security vulnerabilities and newer, more secure browser options available, unpatchable Internet Explorer browsers are used on almost a fi fth of all desktop systems2 . Because there are a large number of vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, and it covers a large market share and install base, the browser is an attack vector of choice for hackers.

When attackers target an organisation they often begin by taking stock of the entire target environment, including machines, operating systems, and common applications and services.

If their research reveals the existence of vulnerable applications, such as unpatchable versions of Internet Explorer, they are more likely to develop targeted attacks that exploit new and existing vulnerabilities.

The alternative to patches When vendor-issued patches are not applied and used properly, or if vendors stop supporting applications, users can become vulnerable to so-called zero-day vulnerabilities. While it makes good business sense to upgrade and install patches wherever possible, there are times when patching simply is not an option and the business needs to find alternative ways to ensure cyber security.

When organisations must operate unpatchable applications and systems, they need to deploy endpoint security systems. This can help prevent security breaches that result from exploitation of known and unknown vulnerabilities.

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While individual patches can close software holes that lead to vulnerabilities, endpoint security solutions can identify known threats and prevent them from using those vulnerabilities to gain unauthorised access in the fi rst place, whether the vulnerability was known or not.

For example, attacks that exploit unpatched vulnerabilities typically place malicious code in seemingly innocuous data fi les. The user opens the fi le, and the malicious code exploits the unpatched vulnerability, often giving the attacker full control over the endpoint. From here, they can infect your entire environment, steal valuable and sensitive data, and paralyse the business.

The ideal solution focuses on blocking the core techniques that all exploits must use to compromise applications, rather than focusing on individual application vulnerabilities. This approach means that applications are no longer vulnerable, even if security patches are not applied.

Blocking the core techniques provides yet another significant advantage: it means you can block unknown and zero-day exploits just as effectively as known exploits.

Furthermore, advanced endpoint protection software can block exploits automatically and transparently.

When an application runs, the advanced endpoint protection software crosschecks it against its own code libraries to search for malicious data fi les. This activity is entirely seamless to the end user and does not impact the start-up or speed of the applications being protected.

If a malicious data fi le developed by an attacker begins to execute an exploit technique against an application’s vulnerability, the advanced endpoint protection modules will block the technique and cause the exploit attempt to fail. The software collects data from the incident and reports the details of the failed attempt to the appropriate security managers.

Despite an increase in frequency and complexity of cyber attacks, the operational readiness and availability of IT systems often delay or prevent the application of vulnerability patches to software applications and operating systems. Many applications and operating systems commonly deployed by organisations have also reached their end-of-support and will no longer receive vulnerability patches.

To prevent security breaches on endpoints that operate these unpatchable applications and systems, security professionals must prevent the exploitation of known and unknown vulnerabilities associated with those applications and systems.

Facility managers who focus on blocking the core techniques of exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities are better equipped against zero-day and unknown attacks, and the execution of malware on their systems. Advanced endpoint protection eliminates the need for patching, regardless of the availability or the application of those patches. ● Gavin Coulthard is systems engineering manager for Palo Alto Networks in Australia and New Zealand.

Footnotes 1. www.welivesecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/WindowsExploitation-in-2014.pdf 2. www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share. aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

21/07/16 2:54 PM

50 | CASE STUDY

Lighting up the Great Ocean Road New toilet facilities developed along Victoria’s iconic Great Ocean Road have been fitted with lighting systems that are both easily maintained and environmentally friendly.

W

hen Geelong-based Four18 Architecture won a design tender for new toilet blocks situated at strategic sites along Victoria’s iconic Great Ocean Road, illume Shaftless solar skylight systems were integral to achieving the minimal visual impact, sustainability and low-maintenance objectives for the facilities.

Commissioned by State Governmentsupported local foreshore management group, the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee (GORCC), Four18 Architecture has so far

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designed and overseen construction of three toilet blocks at North Lorne, Jan Juc and Elephant Walk. There are four more planned to complete the picturesque route section of the Great Ocean Road that stretches from Point Lonsdale to Lorne.

According to Four18 director Richie Schultz, one of GORCC’s core objectives is to be seen to be environmentally friendly.

“GORCC seeks to be a community leader in environmental and conservation issues,” Schultz says. “When they decided to build new toilet blocks, they were looking for facilities that were low-cost, low-maintenance and low-profile.

“They had to blend into the surrounding environment, demonstrable in their sustainability and easy to manage on a day-today basis and over the longer-term.”

Four18 initially considered using traditional shafted skylights and solar power connected to the mains, but this would have added significant capital costs in building materials, PV (photovoltaic) solar cells and grid connection, with minimal return on

investment. In addition, the extra infrastructure would have accentuated the visual impact of the toilet blocks on surrounding pristine environments, and significantly increased life cycle maintenance processes and costs for the facilities’ managers.

Having used the illume Shaftless solar skylight systems – which are manufactured

by Melbourne-based Kimberley Products – in a previous $3.5 million GORCC foreshore project to redevelop Fisherman’s Beach in Torquay, Four18 knew they were a low-cost, sustainable lighting option. illume Shaftless skylight systems are designed to add the ambience of sky lighting, but without needing to compromise the roof structure. illume products are designed to convert the sun’s energy to light – they autoadjust brightness levels to match external conditions in the same manner as a traditional skylight would.

“We looked at a variety of building materials and natural light solutions that could be complemented with energy efficient lighting at night,” Schultz explains. “In the end, the solar-powered illume systems were selected because they didn’t require holes to be cut in the roof to let natural light in.

“Instead we can just fit a small, lightweight solar collector panel on the roof with an electrical cable running to a low profile LED light panel mounted internally on the ceiling.

This, in turn, meant that we could use a selfsupporting, insulated roofing system without the need for expensive building framework.

“As a result, it delivered major benefits to

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sustainability, low-cost and low-maintenance,” says Schultz.

To allow for 24/7 light transmission, a transformer is connected to a light sensor so that the low-energy LED light panel automatically switches over to mains power when the light levels drop below the designated threshold.

“They’re working really well,” Schultz adds.

“The first one that was built at Elephant Walk has been in operation for over 12 months now, including a full summer when traffic is at its highest, and there has been no maintenance required at all, while the cost of powering the facility has been negligible.

“As an architect, I can see enormous value from this sort of technology and broad applications for Shaftless solar skylight systems in all sorts of buildings, whether they are commercial, residential or community infrastructure.

“This sort of technology is a logical replacement for traditional skylights because there is no waterproofing maintenance issues, no compromising of roof structure and no heat transfer from the light itself or from the sun, all of which are ongoing management issues with traditional skylights.”

Schultz continues, “You can also use them on multistorey buildings where traditional skylights can’t be fitted, as you only need to run a cable from the solar panel to the light panel without the need for direct access to sunlight.

“Having used them in a number of applications now, I would have no hesitation

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found that they are less susceptible to graffiti and other vandalism because they are so lowprofile.

“Over the period of time since we installed them, only one has been tagged and that was easily cleaned.”

SOLAR-POWERED EXHAUST FANS

in recommending them to other designers, architects and facilities managers.”

Schultz says that there has been no negative feedback from the community or GORCC since Four18 installed the illume systems at Fisherman’s Beach and in the toilet blocks.

“They want to use them more and more in other facilities they manage because they are inexpensive to install, they meet environmental and sustainability guidelines and require little or no maintenance,” he says. “They have even

Meanwhile, Schultz says that he has also had great success with another product from Kimberley, which again has great potential as a low-cost facilities management solution.

Combining the same sustainability principle of using solar energy to replace mains power on-site, Four18 has recently been involved in solar-powered exhaust fans in the toilet/ shower blocks at Torquay’s main caravan park.

“The park uses a small solar panel to drive a series of exhaust fans in the amenities facilities,” he says. “It is so much better than relying on a wind-powered turbine system, as it is on the hot, breathless days when these facilities most need the help to extract moisture and heat from the buildings.

“A solar-powered exhaust fan keeps working even when there is no wind and can also be easily fitted with a mains power back-up for the relatively low amount of time when these facilities are being used in the dark, which is also when heat retention is not such an issue.

“I would urge all facilities managers to take a look at the potential to use low-cost, lowmaintenance, self-sustainable solar-powered solutions in public, residential or commercial applications such as these.” ●

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

21/07/16 2:58 PM

52 | ENERGY WATCH

Being energy and power quality savvy KEN FREESTONE discusses how a power quality check-up can help facility managers to materially reduce a building’s electricity costs.

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t’s not carbon taxes but peak demand that has caused electricity tariffs to increase.

Politically, the electrical transmission and distribution sector has been accused of ‘gold plating’ – without recognition that without the ‘gold plating’ power quality would deteriorate. And now you’re paying for it; however, a power quality check-up can materially reduce your electricity bill.

Saving on energy we all understand – limit the kilowatt-hours and lower the electricity cost. The means for reducing consumption have been well documented.

No rocket science is involved – LED lighting, people movement detectors, building management systems (BMS), reducing stand-by power and engineering examples like make-up air in HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning), preventive maintenance on compressors, condensers and more all help.

So let’s assume all the above measures have been undertaken or are in the process of being actioned. What more can be done?

The answer is plenty – and not necessarily immediately involving capital expenditure (CAPEX). Next, we’ll get to the interesting relationship between power quality, energy and the cost of electricity.

Irrespective of the percentage of cost or profit margin electricity represents in a business, any future proofing strategy you may pursue must take historic demand for electricity in Australia into account. The fact

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is that the gigawatt-hours have been close to flat lining because of the closure of industries, as well energy saving measures, and the influence, albeit modest, of solar and wind power.

Demand, has peaked but, even though lower since 2008/2009, it is still a big headache for poles and wires folk. That is because they need to spend big CAPEX dollars to maintain reasonable power quality in the face of peak demand – and peak demand has continued to grow.

WHAT DOES ENERGY IN KILOWATTHOURS HAVE TO DO WITH PEAK DEMAND AND POWER QUALITY? So your electricity meters are racking up demand charges that are not necessarily yours. Short circuit the electrical engineering and head for the meter room. You will note that the meters are electronic – no more revolving discs. These meters not only measure your kilowatt-hours, but also your demand in 15-minute blocks in kilovolt-amps (kVA) and this appears on your bill as a separate monthly charge.

The kVA tariff is there to help the poles and wires company amortise its ‘gold plating’ investment. If you can get your kVA down to equal the kilowatts, the chances are you will not cop an additional charge. In practice, however, that is not possible – on the other hand, reduction of demand is entirely possible.

Next is your power quality, which I have already mentioned as having constant voltage. Again avoiding lots of technical babble, back in the 1950s and earlier there was a thing called ‘voltage distortion’, which was close to a meaningless term – not so these days.

Also, back then, the days of bar heaters under desks, the current drawn by a typical consumer, was also without much distortion, if any. Distortion, or harmonics, increases the

kVA demand, and it is a critically important factor of power quality. Modern meters do a good job on the task.

Today, though, the current drawn by your building can have significant distortion.

POWER QUALITY IS AFFECTED BY USELESS ‘FROTH’ This can cost your organisation even though you are not the cause. You can think of distortion, which is caused by just about anything that is plugged in, as useless froth on your drink, but you pay for it nevertheless.

That is to say, you pay for it as a result of the meters being able to measure it.

This was not the case 30 years ago.

The only kVA demand measured then was basically the additional kVA that had to be catered for because of loads like electric motors.

But there’s more. Your neighbours – and even the poles and wire people themselves depending on where you are located – are preventing you from getting voltage without much distortion.

WHAT TO DO? The short answer is that if you have significant power bills, spend a few dollars to have a proper, extensive power and power quality analysis done. It’s a necessary condition for saving more on power than you are already doing.

It is the only way to have a meaningful chat with your electricity supplier and to get relief on tariffs, but – and it’s a big but – you need hard facts. The power and power quality analysis will also reveal where investment in hardware with good pay-offs in terms of reduction in energy bills can be made – no guesswork but a solid base for futureproofing investments for your business. ●

Ken Freestone is chief executive officer at Power Parameters Ltd.

www.fmmagazine.com.au

21/07/16 2:56 PM

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12/05/16 7:58 AM

54 | PROPERTY WATCH

Strategically aligned or going nowhere boldly? needed to deliver corporate strategic outcomes and structured to deliver the facilities needed to position the company for success?

This framework approach considers two complementary but different focus areas in delivering facilities outcomes: ● How aligned is the facilities strategy to support the company’s purpose? ● How well does the facilities team support the delivery of the operational needs?

future development initiatives of the facilities team. If this team is unable to deliver the support that is in alignment with the business purpose, it is likely that this will severely curtail the business’ ability to achieve its purpose.

With these two focus areas mapped onto a matrix, the symptoms and problems in facilities service delivery offering, whether internal or outsourced, will become more evident, as demonstrated below:

A

FACILITIES ALIGNMENT TO SUPPORT THE COMPANY PURPOSE

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The company’s purpose is the enduring reason why it exists. This is the focus for the company to achieve success in the future and be able to deliver the outcomes expected by the key stakeholders.

Without a defined purpose, which may evolve rapidly in a changing world, the company is unlikely to survive over the longer-term. This purpose needs to be the primary focus for the facilities leadership when planning and developing the facilities strategies. But without knowing and understanding the company purpose and its likely future, it is unlikely the facilities team will be able to deliver the outcomes that the company needs to be successful. Too often facilities strategies are an aggregation of events as catalysts for actions, and not proactively planned manoeuvres.

Not aligned

ligning and delivering facilities and property outcomes with organisational strategic priorities continues to be a challenge for the industry. This includes trying to engage with enterprise leaders to understand and prioritise property as being a strategic enabler for success while their attention is focused on numerous other competing business decisions.

Being able to convince these leaders that facilities decisions, while being perceived as non-core to the business processes, are complex needs a different approach. By its nature, property usually results in long-term commitments and lumpy capital commitments, with significant gestation periods. The next challenge for the industry is to ensure that the facilities management capabilities are aligned to organisational requirements and able to deliver the facilities outcomes needed to support the business strategy.

Barry Varcoe is a leader in business operations thinking who has emerged from the corporate real estate industry. He has mapped out a simple framework to test a company’s strategic and operational alignment, as reported article in recent Harvard Business Review (HBR)1 article. This framework is adapted in this article as an approach to test how aligned the facilities strategic and operating planning is within an organisation.

Is this planning able to provide the support

Aligned

RODNEY TIMM explains how organisations can be more effective at aligning and delivering facilities and property outcomes with strategic priorities.

ALIGNMENT WITH BUSINESS STRATEGY

Rodney Timm.

Enlightened – focused on the business future but cannot deliver outcomes

Winning platform – able to support the business achieve sustained success

Departure lounge – soon to be replaced with an alternative solution

Delivery excellence – but don’t know where the business future may be

Not Aligned

Aligned

FACILITIES’ ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITY

EXCELLENCE IN PROCESS DELIVERY ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITY TO ACHIEVE THE FACILITIES STRATEGY The organisational capability and structure of facilities delivery is all about the processes, the systems and the resources, internal to the company or in the form of contract arrangements and partnerships, that together enable the delivery of planned facilities outcomes.

This capability is reflected in the group culture, the service commitments and the

There are many examples of facilities organisations, both internal and outsourced, that have great records of delivering service excellence. Working off the foundation of great corporate knowledge and committed service delivery ethos, these facilities groups tend to be well-organised with processes welldocumented and treating the client as king.

This engineering-type focus of delivering efficiently, has served the industry well as a trusted operational provider of business

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support. The approach has thrived by doing the same things, but doing them well.

Incremental change and planned corporate growth can easily be accommodated and crises responded to by going beyond the call of duty and being available at all hours.

In the current changing business environment, however, can this approach support the emerging business needs? Future facilities needs and accommodation solutions may be totally different to what they were in the past.

Recommendations that focus on efficiency and past process solutions may be the undoing of the business being challenged by new emerging disruptive business model.

The future of this process-orientated approach to facilities management, not being a key enabler to the future success of the business, is not assured.

DEPARTURE LOUNGE There is not much hope for salvation or many things that can be said for those facilities organisations that are operationally inept and also show no commitment to understanding or planning for a new future.

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Without providing the business-as-usual operational efficiencies to remain competitive or displaying an ability or interest to envision what the future facilities solution may look like, these groups are likely to be on the way out. Business leadership will soon be looking to plan their replacement with an alternative solution to the corporate facilities support team.

WINNING PLATFORM More than ever, in a time when business changes are no longer incremental and new competitors are constantly emerging from unrelated sources, understanding the business strategy and possible futures, no matter how these may evolve, is key to planning and providing facilities solutions that can cope with major disruptive change.

Co-creating new flexible and adaptable future-focused workplace and facilities solutions by working closely with the business unit leaders is essential for survival and achieving sustained success.

But this approach must not neglect ongoing business requirements and must continue to have the operational alignment with the more mature business streams that

continue to deliver the cash flows needed for the organisation to survive. This is the platform that sustains the business over the short and medium term, while moving to new emerging business models is the foundation for the future.

In the current business environment, with most enterprises constantly challenged by emerging disruptive business models, facilities management leadership needs to constantly engage with the business leaders and understand the industry trends and what success may look like in the future.

But just as important is having the facilities policies and operational capability that will continue to support the business-as-usual needs. This combination is the winning platform that will ensure that facilities continues to be relevant and able to cope with the future – no matter what this may look like. �

Rodney Timm is a director of Property Beyond Pty Ltd. Footnotes 1. hbr.org/2016/05/a-simple-way-to-testyour-companys-strategic-alignment

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

21/07/16 2:59 PM

56 | WORKPLACE CULTURE

How to motivate others to embrace change Marie-Claire Ross.

In times of change knowing how to motivate colleagues in the workplace becomes a crucial element of the process. MARIE-CLAIRE ROSS explains.

O

ver the last five years, nearly every single Australian workplace has experienced change at some level.

Whether that’s a merger, new CEO or executive team, different business model, updated premises or even redundancies.

Yet, according to a 2014 Towers Watson study, Australian employees are tired of change and want clear direction and leadership from their managers. The fallout has been a lack of trust in leadership.

Blame it on our convict past or a lack of employee resilience, we need strong leaders who tell the truth and can navigate employees successfully towards a new vision.

WHY INCREASING TRUST IS CRITICAL TO CHANGE Our ability to commit to change is based on our belief that we can trust the leader or organisation to do the right thing by us and not make us vulnerable to loss in an uncertain situation.

Trust bears a close, inverse relationship with risk. The higher the stakes, the less likely people will trust the situation. Without trust,

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We are more likely to trust others who are like ourselves.

social groups cannot function properly and begin to break down.

Despite Australian employees experiencing change fatigue, the reality is that it is only set to accelerate.

So how do you create trust in environments where external and internal change, risk and uncertainty exist? Through communication.

FIVE STEPS TO CREATING HIGH TRUST COMMUNICATION Trust is enabled through conversations.

Typically, when trust breaks down it is because management has not comprehensively explained why change is necessary.

The result is a huge trust gap that reduces productivity and morale. A study

by Geckoboard found that when people hear nothing, more than half “resort to doing their own detective work” to find out what’s going on.

Few companies strategically approach how to build trust through communication.

Yet, it dramatically reduces employee fear and improves confidence, commitment and execution.

Here are five steps for leaders to build trust during times of uncertainty:

1. Explain why we need to change Start by describing the current state, and how and why it isn’t working. This provides people with the emotional connection to the information they need. This is important because the part of the brain that manages trust can’t understand language, only emotions.

Describing the rationale behind a decision also increases trust, as people will accept it, even if they disagree, as long as the process appears rigorous and fair.

2. Focus on the company purpose and values We are more likely to trust others who are like ourselves. A clear sense of purpose, values and goals connects everyone together through being able to collectively see the meaning of their work.

Promoting group self-interest also reduces any misperceptions of suspicious intent by leaders.

3. How you will be affected/risks involved Meet people where they are at and openly discuss any fears or reservations that are left unsaid in their head. This means discussing how the change will affect people and

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confessing that it may mean working longer hours or throwing away previous work.

At the same time, it’s important that employees’ self-interest is linked with the company purpose and ‘what’s in it for them’ is explained, such as how much they will learn or improve their career opportunities.

Addressing potential risks helps the riskadverse to understand the issue at hand.

People are more likely to accept risk, if they understand it.

4. Reset the destination Once everyone understands why the change is necessary, then it’s time to describe the new vision. Research studies have found that leaders who communicate using image-based words are more likely to succeed with strategy execution than those using abstract words or numeric goals.

Talking about the destination (what it will look like, such as the new customer user experience) gets people thinking in terms of outcomes, rather than activities. This helps reset our inherent bias towards wanting to stick with past efforts.

5. Provide clear expectations Lay out clear goals and guidelines, so everyone knows what their part is in the transition. When trust is lost, it’s often because clear expectations were not initially specified.

Admit that you don’t know how it will go or how to even do things, but you believe everyone will be able to work it out if they work as a team. Having belief that people can successfully complete the new initiative is critical to building trust.

Underpinning all of the communication is a leader who openly tells it like it is and who seeks honest feedback and checks that everyone understands the new expectations.

Essentially, a high-trust leader is approachable enough for employees to discuss any work situation and is always comfortable addressing the tough conversations.

The result is employees who commit to actions, make faster decisions and who have the confidence to buy into a big vision to get an innovative project off the ground. In other words, employees who embrace change. ●

Marie-Claire Ross is chief corporate catalyst at Corporate Culture Creator. She is a workplace sociologist, author and consultant focused on helping leaders create high trust work environments.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

22/07/16 8:21 AM

58 | WORKPLACE HEALTH

The connection between posture and communication

Dr Allison Van Ommen.

ALLISON VAN OMMEN explains how our posture relates to body language and the way we communicate.

T

he mind uses the body as a vehicle for communication, and our posture is an extension of that communication.

Posture is not just confined to how we sit at our desks; posture relates to our body language and how we communicate with ourselves and with others.

As our mind and body are inherently linked, we can also use our bodies to connect with our mind. We can tell if someone is listening by assessing his or her body language and posture. For example: ● Are they facing you? ● Do they have eye contact? ● Are their arms relaxed or crossed?

All of these tiny clues tell us what frame of mind people are in through subconsciously assessing each other’s body language, thus their posture. If you find that you have lost concentration and were not listening when you were supposed to, you can change your posture to enhance listening.

As long as our mind and body are united we must expand our thinking and acknowledge the role that our mind has in how we choose to hold our bodies through different postures. Only then are we able to unlock the habits of the mind that are linked with our posture.

Sometimes you may not feel you are stressed, but your body is telling you something completely different, as though you have forced the stress out of your mind and into your body, where it has stayed. This is why people who end up in my office often seem

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surprised at how tight and sore they actually are once I start poking about.

Imagine a child that is full of anger… they are dramatic and rigid in their movements and posture – it is as though they are blocked. The same happens in adults – yet we become more deceptive as we age, hiding our anger, fears, worries, anxieties and stress in the depths of the musculoskeletal system so well that we even deceive ourselves on occasion.

In my last article I wrote about fighting the slump through stretching. Now, we will add another dimension to the paradigm of combating the slump. I think of the slump as a posture of many thought patterns that can be racing through one’s mind. The most common I see in practice are: ● Overworked: too much is going on in your life and you are feeling overwhelmed, like the world is actually resting on your shoulders causing you to slump to cope with anxiety and worries. ● Boredom: a lot of teenagers slump when they are bored, as do adults if they are not stimulated at work – generally most people will fall into a slump in these situations.

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● Protection: when people have thought

patterns of anxiety and feelings of being unsafe, the body adapts to protect us from causing a slump to creep in. This is especially common in teenagers who are unsure of themselves, especially developing females.

Worry, stress, anxiety, anger, frustration, sadness and a loss of confidence all have their own postures that play out in our bodies whether we are tuned into them or not. These postures can literally change our biochemistry.

Amy Cuddy is a social psychologist and has a brilliant trending TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talk1 about how body language shapes us. In the talk Cuddy explains how she ran an experiment where she told a group of people to assume different postures.

The postures were either a high-power pose or a low-power pose for two minutes, while monitoring their biochemistry. What Cuddy and her team discovered was that each posture can literally change your biochemistry and how you feel about yourself.

Mindfulness has become a popular term in today’s society, but what does being mindful mean in your day-to-day life? As I have

mentioned your mind and body are linked, and becoming more mindful of how you feel can unlock how you move. Noticing how you move can also be the key to unlocking how you actually feel.

So when we are thinking about posture, it is not enough to just consider it as one separate entity without thinking about our body language and the expression of how we feel.

Our posture is who we are and how we feel.

Sometimes, in order to change how we feel we need to change our posture. And sometimes we need to change our mindset to achieve that. ●

Dr Allison Van Ommen is an osteopath based in South Melbourne at Without Limits Health and Osteopathy. She is a former elite water polo athlete, having played in the European Professional Water Polo league. She is also a previous member of the Victorian Tigers National League Women’s Water Polo Team and Victorian Institute of Sport squad.

Footnotes 1. www.ted.com/talks/ amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_ who_you_are?language=en

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

21/07/16 3:03 PM

60 | FM INDUSTRY

More to it than meets the eye Graham Constable.

FM consultant GRAHAM CONSTABLE takes a novel, yet real-life, look at how a practical and durable solution can be developed to approach a facility management challenge in the workplace.

H

arry Scott is desperate – another bad day in a stressful week.

“I know it looks awful, but I’m on it, really I am…”

“That’s just it Harry, I don’t think you are.

The stains are getting worse and on all the floors. Really Harry, the fitout is brand new,” says John, Harry’s client.

“I’ll speak to the cleaners again but…”

Harry hesitates, not wanting to mention the monthly deep-clean budget has been used up on the issue. “No matter, leave it with me please.”

“OK. Brief me tomorrow morning when we meet,” John responds, before hanging up.

Harry’s mobile lands on his paperwork, scattering it across his desk and unearthing his unfinished business plan. He stares at it – it is a week late.

Harry walks out of his office. He passes his team’s desks littered with the detritus of daily work. “Whatever happened to the paperless office,” he mumbles, and thinks, ‘A demanding client, no time to breathe and no thanks.’

He punches the usual numbers on the vending machine keypad. Moments later a cup drops, followed by two streams of hot coloured water and milk. He looks down at the inlaid carpet. The stains extend widely

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across the area, which would otherwise have formed a striking feature. Harry surveys the scene further.

His client is right – the area looks awful and detracts from the recent top-to-bottom building refurbishment. Every floor has two such vending spaces and each one exhibits identical damage.

Back at his desk Harry rummages around one of his drawers for his stirrer.

Instead, he finds the business card of a facilities consultant he has recently met.

He remembers the encounter well; the card prompts him. He dials the number.

“Marcus, hi – it’s Harry Scott.” He pauses.

“We met at the FM expo.”

He hears Marcus ask, “How’s that job of yours going?”

When Harry sighs Marcus follows with: “That bad, eh?”

Recovering, Harry asks, “I wouldn’t mind picking your brains if I may?”

“Sure, let me check. What are you doing for lunch?”

Just then Harry’s project manager approaches him. “The boss is after you. He’s had another call from John…”

Harry holds his hand up. “Sorry Marcus?

OK good. See you then and thanks.” He tosses his phone down again. “What were you saying, Bill?”

“The boss is after you; he’s fed up with all the complaints…”

“That makes two of us.” He stands to leave.

“Aren’t you going to call him?”

“I am, but first I’m going to lunch. It’s becoming bigger than Ben Hur. Are you sure…”

His project manager heads him off. “I’ve already told you – the quality of the tile is not the issue here…”

“OK, sorry Bill. Catch you later.”

He finds the consultant, Marcus Neary, sitting outside the café. As Harry waits at the crossing he has second thoughts about the

meeting. But any thoughts of cancelling end when Marcus waves.

The pair shake hands and Harry sits down.

“Marcus, thanks for meeting at short notice.”

“It’s no big deal; I don’t have anything on until later. Good to see you.”

They make their orders and then Harry sits back and sighs heavily.

“You’re sighing a lot, I have to say!”

“I used to think I was good at keeping my head above the waterline, but these last few days or so have changed that perception!”

“What’s happened since I last saw you?”

Harry takes a deep breath. “We successful refurbished my client’s HQ over a month ago.

It’s a big deal; a major part of the client’s objective was to initiate a change in culture.”

“Is it working – the objective? Is the company culture changing?”

“A good question; I really don’t know.”

Marcus signals for Harry to continue.

“Ever since the project finished I’ve been on the back foot…”

“How so?”

“My business plan for the building is late, my cleaners are not performing, my boss is on my back because the account is not making as much money as he thought it could and now he’s fed up with all the complaints he’s receiving and, to cap it all, three members of my team – one senior who’s been with me for years – have handed their notice in recently.”

Harry’s phone starts ringing. He looks at the screen.

“Excuse me, Marcus. I have to take this call.”

Marcus nods.

“Hi boss. I don’t know why he keeps calling you – I’ve explained everything we’re doing to solve… no it’s not fixed yet… we’ve no more budget… how was I to know we’d use it up so quickly on this damn problem?”

Marcus listens intently.

“OK, give me an hour and I’ll be across…

OK… yes I will.”

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25/07/16 8:50 AM

Harry isn’t feeling hungry anymore.

“Excuse me for asking, but what’s the real issue here?”

“You really want to know?”

“Sure, I love problems.”

“The refurbishment involved a complete internal fitout. Open plan, flexible working spaces, lots of screens and breakout areas, small kitchens and some damn state-of-theart vending areas; two on each of 10 floors – 20 damn headaches!”

“Vending? Really?”

“Pressure from the employees to retain them!”

“So why are they a problem?”

“Well, they’re OK from a technology perspective. However, there’s a separate area of carpet inlaid around each machine. The design simulates the company logo – very expensive.

The trouble is they’ve been badly stained from day one and, no matter how many deep cleans I organise, the stains return. They’ve become a joke with the company employees already sceptical about yet another change!”

“Oh, why is that?”

“It’s as if the company is tainted by the issue!”

“Your client is unhappy!”

“That’s an understatement!”

“Can you show me these soiled vending areas? I’m curious.”

Harry frowns. “Sure, if you really want to.”

“I do. I’d like to help.”

“All right, I’ll show you on the way back to my boss’ office. It might be one of the last things I do!”

Marcus offers, “I’ll get this.”

“No really Marcus, it was me who invited you.”

“Tell you what. If I help solve this then you can buy me lunch another time.”

Harry clutches at the straw. “OK.” They eventually reach the building and start from the ninth floor, skipping the 10th – the executive suite. Harry wants to avoid bumping into his client.

Finishing the inspection they sit down in the reception lobby.

“Pretty messy, aren’t they?”

Marcus smiles. “How much for a cup?”

Harry is thrown for a second. “No charge, vending is free.”

“It sounds like your client’s cultural change has overlooked one important factor.”

Harry shakes his head. “What do you mean?”

“Simple human behaviour. Give something away, expect no accountability, provide no consequences and you get what you see.”

“Carpet staining?”

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His client is right – the area looks awful and detracts from the recent top-tobottom building refurbishment.

“No, lack of respect.”

“My advice is your client starts charging everyone for their drinks.”

“How’s that going to change things?”

“In this case, the sooner people pay, the sooner they take ownership and change their behaviour. These stains are from spillage, right?”

Harry nods.

“Carelessness is evident in the way they use these facilities. Change that by charging for the drinks. I guarantee the problem will be much improved, if not eradicated, within a couple of days.”

“They’re not going to like that idea!”

“Who, the chooser or the user?”

“Excuse me?”

“Your client or the employees?”

Harry shrugged.

“Is there an alternative?”

Harry remains silent.

“I encourage you to speak with your client before you see your boss; sell it to him as part of the company’s change agenda. Ask him to at least trial it over say a month and compare outcomes. Tell him the story of the ‘burning platform’ to initiate change. He’ll understand, particularly if he’s helped develop the change strategy. This change is as important as a change in the workplace design.”

“I’m not sure – but I’ll give it a go.”

“Good. Call me and let me know how it’s going.”

A few days later Harry is putting the finishing touches to his business plan. He dials Marcus. “Hi Marcus… I’m good. You?

I thought I’d let you know the progress with the vending areas.” Harry smiles. “Yep, you were right; almost overnight change in the situation. They look as good as new and very few spills. My client is ecstatic and I’m a hero over here, well, with most people.”

“Well done for seizing the opportunity.”

“I’ve even managed to finish my business plan.”

“Still losing three of your team?”

Harry sighs again. “Yeah, I haven’t been able to stop them.

“Don’t try.”

“And my boss is still on at me for not making more revenue on the account.”

“Why don’t we meet again? You owe me remember?”

Harry chuckles. “Sure, when?”

“Friday? I’m interested in understanding the way you work. Are you OK with this?”

Harry pauses. “More advice coming?”

“That’s what makes me tick – helping others. I am a consultant after all.”

“Excuse me for asking, but how much will this advice cost me?”

“Let’s discuss that when we meet. It all depends on how valuable you see the advice.

My first piece worked and it only cost you a lunch.”

“See you Friday at noon.” Harry smiles, for the second time in as many weeks. ●

As an FM consultant Graham Constable offers proven competence in strategic and operational facilities and asset management and broad business experience gained over many years.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

22/07/16 8:24 AM

62 | OPINION

Beyond smart cards: secure identities moving onto a growing ecosystem STEVE KATANAS looks at the future of access control systems, which is being shaped by new smart technologies.

I

n the near future, users will be able to carry multiple secure identities on a single card or phone, replacing all of the mechanical keys and dedicated one-time password (OTP) hardware that they previously used for physical and logical access control.

This card or device will provide a seamless user experience as part of a growing access control ecosystem, and enable facilities to flexibly scale and adapt their infrastructure while deriving growing value from their investment over time.

Most of what is needed to realise this vision already exists. Any smart device – whether a traditional card or a wireless device with Bluetooth or NFC (near field communication) technology – can now become a trusted credential for authenticating individuals.

Meanwhile, advances in converged back-of-house technologies are enabling strong authentication and card management capabilities for computer and network logon, which means physical and logical identities can be managed on a combination of plastic cards, smartphones and other smart devices.

The goal isn’t merely to replace one credential form factor with another across isolated use cases, but rather to leverage mobile technologies within unified solutions that ensure secure access to the door, to data and to cloud applications.

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Today’s access control platforms offer two important things: more sophisticated credentials, and new credential form factors including mobile devices. These platforms also support open standards, which means organisations can evolve beyond current capabilities, and add new features, and more effectively adapt to changing security threats.

With the proper foundation in place and effective planning, facilities can solve today’s challenges while preparing for new capabilities, such as mobile access control. They also can add new applications when needed, and pave the way for integrated, multilayered physical access control (PACS) and IT security solutions that encompass all of the organisation’s networks, systems and facilities.

The potential for accelerated adoption of mobile access solutions will be one of the most important developments in the coming years. Smartphones will become an integral part of the ecosystem for the creation, management and use of secure identities.

In some cases phones will replace cards, but in many others they will supplement cards to deliver a more secure and userfriendly experience. Smartphones will be able to receive digital credentials and ‘present’ them to readers, and will also be capable of generating one-time passwords for accessing network or cloud- and web-based applications.

As a result, the same card or phone used for building access will also be used in conjunction with a personal tablet or laptop to authenticate to a VPN (virtual private network), wireless network, corporate intranet, cloud- and web-based applications, singlesign-on (SSO) clients and other IT resources.

As mobile access adoption spreads, strong authentication will also continue to grow more important in the face of a rapidly changing IT security threat environment.

Strong authentication will also move to the door, and there will be increasing use of other authentication factors including biometrics.

In some cases phones will replace cards.

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In the federal space, widely adopted public key infrastructure (PKI) strong authentication methods will arrive at the door using both cards and mobile phones.

Smartphones using Bluetooth Smart for their short-range connectivity technology will offer an additional benefit for access control – the ability for users to open doors from a distance with a simple movement of the device as they approach a mobile-enabled reader.

This new gesture-based technology capability offers a new user experience, creates new ways to open doors and parking gates, and will enable many additional future applications.

Meanwhile, the technology behind traditional cards isn’t standing still. Facilities will also be gaining new and more efficient card personalisation capabilities. For instance, today’s credentials can include numerous

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elements for enabling more trustworthy visual authentication, while helping to deter tampering and forgery.

These visual elements include higherresolution images and holographic card over-laminates, as well as permanent laserengraved personalisation attributes that are difficult, if not impossible, to forge or alter.

Many new personalisation opportunities are also on the horizon, and ease of personalisation will continue to improve.

The recent arrival of internal smart card encoders in today’s printers has reduced card personalisation to a single step while enabling users to support multiple types of electronic personalisation across many card types. This has dramatically simplified migration to new technology and encoding options as security requirements increase.

The arrival of new secure identity technologies will enable organisations to use smart cards and other smart devices in a growing ecosystem of interoperable products and applications. In the future, facilities will use these cards and phones as a replacement for all previous mechanical keys, physical access cards and dedicated OTP logical access authentication hardware.

Today’s extremely flexible, centralised access and identity management systems bring important capabilities for adapting to evolving threats and requirements, improving the user experience, and delivering steadily growing value over time. ●

Steve Katanas is sales director for HID Global, Physical Access Controls System, South Asia Pacific.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

21/07/16 3:04 PM

64 | ANNUAL SOFTWARE GUIDE 2016

Annual Software Guide 2016 DEFINITIONS BUILDING AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Web-based maintenance management applications.

BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING (BIM) SOFTWARE BIM is the process of generating and managing building data.

COMPUTERISED MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CMMS) Used to monitor equipment performance and enhance the efficiency of maintenance operations.

ENTERPRISE ASSET MANAGEMENT (EAM) SYSTEM Enables holistic control and optimisation of enterprise assets.

ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP) SOFTWARE Manages business processes and automates back office functions.

INTEGRATED WORKPLACE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (IWMS) Solutions that span the life cycle of facilities asset management.

PROCUREMENT SOFTWARE SOLUTION Automates the purchasing and inventory processes.

Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS)

Building Information Modelling (BIM) System

Building and Facilities Management Systems

Building and Facilities Management Systems

Zuuse Pitney Bowes

www.zuuse.com

www.pitneybowes.com/au

1800 212 807 MYBOS FM Innovations www.fminnovations.com.au 03 9600 1646 FM Innovations (FMI) is the only Australian owned software company to take your FM and property management objectives and tailor a software system that measurably helps you achieve them. Its WSMenterprise® is a simple to use, flexible yet comprehensive, state-of-the-art software product with your needs at the forefront of its design.

Zuuse is the next generation FM software – a 3D BIM platform that harnesses 3D models and data to optimise the full life cycle of an asset, especially during FM. The innovative technology developed by Zuuse is revolutionising the way assets are managed and is currently being used by Spotless, Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, Hansen Yuncken, Leighton, Flinders University, Metro South Health, Major Projects Victoria/ Shrine of Remembrance, Energy Australia and more.

www.mybos.com.au 1300 912 386 MYBOS is a building and facilities management application for residential and commercial properties, and offers a number of tools to streamline traditional building management activity through a simple and modern online-based system. In addition to reducing the cost of traditional management operations, MYBOS provides residents with a private, amenity rich web portal.

132 363 Pitney Bowes delivers accuracy and precision across the connected and borderless world of commerce by enabling billions of physical and digital transactions. At Pitney Bowes, we deliver innovations that help clients navigate this complex and always evolving world of commerce – from helping them use data to market to the best customers, to efficiently enabling the sending of parcels and packages, to securing payments through statements and invoices.

For more information and the definitions of the software categories used please visit www.fmmagazine.com.au/software-guide.

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21/07/16 8:44 AM

Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS)

Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS)

Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS)

Guardian Global Systems

Service Works Global

Advanced Spatial Technologies Pty Ltd

www.guardianglobalsystems.com 02 9209 4210

03 8676 0380

Guardian Global Systems provides solutions for corporate real estate. These include portfolio management, space management, workplace analytics, resource booking and facilities management.

Our workplace analytics system provides visibility on the performance of the flexible workplace. Guardian Global Systems promotes efficiency and transparency, lowering operational costs, while providing key insights for strategic planning and management.

Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Systems

Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS)

www.swg.com

www.fmsystem.com.au www.advancedspatial.com.au 08 9367 2888

FSI’s Concept EvolutionTM is a web-based, complete facilities and maintenance management solution used by around 850 clients worldwide. FSI GO allows you to build fully customised mobility solutions integrated with Concept Evolution or other independent business systems.

Cross-platform support is provided for Apple iOS, Android and Windows phones and tablets.

Service Works Global is an international market leader, providing facilities, asset and workplace management software systems to deliver ultimate control. Our flagship application, QFM, ensures rapid return on investment and competitive advantage through: • generating sustainable reductions in operational costs • optimising asset and resource value • improving service quality and availability, and • powerful reporting capabilities to enable key decision-making.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software

Procurement Software Solutions

Computerised Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS)

FSI – Concept Evolution www.fsifm.com.au 0449 234 446

FM:lnteract is an integrated suite of powerful web-based workplace management modules that enables organisations to share facilities information and manage processes. FM:lnteract runs on your organisation’s intranet or can be hosted, and accessed by all employees using standard web browsers. The flexibility and configurability of FM:lnteract can be leveraged on an ongoing basis to rapidly respond to changing requirements and realise new business value.

Pervidi Paperless Inspections www.pervidi.com.au 03 8862 6485 IBM

Pronto Software

ibm.co/maximo_au

www.pronto.net

TenderLink

1800 557 343

03 9887 7770

Built on a single software platform, the IBM® Maximo® Asset Management solution delivers a comprehensive view of all asset types – production, facilities, transportation and IT. It allows you to see all your assets, as well as identify any untapped potential within them. It also allows for the sharing and enforcement of best practices, inventory, resources and personnel, which can help optimise performance and maximise returns.

Pronto Software’s award-winning software, Pronto Xi, enables users to discover rich business insights. We’ve helped our clients reduce costs and enhance workforce collaboration by delivering easy-to-use solutions for FM, field service, HVAC and engineering services. From asset management and service mobility to project management and delivery, Pronto Xi provides a wide range of modules to help simplify your business.

www.tenderlink.com (AU) 1800 233 533 (NZ) 0800 698 363 Established in 1994, TenderLink is one of Australasia’s pioneers in web-based procurement systems.

TenderLink will help you save time, money and headaches with a specialised online procurement portal powered by TenderLink.

Reflecting your branding, your portal will facilitate any public or select/private procurement activities, including RFQs, RFTs, RFPs and EOIs.

Designed for property/facility managers, maintenance companies and service technicians, Pervidi automates field activities, inspections and work orders using a combination of software, mobile devices (tablets/ smartphones) and web portals.

• offered both as commercial off-the-shelf and tailored • most advanced electronic inspection solution (field mobility) • cloud-based or in-house • thousands of checklists to choose from • decision-based process • deficiencies/controls/nonconforms/recommendations, and • automatic corrective actions, emails and notifications.

For more information and the definitions of the software categories used please visit www.fmmagazine.com.au/software-guide. www.fmmagazine.com.au

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AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2016 FM

21/07/16 8:44 AM

66 | EVENTS

CONSTRUCTION INNOVATION FORUM

SAFE AND SECURE HOSPITALS CONFERENCE

WHEN: 4 – 5 August 2016 WHERE: Sydney, Australia CONTACT: www.bimmepaus.com.au/forum-current.html ___

WHEN: 17 – 18 October 2016 WHERE: Melbourne, Australia CONTACT: www.informa.com.au ___

AUSTRALASIAN WASTE AND RECYCLING EXPO

HEALTHCARE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

WHEN: 10 – 11 August 2016 WHERE: Sydney, Australia CONTACT: www.awre.com.au ___

WHEN: 19 – 21 October 2016 WHERE: Adelaide, Australia CONTACT: event.icebergevents.com.au/ihea-2016 ___

SAFETY IN ACTION 2016

FACILITY MANAGEMENT IN AIRPORTS

WHEN: 6 – 8 September 2016 WHERE: Sydney, Australia CONTACT: www.safetyinaction.net.au ___

WHEN: 7 – 8 December 2016 WHERE: Dusseldorf, Germany CONTACT: www.efmc-conference.com ___

RWM 2016

SYDNEY BUILD EXPO

WHEN: 13 – 15 September 2016 WHERE: Birmingham, UK CONTACT: www.rwmexhibition.com ___

WHEN: 23 – 24 March 2017 WHERE: Sydney, Australia CONTACT: www.sydneybuildexpo.com.au ___

WORLD ENERGY ENGINEERING CONGRESS

TOTAL FACILITIES

WHEN: 21 – 23 September 2016 WHERE: Washington, US CONTACT: www.energycongress.com ___

WHEN: 29 – 30 March 2017 WHERE: Sydney, Australia CONTACT: www.totalfacilities.com.au ___

WASTE EXPO

DESIGNBUILD

WHEN: 4 – 5 October 2016 WHERE: Melbourne, Australia CONTACT: www.wasteexpo.com.au

WHEN: 3 – 5 May 2017 WHERE: Sydney, Australia CONTACT: www.designbuildexpo.com.au

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www.fmmagazine.com.au

25/07/16 8:52 AM

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21/07/16 4:08 PM

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