Facility Management: August | September 2018 by Niche Media

WHEN MINDSET MET ENVIRONMENT How important is the relationship between workplace environment and employee well-being and productivity? FEATURE Is ISO 41000 a game-changer? TECHNOLOGY The business district of the future MAINTENANCE A healthy cooling tower WORKPLACE SAFETY The biohazard necessities

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www.fmmagazine.com.au AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2018

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Contents

FM WORKSPACE360

15 Ceiling the deal FM looks at progressions in ceiling restoration through the eyes of EnviroScope and Dulux.

OPENING FEATURE

16 When mindset met environment An in-depth examination of the relationship between workplace environment an employee well-being.

PROFILE

Hot desking and security

A veritable feast

New working environments give rise to new challenges, but security issues can be addressed with the right equipment, reports Johan Gantin.

Outsourcing your catering can be a daunting task, so we break down the two pricing models.

TECHNOLOGY

The good shepherd Shepherd Filters founder Jeremy Kronk lives up to his company’s namesake by leading the way in kitchen fire safety.

FEATURES

CONTENT PARTNER FEATURES

Leveraging leadership

In today’s current corporate climate, it’s necessary for businesses to effectively distribute leadership roles.

Resilience and ergonomics

36 The business district of the future Business parks and their industrial counterparts are reinventing themselves to offer dynamic, sustainable workplace environments with all the amenities of the city.

Ensuring employee resilience and well-being requires an ergonomic work environment, writes Alan Hedge.

34 ISO 41000 – game-changer or white elephant?

WORKPLACE CULTURE

Will the FM industry embrace the new Standard or view it as another costly level of compliance?

A teaching opportunity Australia is facing significant population growth and our infrastructure needs to accommodate it, particularly within the education sector. Adrian Cugnetto explains why a water filtration system will benefit vertical schools.

www.fmmagazine.com.au

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In and out

59 These walls can talk FM looks at how Monash University and Honeywell Building Solutions are working together to create the buildings of the future.

FM may be a behind-the-scenes industry, but customer and employee satisfaction is vital to its success.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2018 FM

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Contents FM REGULARS

08 10 13 66

Editor’s comment News New FM products Events

MAINTENANCE

ENERGY WATCH

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

A healthy cooling tower

Poor power quality can cost you big time

Experiential planning and design

There is the opportunity to make big savings by concentrating on power quality, particularly through the prevention of high supply voltages and its benefits for efficient solar power generation.

Can experiential learning and a ‘lessons learned’ workshop really benefit a business?

HARD FM

Cooling towers are essential to a building’s operation; however, there are many that suffer from years of neglect. It’s a facility manager’s responsibility to maintain the health of their cooling tower.

CONNECTIONS

46 Learning and remote frontiers There are all sorts of progressions gracing the FM industry, and Marcus focuses on the innovations at the International Space Station.

50 What’s in the pipeline? The water crisis is no secret and our cities are not immune to it. So what’s next?

WORKPLACE HEALTH

52 The right headspace Workplace mental health and well-being is good for business, and here’s why.

FM AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2018

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PROPERTY WATCH

Releasing the value of the silver in the portfolio To sell or not to sell a property? FM looks at businesses’ underutilised owned assets and ways to avoid foreclosing on their value.

WORKPLACE SAFETY

62 The biohazard necessities What is the correct way to dispose of biohazardous waste and reduce the risk of contamination in your facility?

www.fmmagazine.com.au

8/08/18 10:53 AM

Are you using

RAC-licensed technicians to manage your cooling systems? All installation, servicing and repairs of refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) systems containing fluorocarbon refrigerant must be carried out by a qualified tradesperson who holds an appropriate licence issued by the Australian Refrigeration Council (ARC). Benefits of using RAC-licensed technicians: › Minimising system down-times › Extending the running life of these vital systems

› Reducing the risk of substandard repairs and maintenance = cost savings

› Reducing emissions of ﬂuorocarbon refrigerant into the atmosphere, that can damage the ozone layer and contribute to global warming

› You are legally managing your facility’s cooling systems

Don’t risk it The use of unlicensed technicians increases the risk of unlawful emissions of refrigerant. Under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989, penalties of up to $63,000 for an individual or up to $315,000 for a corporation may apply. To check if your technicians are licensed and to ﬁnd RAC-licensed tradespeople visit www.lookforthetick.com.au/FM The handling and trade of ﬂuorocarbon refrigerants is controlled and enforced by the Department of the Environment and Energy. The Australian Refrigeration Council administers the RAC licensing scheme on behalf of the Department.

For further information visit www.lookforthetick.com.au/FM

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1/03/18 11:27 AM

8 | EDITOR'S LETTER

ell, they say that change is as good as a holiday – but, quite frankly, I’m sure we’d all much rather a trip to Italy or Finland or Fiji (or somewhere equally distant and exotic) than mere routine changes. Alas, we at FM magazine can’t offer an overseas adventure, but change – now that we can do. It’s with heavy hearts that we bid farewell to the magazine’s inimitable editor Michelle Dunner, who has contributed so much to the magazine and taken it in new directions. I’m the online editor for FM and, as of this issue, will be stepping up to fill Michelle’s formidable shoes as editor of the print magazine. It’s a tough act to follow, but I hope to do her, and you the readers, a service by continuing to produce a topical and helpful industry publication. In this, my first, issue, we take a look at the concept of the ‘positive’ workplace and what environment means for employees’ mental and physical well-being. Of course, we’re back with all our regular favourite columns dissecting the FM industry and offering words of advice. And be sure to check out FM ’s newest venture, FM Workspace360, in its second segment as we delve into ceiling restoration. I want FM to be a magazine of the people, by the people, for the people, as it were. That is to say, I value your knowledge, experience and input. Those of you who work in the FM industry live and breathe facility management every day – you’re the experts – and no one has more access to topics or a more immediate finger on the pulse than you. So please, contact me with topics that you want to see covered in the magazine , issues in the industry that concern or excite you, or FM leaders or figures that are pretty darn great and deserve to be profiled. Let’s take this metaphorical journey together. Until then, enjoy the issue.

Associate publisher Lachlan Oakley lachlan.oakley @ niche.com.au (03) 9948 4952

Editorial Managing editor Madeleine Swain Editor Tiffany Paczek tiffany.paczek @ niche.com.au

Advertising Business development manager Nirma Ledford nirma.ledford@niche.com.au (03) 9948 4992

Production Editorial design Keely Goodall Production manager Alicia Pinnock alicia.pinnock@niche.com.au Design and digital prepress Karl Dyer

Publishing Chairman Nicholas Dower Managing director Paul Lidgerwood Publisher and commercial director Joanne Davies Financial controller Sonia Jurista

Subscriptions Subscription enquiries Call 1800 804 160 or email subscriptions@niche.com.au

Printing

Tiffany Paczek tiffany.paczek@niche.com.au

Southern Colour Stock images courtesy of 123RF Cover photography: 123RF's Maxim Popov © 123RF.com 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 their respective organisations are:

ASSA ABLOY’S JOHAN GANTIN

BILLI’S ADRIAN CUGNETTO

HUMANSCALE’S ALAN HEDGE

Johan Gantin is product manager – Electronic Keying, ASSA ABLOY.

Adrian Cugnetto is the marketing manager for Billi Pty Ltd.

Alan Hedge is a Professor in the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis, Cornell University.

FM AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2018

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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. If you provide information about yourself to HH & M Media (the publishers of FM magazine), HH & M Media and Niche Group will use the information to provide you with the products or services you have requested (such as subscriptions). We may also provide this information to contractors who provide the products and services on our behalf (such as mail houses and suppliers of subscriber premiums and promotional prizes). We do not sell your information to third parties under any circumstances, however the suppliers of some of these products and services may retain the information we provide for future activities of their own, including direct marketing. Niche Group will also retain your information and use it to inform you of other Niche Group promotions and publications from time to time. If you would like to know what information Niche Group holds about you, please contact The Privacy Officer, Niche Group Pty Ltd, Suite 1418, Level 14, 1 Queens Road, Melbourne VIC 3004.

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. © 2018 HH & M Media Pty Ltd

www.fmmagazine.com.au

8/08/18 11:44 AM

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10 | NEWS ROUNDUP

AI IS TRANSFORMING COMPUTING – A KEYNOTE Artificial intelligence (AI) is a field constantly changing and expanding; it’s an area many of us watch with bated breath as we await the newest ground-breaking technologies and advances. The concept itself and the innovations within it can, at times, seem like something straight out of a science fiction story. Some of the innovations within this sphere will be seen at the upcoming IFA International Keynote in Berlin in early September. Media and trade visitors from around the world will once again flock to the tradeshow for exclusive, personal insights into leading global player strategies. IFA director Jens Heithecker says, “Following the commitment of global leaders such as LG and Huawei, we are pleased to welcome Microsoft vice president Nick Parker as a next top speaker to our IFA Keynote stage.” With the seminar ‘New computing possibilities – AI, IoT and gaming from the intelligent edge to the intelligent cloud and back’, Microsoft promises insights into the opportunities, possibilities and business models that lie in the computing technologies of tomorrow. AI technologies can perceive (speech and image recognition), reason (identify trends and insights), enhance decision-making (predictive maintenance in manufacturing) and continually learn. Connected devices – including personal computers, appliances, drones and sensors – become smarter and augment human ingenuity, and are powered by the intelligent cloud. In the keynote Parker will detail what’s next for AI and IoT (Internet of Things) and lay out opportunities for partners and customers at each point – from the edge to the cloud and more. As corporate vice president for the consumer and device sales division, Parker leads a global team focused on leveraging the value of the intelligent cloud by building intelligent edge devices that provide better experiences for customers. IFA Berlin is a significant tradeshow for consumer and home electronics and will be held from 31 August to 5 September 2018 at the Berlin Exhibition Centre. More information can be found at www.ifaberlin.com.

FM AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2018

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Social economic infrastructure to get clean energy boost with specialist green energy fund The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and leading alternative asset manager Morrison & Co have announced plans to spearhead clean energy standards across Australian social and economic infrastructure assets as part of a specialist $1 billion ‘green’ infrastructure fund. The Morrison & Co Growth Infrastructure Fund will acquire and develop a diverse range of essential assets, from hospitals, retirement and aged care accommodation and student housing to data centres and renewable energy. The CEFC is investing $150 million into the fund, which will acquire and manage a range of assets where there is potential for significant improvements in their energy efficiency profile. CEFC chief executive officer Ian Learmonth says, “This investment is about showing how we can readily improve the way we build and operate our essential economic and social infrastructure. These assets are central to our economy and our well-being, and they are built for the long-term. We see it as critical that new infrastructure assets are built to the highest possible clean energy standards, and that existing assets are updated with proven technologies that can lower emissions and cut energy use. “We are pleased to work with an industry leader such as Morrison & Co to make this essential sustainability commitment to such a diverse range of social and economic infrastructure assets. This will have long-term benefits for asset owners and users, as well as provide a model for other infrastructure investors and owners looking for opportunities to lower their emissions,” Learmonth says. “We have now invested $450 million in major infrastructure projects and programs, to help deliver comprehensive and sustained improvements in the carbon footprint of our infrastructure assets.” The Australian infrastructure sector accounts for almost half of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Morrison & Co chief investment officer Paul Newfield says, “With our fundamental belief in decarbonisation as an investment strategy, we see the CEFC as an ideal partner for this fund. “Morrison & Co has been investing in renewable energy for over 20 years and we are convinced that applying the decarbonisation and energy efficiency lens to a broader set of infrastructure assets will generate better long-term investment outcomes. “We are excited to be working with the CEFC to lead the infrastructure sector in this new direction.” CEFC investment funds lead Rory Lonergan adds, “The scale of Australia’s infrastructure sector means it is just not possible for one investor to finance the kind of sustainability measures required to make a meaningful impact on overall emissions. That’s why it is critical that investors such as Morrison & Co take the lead in establishing specialist clean energy focused investable products. By investing in this fund we are providing other sustainabilityfocused institutional investors with a new way to tap into this market while also delivering on their own sustainability goals.” Over time the fund will look to progressively introduce science-based targets to build a zero emissions portfolio. It will also draw on relevant Australian-based sustainability standards to set best-practice sustainability goals, including those of the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia, the National Australian Built Environment Rating System and the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme. The CEFC has previously invested $150 million in the IFM Australian Infrastructure Fund to reduce emissions in ports, airports and electricity infrastructure assets, and $150 million in debt finance for the Moorebank Logistics Park to remove emissions-intensive trucks from Australian roads. CEFC investments in infrastructure are part of its Sustainable Cities Investment Program.

www.fmmagazine.com.au

3/08/18 11:01 AM

29-30 AUGUST

2018 I N T E R N AT I O N A L CO N V E N T I O N C E N T R E SY D N E Y

ISSA Keynote Speaker John Eales Australian Rugby Union player and the most successful captain in the history of the game. “Leadership by Design” Thursday 30 August, 10–11 am.

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12 | NEWS ROUNDUP

Wastewater drainage from start to finish: trade waste management in buildings Floors and drains are an integral part of a commercial kitchen or food processing facility. Their importance cannot be overlooked or undervalued – from the point of discharge from and wash-down of equipment into the linear channels, grease separators and sewers, a complete drainage solution is imperative. Keeping drain elements clean and hygienic is of paramount importance for reducing the risk of foodborne pathogens. The story doesn’t start and finish with grease arrestors – there’s a whole network of drainage upstream that needs to be considered from a more holistic viewpoint, particularly by designers and plumbers. Through understanding the volume of food production, the type of waste produced and the level of hygiene risk, the type of final drainage solution can be determined. In a food production facility, such as a commercial kitchen serving hundreds of meals per day, the system grates, gullies and linear channels must be able to withstand significantly more wear than – for example – a small café. In order to meet these challenges, plumbing products company ACO offers a range of different grates, gullies, bucket traps, linear channels and grease separators to suit specific application requirements. Fats, oils, grease and solids are all captured to ensure that wastewater discharge meets trade waste specifications with the local authorities. “ACO’s product range for food production drainage systems is designed to give those who are conscious of the importance of

high performance, hygiene and durability peace of mind,” says Kate Jennings, ACO product manager. “For high-volume or high-risk applications, stainless steel is the best option to minimise the risk of food-borne pathogens and to give the best possible cleaning outcomes.” ACO’s Wexel is a range of cast iron drains with robust bodies and high quality stainless steel floor grates, which Jennings says is “equally as robust, but gives plumbers the option of using cast iron floor drains for low-risk environments, rather than stainless steel”. For more information visit www.acoplumbing.com.au.

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NEW FM PRODUCTS | 13

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14 | NEW FM PRODUCTS

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FM WORKSPACE360 | 15

Ceiling the deal Here we continue FM Workspace360 – a new platform bringing you the latest, greatest and most exciting innovations in the FM industry – and in this second instalment FM looks at progressions in ceiling restoration through the eyes of EnviroScope and Dulux. By TIFFANY PACZEK.

eilings play a significant role in our lives and the lives of our buildings, yet how often do we give thought to what’s above our heads? How often do we give scope to maintaining a ceiling and the impact this commonplace (yet vital) thing can have? Dulux, the internationally available brand of architectural paint, and EnviroScope Maintenance, a company delivering commercial painting and maintenance services to Australian businesses, are two companies making headway in the ceiling sphere. Specifically, they are looking at developing ways to restore, rather than replace, ceilings when they’re in need of a little TLC. Traditionally, replacing a past-itsprime ceiling has been both costly and time consuming. According to EnviroScope, the ceiling restoration market is relatively uncharted territory in Australia, with replacement generally being the first course of action. Dulux is breaking ground with its new product, the Dulux Professional Acousticoat Ceiling Tile Paint, a flat acrylic ceiling paint designed specifically to help refresh aged acoustic ceiling tiles. It has been specially formulated to ensure that paint will not stick tiles to the grid system, so it can be applied to grids and tile simultaneously. Steve Champion, trade brand manager for Dulux, says, “In the past acoustic ceiling tiles have been something that we couldn’t paint because it would damage the acoustics. “It’s one of those things that is across many industries, so lots of people have acoustic ceiling tiles. The ease of roof access makes a floating ceiling a brilliant option in many construction areas. The problem comes when they do look a bit tired

www.fmmagazine.com.au

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or suffer some water damage; replacement used to be the only option, but now refurbishment is a real alternative.” The innovative technology behind the paint makes the restoration of acoustic ceilings readily accessible and financially viable for those faced with an ageing or deteriorating ceiling. “The Acousticoat product is a specially formulated product that doesn’t block the pores of the acoustic tiles,” Champion explains. “The gaps in the tiles are really what perform all the acoustic benefits, and this paint is separate to others in that it doesn’t block those pores and it keeps them open to absorb all the sound. Regular paints will paint ceilings, but they will turn them into echo chambers and you won’t end up with that nice quiet office that you started with. “Our new paint will maintain the acoustic properties of ceiling tiles while revitalising them and making them look like a whiter, brighter ceiling,” Champion says. Similarly, EnviroScope has developed its ProCoat Systems – a unique range of spray-applied coatings that offers a costeffective, long-lasting alternative to replacing aged, stained or mismatched suspended ceilings across a wide range of commercial environments, without losing performance or functionality. EnviroScope’s executive director Dyan Sisouw says that ceilings are often an afterthought in the refurbishment process, but there needs to be more discussion around creative ideas of ceilings. “We are looking to create a new standard of service. Many businesses don’t realise the potential extra value that ceilings can add to a space and there is more room than ever for creativity,” Sisouw says.

Facility managers can now rest easier in the knowledge that a small water stain or flaking paint job no longer means a full ceiling replacement. “The return to service of a painted ceiling rather than a replaced ceiling is a big plus,” Champion says, “not to mention the waste generation of throwing out all your old ceiling tiles and starting again. The other key benefit is you need a plumber, electrician and labourers to replace a ceiling; you just need a painter to repaint.” A spokesperson for EnviroScope says, “The colour of a ceiling will inevitably change over time from sources of contamination such as air diffusers or water damage. “Most commercial buildings have acoustical ceilings in place. Prior to ProCoat Systems, there would be no alternative but to remove and replace the ceiling once it becomes discoloured. “ProCoat offers an alternative to traditional ceiling replacement. The process involves restoring existing acoustic ceilings in a costeffective way, all with a process that minimises disruption to business practice.” The new Dulux and EnviroScope ceiling restoration methods can offer facility managers: ● a cost saving of up to 80 percent, when compared to the cost of a full ceiling restoration, meaning more can be achieved with a small budget ● a faster turnaround of work without a loss of quality ● greater sustainability and waste management measures by diverting the amount of materials sent to landfill that would be usually be generated by ceiling replacement, and ● more freedom in design without losing performance or functionality. So FMs can look up and look ahead – to a whiter, brighter, better future for their ceilings. ●

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2018 FM

8/08/18 11:04 AM

16 | LEAD FEATURE

WHEN MINDSET MET ENVIRONMENT An in-depth look at the relationship between workplace environment and employee well-being, through the University of Sydney’s research into the Positive Built Workplace Environment. By TIFFANY PACZEK.

elcome to the age of the new Millennial, where – in the workplace at least – flexible working rules, salary isn’t everything and agile spaces are key. And here, a positive workspace that promotes a healthy mindset and employee well-being is a high priority for many of those with their nose to the grindstone. Even for those not actively seeking new employment, workplace culture plays an important role in employee satisfaction, wellness and, ultimately, whether or not they remain with their current company. A business is built on its workers – they are the legs on which it stands, the drivers of profit and success, and the cogs within the corporate machine that keep it turning. Their importance should not be underestimated, and neither should the effect of their mental health on their ability to do their job well. And if workers’ mental health affects their job performance, and job performance affects the success and profitability of a business, then surely the business should concern itself with its workers’ well-being. The University of Sydney has conducted world-first research into studying the relationship between a positive workplace psychology and mental well-being. The university’s Coaching Psychology Unit introduced the concept of the Positive Built Workplace Environment (PBWE) – “a holistic approach to workplace well-being where positive workplace psychology extends beyond HR functions into building design, interiors and the social environment of a workspace”. The study ‘Towards a positive psychology of buildings and workplace community: delineating the benefits of the Positive Built Workplace Environment’ was conducted by Professor Anthony Grant, Sean O’Connor, Ingrid Studholme and Ariella Berger. It includes an in-depth qualitative case study of International Towers, Tower Two and Tower Three at Barangaroo Sydney looking at how a PBWE promotes sustainable high performance – both organisational performance and employee well-being.

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To date there has been minimal research looking at how the physical built environment and the management of the physical space can influence important psychological factors such as positivity, competence, autonomy and relatedness and create a sustainable high performance workplace environment. This is where Grant and his team come in. Grant established the world’s fi rst Coaching Psychology Unit at the University of Sydney, where he is its director and researches and teaches the psycho-mechanics of positive change – the psychological, environmental and behavioural factors that facilitate purposeful, meaningful change. His new concept of the PBWE “links the strengths of the positive physical workplace environment with the humanistic and high performance aspects of positive leadership”. Grant says, “The Positive Built Workplace Environment is really about a workplace that is built, designed and operated in a way that allows the people who work there to consistently produce high performance, and it also allows those people to consistently experience high well-being. It really is as simple as that. “When we start to unpack that simple notion, we have two key characteristics. One is a physically designed workplace that allows communication and for people to work efficiently in groups, while also providing respite in the form of quiet, private spaces that satisfy certain tasks or needs, and it also requires the leadership to facilitate the growth and well-being of the individuals who work there.” Essentially, a PBWE is an environment that is designed and operated in such a way that, by providing the optimal physical conditions and resources, it enables employees to deliver high performance and maintain both personal and organisational well-being. And, importantly, the PBWE promotes high performance that is both sustainable and consistent. The key physical components of the PBWE are facilities and precincts that utilise flexibility in their design, alongside a building property management team that actively advocates for the positive values of inclusiveness, respect and

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Towers Two and Three at dusk.

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18 | LEAD FEATURE

engagement. The PBWE also encompasses a ‘green building’ ethos, which incorporates the principles of sustainable development and refers to both the structure of a building and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource efficient throughout its life cycle. According to Grant’s study, a well-designed workplace layout and a green working environment can: ● increase organisational productivity by 19 percent ● increase individual performance on cognitive tasks by over 61 percent ● reduce respiratory complaints and headaches by 30 percent and help people sleep better, and ● deliver significant return on investment (ROI) – for example, an investment of US$40 per person on improving air quality can result in a US$6500 increase in employee productivity. The study also found that a positive psychological workplace environment is equally important. It states that “employees have three core psychological needs that, if ignored, reduce performance and well-being within the workplace”. These three needs are a sense of: ● autonomy ● competence, and ● relatedness at work. The PBWE can be measured through its impact on employees’ sense of these three needs, as well as through a new adaptation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The research conducted at the towers at Barangaroo Sydney delves into the notion of a positive psychology of the built workplace environment through exploring the lived experiences of individuals, teams and organisations in these spaces. It seeks to portray potential links between the physical attributes of such workplaces and employee performance and well-being and organisational culture. The research involved qualitative interviews with custodians, staff and other key stakeholders in the community at International Towers. Many participants commented on: ● the impact of working in well-designed ‘green’ environments and how much they supported job performance ● their appreciation to determine where, when and how they worked ● the increased sense of autonomy and how it felt empowering ● noticeable improvements in performance in both quality and quantity of their work, and ● the open style of working and its benefits. Many also highlighted their enhanced sense of wellbeing and made explicit links between the building design, leadership and individual well-being. The study explores the relationship between the physical attributes of contemporary workspaces and employee

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performance and well-being, and it looks at the notion of the ‘flourishing workplace’. It then presents three models that can be used to understand and explore the PBWE. These are: ● the Positive Built Environment Scale, which uses ‘selfdetermination theory’ (a theory of human motivations positing that all individuals have three basic psychological needs – for competence, autonomy and relatedness) as a framework for a proposed questionnaire with which to measure the psychological aspects of the PBWE ● an adaptation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a psychological framework with which to evaluate the physical aspects of the PBWE, and ● a theoretical model of the relationships between the various constructs. Using an adapted version of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, certain areas can be addressed within the workplace and its physical environment in order to create a self-actualising (be-your-best) workforce. These are ‘belonging’, ‘self-esteem’ and ‘self-actualisation’. Grant’s report notes, “Belonging needs can be addressed or encouraged by the use of physical space, which should be designed to facilitate positive interactions and connections between individuals and groups. When a worker feels they belong at work they are far more likely to develop a sense of purpose. “Self-esteem needs can be enhanced at work by the sense of respect and appreciation within the environment, as well as the pride in the relationship to the building and building culture. “Self-actualisation needs can be enhanced by shared common values, a sense of ethics and a lack of prejudice – along with the inspiring environment itself.” Furthermore, the research also revealed that positive leadership significantly enhances personal and organisational performance and well-being. “Values-based leadership is important at all levels, including the tenant organisations, the building designers, the building management team and the building service staff, and congruency between all of these adds significant value to the experience of working in the building,” the report states. “The values and positive culture demonstrated by building managers can add a significant sense of purpose, pride and well-being in tenants and their employees.” Grant says, “For many years we’ve seen the benefits of positive psychology in the workplace, including values-based leadership and values-based workplace environment or design on employee well-being. However, it is only now we are seeing the next wave of this workplace shift, where the two high-impact fields are brought together in a powerful integrated model. “We are also seeing a more sophisticated approach to the structure of the workplace environment beginning to emerge where open-plan, flowing workspaces are balanced with accessible private rooms and workspaces. This is facilitating

Tower Two lobby.

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a shift from a hot desk set-up to a more genuinely cooperative workplace environment,” Grant says. “Beyond this, there are now fantastic examples of where this purposefully well-being oriented environment is structured to allow serendipitous ways of meeting, which is of course where we see some of the best workplace innovation emerge.”

ENVIRONMENT AND PERFORMANCE One’s physical environment has long been recognised and understood as having significant impact on mental health and performance. So, naturally, one’s workplace environment dramatically impacts both mental well-being and organisational productivity and success. Consequently, businesses and organisations now seek to work in buildings that offer spaces and environments that better facilitate individual, team and organisational performance. Grant’s report notes, “Such performance enhancement may occur through providing a physical workplace environment that maximises the effective use of space and resources. Over the years, organisations have tried a wide range of design

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approaches including cellular office layouts, open-plan designs, hot-desking, and more recently, ‘New Ways of Working’ (NWoW) and activity-based flexible offices.”

SUSTAINABLE HIGH PERFORMANCE A ‘ﬂourishing workspace’ can be understood as a workplace that is “designed and operated in a way the provides the optimal physical, psychological and cultural conditions that enable employees to deliver consistently high performance, while simultaneously maintaining and enhancing employees’ wellbeing and creating a constructive positive organisational culture.” Drawing from Anita Fuzi’s1 work, Grant writes, “Co-working spaces are creative and energetic places where small ﬁrms, freelancers and start-ups can interact, share, build and co-create on a ‘rent-by-the-month’ basis and they provide support and facilities to enable entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses.” These creative, community-based, interactive workspaces have shown to produce greater levels of innovation, creativity, teamwork and better quality work, according to Tammy Johns

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and Lynda Gratton in their Harvard Business Review article ‘The third wave of virtual work’2 . And in ‘The impact of the ambient environment and building configuration on occupant productivity in open-plan commercial offices’3, Mulville, Callaghan and Isaac found strong links between positive ambient office environmental conditions – for example, access to sunlight, views and air-conditioning – and positive behaviours and productivity in the workplace. Grant also draws on the research from Allen et al (2016)4 to support the notion that ‘green’ offices increase performance and well-being. The research found that, compared to ‘standard office conditions’, improved air quality could increase performance on cognitive tasks by 61 percent, and in some cases by over 100 percent. A 2017 study (MacNaughton5) looked at employees in 10 different green-certified buildings and found that employees had 30 percent less respiratory complaints and fewer headaches. Additionally, employees had improved cognitive performance by almost 27 percent and also slept better at night, as measured by sleep quality wristbands. “Such green office environments can deliver significant fi nancial returns on investment,” Grant says. He also highlights, “The key fi ndings from the study

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were in two categories. The fi rst category really was about what’s already known. The second category is about what’s happening at International Towers, and how it relates to our understanding of positive workplaces. “We already know that a well-designed workplace can increase cognitive functioning by 61 percent – that you get better engagement and better sleep quality, and people are overall physically and emotionally better off within a well-designed environment. What we found with the International Towers study was that there is this synergetic effect between the built environment, and the leadership and the values that are espoused and enacted within it. “We established the importance of having spaces to concentrate within the workspace, and spaces where people can simply look out and enjoy the vista and easily absorb natural light, because when we do that it triggers a real biological response – we feel physically better when we can do that. And when you combine that with leadership that values you as a person, genuinely, that allows you to make mistakes and exercise autonomy and make choices so you feel like you’re working with some meaning, that’s when the magic happens.” Grant says of the PBWE, “In this next generation model, which is uniquely reflected within the International Towers

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“If you want to create a truly flourishing workplace that has both high performance and high levels of well-being, changing and adapting your physical environment to support positive cultural changes is hugely important.”

Tower Three lobby.

environment, we can see the three basic human needs of self-determination or autonomy, competence and relatedness being brought together by the design and management of this new generation of workplaces – the Positive Built Workplace Environment. Lots of organisations have open-plan, free flow workspaces, but very few have also harnessed a specific set of human needs and values and encouraged the leaders to enact those values across all levels of the workplace. “It is the synergy between positive leadership, positive design and positive values that makes the real difference. In today’s complex business environment, being high-tech or ‘green’ is not enough – [the research at] International Towers, Tower Two and Tower Three has shown Australia and the world how to combine sustainability, aesthetics, design and – most importantly – positive principles to create a truly flourishing workplace.” A PBWE puts the onus on the building property management team to actively promote positive values such as inclusiveness, respect and engagement. The principles were put in place throughout International Towers, Tower Two and Tower Three, with environments designed to encourage and inspire cross-functional team interaction, including open spaces, visible gathering spaces, transparent activity rooms and connectivity between staff areas and event tenancies. International Towers general manager Tony Byrne says the savings to industry can’t be underestimated. “By taking an inside-out approach to well-being, employers would be rewarded with greater innovation and customer-facing outcomes, while reducing work-related stress at the same time,” he says. “Creating optimal conditions for employees, in collaborative settings such as International Towers, has a bonus of being a drawcard for new and top talent, particularly Millennials.” The data gathered from Grant’s research indicates that a PBWE does indeed have a significant impact on those who work there, and when positive values are supported and enacted by the building management and the design team, this creates a strong foundation for a positive and inclusive culture. It goes beyond the current research to date, extending from building design, internal fitout and leadership to include the importance of the role of building management in contributing to a positive workplace environment. The combination of

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these factors has the potential to enrich the lived experience of organisations and their employees. Grant concludes by saying, “As the nature of work evolves and changes at an ever-increasing pace, we hope that our research helps further develop our understanding of how to better develop positive workplace environments that will support future organisational and individual development in a sustainable, humanistic fashion. “My message for leaders is that if you want to create a truly ﬂourishing workplace that has both high performance and high levels of well-being, changing and adapting your physical environment to support positive cultural changes is hugely important.” ●

REFERENCES 1 A Fuzi. (2015). ‘Co-Working Spaces for Promoting Entrepreneurship in Sparse Regions: The Case of South Wales’. Regional Studies, Regional Science, 2(1), 462-469. 2 T Johns, & L Gratton. (2013). ‘The Third Wave of Virtual Work’. Harvard Business Review, 91(1), 66-73. 3 M Mulville, N Callaghan & D Isaac. (2016). ‘The Impact of the Ambient Environment and Building Configuration on Occupant Productivity in Open-Plan Commercial Offices’. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 18(3), 180-193. 4 J G Allen, P MacNaughton, U Satish, S Santanam, J Vallarino & J D Spengler. (2016). ‘Associations of Cognitive Function Scores with Carbon Dioxide, Ventilation and Volatile Organic Compound Exposures in Office Workers: A Controlled Exposure Study of Green and Conventional Office Environments’. Environmental Health Perspectives, 124(6), 805-812. 5 P MacNaughton, U Satish, J Guillermo, C Laurent, S Flanigan, J Vallarino, B Coull, J D Spengler & J G Allen. (2017). ‘The impact of working in a green certified building on cognitive function and health’. Building and Environment, 114, 178-186.

SOURCE A Grant, S O’Connor, I Studholme, A Berger. University of Sydney and International Towers. (2018). Towards a Positive Psychology of Buildings and Workplace Community: Delineating the Beneﬁts of the Positive Built Workplace Environment.

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22 | CONTENT PARTNER: HUMANSCALE

Content partner: Humanscale Resilience and ergonomics Ensuring employee resilience and well-being requires an ergonomic work environment, not just offering company massages and counselling sessions, writes ALAN HEDGE.

wo of the biggest corporate

Percentage wise, when it comes to people

buzzwords of the last ﬁve

experiencing compensable problems, about ﬁve

years have been well-being and

percent of all workplace injuries are stress-

resilience, with the importance of

related ones.

looking after employees’ mental

So companies invest in their resilience

health at long last acknowledged as not only

programs because this is clearly an issue and a

sensible but vital for a thriving workplace.

quantiﬁable one at that.

But all too often, resilience and wellness programs fail to include workplace ergonomics

Components of resilience

considerations, which can produce much

There are three components to resilience. First

greater returns on investment.

is the cognitive one. People become stressed

The concept of resilience is fairly

because of the amount of work they have to

straightforward. It means that people are able

do, or the nature of that work. Perhaps it’s the

to bounce back from stressful situations. In

deadlines they have to meet or simply that, in a

the workplace today, with economic

downturn, companies can be forced to retrench

uncertainty and unemployment issues, we

staﬀ, which simply means a greater workload

know that many people are experiencing

for the staﬀ who are left behind. This is all part

signiﬁcant stress at work.

of the cognitive aspect of resilience.

Companies are great indicators of the

Second is the emotional aspect, which

economy. When it’s buoyant, life is good,

relates to employees and their colleagues, how

but when it’s bad, life is not so good and

well they get on with their co-workers, their

employees need to be able to bounce back

supervisors, their managers. If these are not

from that adversity.

good relationships, this causes an increasingly

Accordingly, many companies across the

stressful work environment. This emotional

globe are investing in resilience programs to

component also relates to personal feelings of

try and improve how individuals can deal with

security. If an employee is worried that their job

work-related stress.

is insecure, this can have a ripple eﬀect – what

And there are clearly ﬁ nancial imperatives for doing so. In Australia alone such problems account for around $11 billion a year in

will it mean for family, for dependents, for the family home? These two components are why many

health-related costs. To put that into context,

resiliency programs focus on the mental health

we’re looking at about a third of the country’s

aspect of work. But they either downplay or forget

military budget.

one very important component of resiliency…

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Alan Hedge is a Professor in the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis, Cornell University. He was visiting Australia and New Zealand on a speaking tour for Humanscale.

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The third aspect of resiliency The neglected component is the physical environment. And this is where ergonomics comes into it because there is strong evidence to show that poor environmental conditions can be great stressors. Examples include a noisy environment, one that’s too hot or too cold, or too variable, one with really substandard lighting – too bright, too dim or very non-uniform. All such situations directly stress the body. But of even greater importance to physical stresses are postural ones. If we go back to our beleaguered worker trying to keep on top of a

Stress doesn’t cause musculoskeletal problems, but it does amplify them, because it tenses up the muscles, so that when a stressed employee is working in a poor posture they become injured more quickly.

13 percent. This is probably because people see health as a personal issue, not a corporate one and they don’t necessarily want everyone to know about their health status or how they’re managing it. So typically the return on investment for these programs is US$3.80 per dollar spent. There are benefits, but they’re not huge. Then there is the field of proactive ergonomics. This is when environments are designed from scratch to provide the very best conditions for working effectively. And the return on investment in these initiatives is US$18 – for every dollar spent. There is a tremendous return on investment

much greater workload, the chances are that

because musculoskeletal problems are really

they are not paying attention to the way in

expensive, not just in terms of the cost of the

which they are working. They are working long hours, and doing so in a really poor posture, in a

eﬀective to focus on the third component

injury, but also due to the fact that as the injury

badly designed environment.

of resiliency. In the US there are companies

develops, productivity is diminishing.

running wellness and resiliency programs that

There are also people away from work

problems, but it does amplify them, because it

tend to fall into one of two categories. There are

with the injury, and perhaps the costs of any

tenses up the muscles, so that when a stressed

the lifestyle programs, such as those that try

interventions may be surgical, and it becomes

employee is working in a poor posture they

and encourage participants to take more steps

necessary to hire replacement workers.

become injured more quickly.

every day, to use the stairs, eat healthy food and

And good ergonomic designs can prevent

drink more water etc. Such programs are likely

musculoskeletal injuries.

Stress doesn’t cause musculoskeletal

Financial repercussions If the mental health related costs are high, the

to be popular. Analysis shows that typically eight or nine

Integration and beyond

physical ones are greater again. Work-related

out of 10 people in a company will sign up to

This doesn’t mean that resiliency programs

physical injuries amount to $61 billion a year in

such a program. But for every (US) dollar spent

should only focus on the physical environment

Australia. This ﬁgure is six times that of stress-

on these, there is a 50-cent return in terms of

at the expense of mental health, but that the key

related problems. It’s not ﬁve percent of workers

reductions in health costs.

is integration. Companies will have directors

reporting these issues, it’s 60 percent – 12 times

The second category is disease management

of wellness, but not directors of ergonomics,

as many people. Yet workplaces are setting up

programs. This is where you may have

and the directors of wellness often don’t even

wellness programs or resiliency programs, often

employees with a chronic disease, such as type

consider the importance of ergonomics. Yet

through the human resources department, but

two diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Now

that’s where the majority of the injury costs are

ergonomics can end up buried in health and

what you’re trying to do is ensure that they take

going to be felt by an organisation, and that gets

safety. It’s forgotten about, when the reality is

their medication regularly, that they look after

ampliﬁed when you have an ageing workforce.

that an employee can be in the best of mental

themselves regularly, so that they maximise

health, but if they’re working in an awkward

the chance that they’ll recover, or at least

are expecting to continue working beyond

posture, they are going to get injured.

manage their chronic disease. Or the disease

age 65, and there are all kinds of biological

may be arthritis, for example, which aﬀects

changes that will naturally happen that you

musculoskeletal problems.

need to try and accommodate, and maybe

Return on investment There is now data revealing that, from a return on investment standpoint, it is much more

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The take-up of people becoming involved in these sorts of programs is much lower – around

Also, because with no retirement age, people

even compensate for in the design of the environment. ●

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24 | CONTENT PARTNER: BILLI

Content partner: Billi A teaching opportunity Australia is looking at significant population growth over the next couple of decades and part of the infrastructure needed to accommodate this is in education. Schools and schoolchildren need water, and a great way to deliver this is via a filtration system, writes ADRIAN CUGNETTO.

t’s been well-documented that the

Victoria is particularly interesting when it

population in Australia is projected to

comes to schools, as this was the state that

grow. Currently sitting around 24.13

saw the closure of so many of them in the

million, that ﬁgure is expected to rise to

1990s. The Kennett Government has long been

36 million by 2046. And it’s the cities

associated with these closures and, although

that will experience the greatest change.

the exact ﬁgures are hard to pin down and this

Melbourne alone is projected to nearly double

education rationalisation initiative did actually

its population to eight million.

start before Jeﬀ Kennett became Premier, it is

These new Australians will not all be

certainly true that there was some brutal cost

born here; many will be immigrants, perhaps

cutting during this period, as the government

including people whose home countries have

took advantage of a temporary lull in the

been made unliveable due to the eﬀects of

population growth to sell oﬀ government

climate change. But there is no doubt that there

schools and the land beneath them, particularly

will be more young people and school age

in the inner suburbs of Melbourne.

Australians that will need to be accommodated. And this is already happening. Between the 2011 and 2016 censuses the

But that lull was only temporary and many areas are now ﬁnding that they have huge numbers of young people needing schools and

number of school-aged children (from ﬁve to 17

having diﬃculty accessing them. Families in

years) in Australia grew by 174,600 – that’s the

the inner south-eastern suburb are among the

equivalent of around 300 schools.

aggrieved who remember the former Prahran

And the growth is spread across the whole

High School that was located where the Orrong

country, with the top 10 growth suburbs

Romanis playing ﬁelds are now. They are

for primary school aged children including

probably the same families who shook their

Cranbourne East in Victoria (which saw an

heads and sighed when construction began this

additional 2251 children, added to the 910

year on the new four-storey Prahran High School

in 2011), Baldivis in Western Australia and

on the former Swinburne University Campus.

Cobbitty and Leppington in New South Wales. The top 10 for secondary school aged

It’s not alone. There are a number of new inner-city schools in development or recently

children includes many of the same suburbs,

completed by the Victorian Government. As at

with Cranbourne East again coming out on top

April 2018 it had invested around $2.8 billion

(up to 1927, an additional 1366 children from

into the construction or upgrade of schools, with

2011). There’s clearly something in the water in

64 new schools planned, including the state’s

Cranbourne…

ﬁrst vertical schools – the Hayball-designed

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Adrian Cugnetto is the marketing manager for Billi Pty Ltd.

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Richmond High School and South Melbourne Primary School. There is also a three-storey primary school planned for Docklands. Similar architectural styles are reﬂected across the country with the South Australian, New South Wales and Queensland governments also all committing signiﬁcant funding to vertical schools in their most populated cities. This trend for taller, and indeed vertical, schools speaks to an unavoidable reality for the construction of educational buildings in inner

Schools that go up instead of spread across have very different design challenges to traditional campuses. One of the most obvious relates to the provision of water.

(at best), clogging up our landfi ll sites (worse) or refusing to break down for millennia and choking our oceans and the sea life within (absolute worst). Of course there is a solution to this dilemma of hard to place or vandalised bubblers and the plague of lost or throwaway bottles. And that’s to specify a fit for purpose water fi ltration system – with clean and cold water available on demand. When specifying a fi ltration system, it’s important to make sure you choose one

cities – the diﬃculty in ﬁ nding enough space to

tested to the strictest health standards and

build them. Schools that go up instead of spread

certiﬁed by the globally recognised NSF public

across have very diﬀerent design challenges to

health and safety organisation, which ensures

traditional campuses. One of the most obvious

the highest level of drinking water is available. It’s also important to replace ﬁ lters periodically

relates to the provision of water. Without large expanses of space used for

them at all times. Which is why the families of

to maintain the water quality. The best systems

playgrounds, the school bubblers of yore are

most school-aged children will have a drawer

will oﬀer premium submicron ﬁ ltration for bad

no longer always possible or appropriate.

full of water bottles – some with missing lids,

water quality areas.

Even when they can be speciﬁed, bubblers

some that always leak, and some that have

are notorious magnets for mischief – subject

multiple moving parts and are impossible to

to vandalism and pranks that render them

clean satisfactorily. And why a whole drawer?

boiling water component for staﬀ rooms and

unusable or severely compromised. The

Because they go missing. All the time. If you

other adult-occupied spaces. With recess and

new schools are also being designed with

have a child or children, you will know this for

lunchtimes strictly adhered to, any time spent

sustainability and water conservation in

a fact. Sometimes they turn up again, when you

on waiting for a kettle to boil is time wasted.

their DNA, which means wasting water and

least expect them, but always when you’ve just

Instant access to boiling water for that yearned

specifying taps that can be left in the ‘on’

gone out and purchased a new one.

for cup of tea is guaranteed to please any

position are to be avoided at all costs. Everyone needs access to clean water,

Apart from the provision of drinking water, ﬁ ltration systems also come with a

Look at any lost property box in schools or

teacher or member of the school support staﬀ.

sports centres or anywhere children gather and

And when you look again at the number

of course and especially children. To keep

you’ll see dozens of them, all shapes and sizes

of extra children heading to Australian

them hydrated and away from the ﬁzzy and

– lost water bottles. But at least the reusable

classrooms in the near future, anything that

unhealthy drinks like colas and lemonades, it’s

bottles are better than the scourge of one-use

helps staﬀ to get on with teaching them has to

imperative that drinking water is available to

bottles that are inundating our recycling plants

be a good idea. ●

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26 | CONTENT PARTNER: ASSA ABLOY

Content partner: ASSA ABLOY Hot desking and security New working environments and strategies come with all sorts of opportunities and benefits, but they also give rise to new challenges. One of them is security issues, but they can be easily addressed with the right equipment, writes JOHAN GANTIN.

he working environment has

workspace all the time, but working from

changed radically over the

diﬀerent workstations depending on the task

last few years. Workplaces in

at hand.

2018 are spaces where activitybased working (ABW), hot

The advantages of hot desking are manifold. First and foremost, they save on real estate

desking and remote access are buzzwords

and the business’ footprint. Instead of wasted

and commonplace, but what do these terms

space with desks set up and not being used

all actually mean? When it comes to ABW

100 percent of the time, hot desking makes it

the answer is exactly what it says on the

possible for several workers to use the same

tin. It’s a practice that sees a variety of work

workstation facilities at diﬀerent times. This

environments, each suited to the particular

cuts down on equipment costs and also allows

type of work being carried out – breakout

downsizing into aﬀordable spaces while

spaces, individual workstations, larger desks for

retaining maximum productivity.

co-working and brainstorming. Hot desking, on the other hand, is the

But there are many other beneﬁts too. Hot desking means employees are no longer

provision of desks that are set up to be used by

tethered to the same desk in the same part

multiple users – so that remote workers or those

of the oﬃce. Moving around the oﬃce gives

who only come into the oﬃce sporadically

social ﬂuidity and allows workers to liaise and

have a desk they can use when they do. They

communicate with new people, to collaborate

can also be used by workers who are in the

with other members of staﬀ and work with

Johan Gantin is product manager – Electronic Keying, ASSA ABLOY.

and understand the responsibilities of

The advantages of hot desking are manifold. First and foremost, they save on real estate and the business’ footprint. FM AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2018

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departments and employees they may not have encountered previously. Hot desking also is a great way of decluttering the oﬃce space. Instead of the build-up of objects and detritus that is often the way when one is located in the same position for a long period, the very nature of hot desking means that all you take with you are your portable devices – a smartphone, a laptop and you’re good to go.

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Being able to choose your working environment on any given day means you can also choose which kind of working environment is most suitable on that occasion. Some people will always prefer quiet or secluded spots in which to work, while others may prefer more sociable and lively atmospheres. Most will have diﬀerent preferences, depending on the nature of the task they have at hand. Hot desking implies a modern workspace – any business looking at hot desking will also

Being able to choose your working environment on any given day means you can also choose which kind of working environment is most suitable on that occasion.

need to be moving all of its business systems

● ﬂexibility to manage constantly changing

access requirements ● easy installation – no wiring required ● audit trails, and ● cost-eﬀectiveness.

A robust and well-designed programmable key system makes it possible to use the key for up to 30,000 openings or three years before the battery needs to be replaced. Electronic key systems are streamlined as they are able to assign access rights to the key holder on a permanent or temporary basis and

into the cloud, so that employees are able

can be programmed to suit each individual.

to access all they need remotely. This also

that are then connected to servers or the

Temporary access rights for contractors, remote

implies a level of autonomy for each individual

intranet from diﬀerent desks, how do you keep

workers and external service providers can be

employee, which can give them an increased

your information and ﬁ les safe and private?

assigned quickly and easily.

sense of pride and responsibility for the tasks

When people are working in diﬀerent spaces

they have to perform.

all the time, how do you know who is allowed

keys as they can be revoked electronically at

where and when?

any time. Updates and changes of access rights

But for all of the beneﬁts of this mode of working there are naturally one or two

This is where electronic keying can be

There is no longer a security issue with lost

can be transferred to the keys via programming

disadvantages. Apart from the fact of having

the solution. Such changing organisational

no permanent storage and employees having

structures as the utilisation of hot desking,

Changing work practices bring myriad

to carry everything they need around with

along with the increased use of contractors

advantages, but also new challenges. Hot

them at all times, there is also the issue of

or temporary workers, put great pressure

desking gives employees freedom and

disconnection. Without a regular dedicated spot

on those responsible for the security in a

autonomy and the companies they work

in a workspace an employee can lose their sense

building or on a site.

for a more mobile workforce, while also

of belonging and being part of a team. The

Programmable key systems come with

devices or directly via a mobile phone.

reducing costs and space requirements.

most obvious downside though is the issue of

cloud-based software for easy management.

With a programmable keying system, the

security. If diﬀerent people are using the same

The beneﬁts of programmable keys and

disadvantage of greater security concerns is

machines or equipment at any given moment or

compact cylinders include:

removed, giving both workers and businesses

carrying around individual pieces of equipment

● minimal risks associated with lost keys

peace of mind. ●

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PROFILE | 29

THE GOOD SHEPHERD Shepherd Filters founder Jeremy Kronk lives up to his company’s namesake by leading the way in kitchen fire safety.

O “

ut of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” Or so said 20th century American-Lebanese writer and poet Khalil Gibran, and his words undisputedly ring true for Shepherd Filters founder and director Jeremy Kronk. Kronk is no stranger to suffering, for in 2015 he experienced a horrific explosion and house fire that left him fighting for life. He suffered severe full-thickness burns to 52 percent of his body that forced him into an induced coma for six weeks and required more than three months in hospital. Full-thickness burns, or third-degree burns, destroy both layers of skin (epidermis and dermis) and may penetrate even more deeply into the subcutaneous tissue, muscle and bone, often causing scarring. Miraculously, Kronk survived his ordeal, although his injuries were so grievous that his recovery took two gruelling years. Now on the other side of his harrowing experience, Kronk is dedicating his life to stopping preventable grease fires from occurring and hurting others as he was hurt. This is something he feels strongly about; he doesn’t want anyone to endure the same horrific experience and so he has looked for ways to reduce the risk of kitchen fires that can cause people to suffer a similar fate. This drive led Kronk down the entrepreneurial path to develop Shepherd Filters, a simple and effective solution to reduce the build-up of grease within kitchen exhaust systems. After inspecting numerous restaurants and cooking

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Industry statistics calculate that the ignition of cooking materials accounts for almost half of all commercial kitchen fires in Australia, the UK and the US, and that in 90 percent of cases the fire spreads through the exhaust system.

venues, Kronk realised how rife – and dangerous – the problem was throughout the commercial kitchen industry. Fires break out in restaurant kitchens every week, often burning entire buildings to the ground and injuring or even killing those caught in them. This year has already seen commercial kitchen fires sustain millions of dollars worth of damage. In January 2017, terror reigned in Sydney’s Pitt and George Streets as smoke billowed from the ducts of a popular steak restaurant, causing 100 people to be evacuated and three to be hospitalised for smoke inhalation. The following month in New York, a grease fire ravaged a Seventh Avenue restaurant, injuring three people and endangering the lives of residents in the adjoining buildings.

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30 | PROFILE

These fires and their like start when airborne fat and oil from cooking build up in kitchen exhaust filters, travel through the hood and ducts and into the roof, blocking ventilation and reducing air flow. Notoriously flammable, the grease acts like a ‘ticking time bomb’, and all it takes is a stray spark to ignite it and send the whole system up in flames. A mere two millimetres of grease build-up is all it takes to pose a severe fire risk and endanger the lives of restaurant staff and patrons. Industry statistics calculate that the ignition of cooking materials accounts for almost half of all commercial kitchen fires in Australia, the UK and the US, and that in 90 percent of cases the fire spreads through the exhaust system. Although Australian standards impose strict regulations on kitchen exhaust hoods, including biannual inspections, it’s thought that the frequency of grease fires results from a lack of knowledge on proper maintenance and failure to uphold safety standards. Through visiting venues, Kronk identified potential causes for fires grease as a lack of understanding of the required maintenance of exhaust hoods and filters, and/or a lack of care by those hired to clean them. All of which was leading to unnecessary, avoidable kitchen fires around the world.

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“Grease fires are preventable, but some contractors in the industry don’t seem to care about safety,” Kronk says. “Often cleaners will do the bare minimum, without getting to those hard-to-reach places. They’ll provide venue owners with photos only of the cleaned area and vague maintenance reports.”

Shepherd filter with frame

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2 180726

The filter panel prevents the flames from spreading and self extinguishes when the flame is removed.

He firmly believes that restaurant staff and customers should be aware of the dangers and volatility of grease fires. The trauma of his own experience and his ensuing industry research led Kronk to expand on the idea of a biodegradable exhaust filter cover made from Australian wool. The filter cover captures 98 percent of flammable grease before it enters the hood system, reducing the accumulation within the system and significantly reducing the risk of inferno. The filters sit inside state-of-the-art stainless steel frames and capture the airborne grease. They’re easily replaceable, cost-effective, environmentally friendly and support Australian wool farmers.

“Wool is a natural grease attracter,” Kronk says. “The grease-absorbing capability of wool can save restaurants and food service operations time and money on cleaning and maintaining vent hood systems.” Wool is naturally self-extinguishing and the Shepherd Filter System acts as a fire prevention mechanism by trapping airborne grease particles and preventing the spread of fire. The filters conform to both the AS1668 and UL1046 standards and, when tested in flames, the filter panel prevents the flames from spreading and self extinguishes when the flame is removed. Additionally, the filters are easily installed into any existing hood and replacing them is a quick and easy process for kitchen employees. Kronk urges restaurant and facility managers to check their ducts and their cleaners’ work or to call a professional, like Shepherd Filters, for a thorough inspection. “Get it clean and keep it clean,” he says. Shepherd Filters has experienced great success and received excellent feedback from its clients, and Kronk says that he is very proud of the fact that every sheet is 100 percent Australian made using a labour force of people with disabilities. Kronk is now distributing the filters to a number of countries around the world and achieving what he set out to do – helping to reduce kitchen fires and, as a result, essentially saving lives. Visit www.shepherdfilters.com for further information, testimonials and videos. ●

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32 | FEATURE

LEVERAGING LEADERSHIP In today’s current corporate climate, it’s necessary for businesses to evolve – and this means effectively distributing leadership roles, writes JEFF SCHWISOW.

cKinsey has found that only 23 percent of companies use a formal process to put into operation important strategic decisions. In 52 percent of companies, these decisions are made by a small senior group and poorly communicated to the rest of the organisation. As a result, the success rate for the implementation of strategic plans is dismal, with the percentage of failed implementations ranging anywhere from 63 percent to 90 percent, depending on the research. In fact, Robert Kaplan of Balanced Scorecard fame estimates that 90 percent of strategies fail due to poor execution. At the heart of this strategic execution failure epidemic is a command and control operational structure that dates back to the turn of the 20th century. This model is founded on the belief that businesses are made up of thinkers, called ‘managers’, who direct the doers, the ‘workers’.

However, senior executives are far too starved for time to actively lead the strategic adaptation required in today’s highly dynamic business environment. To successfully evolve, businesses need to be intentional about leveraging leadership across the entire organisation. For people to take on leadership roles that will shape the business, they need to be engaged in and motivated by activities that will benefit the organisation. It has become clear this takes more than beanbag chairs, foosball tables and trendy in-house cafés. Staff need to be given something meaningful to be engaged in and a purpose to be motivated by. In the early 2000s Google implemented its famous ‘20 percent time’, where employees were encouraged to spend up to a day a week working on ideas outside of their normal project work. The only criterion for this work – it needed to be something they believed would “most benefit Google”. Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin said they did this to

123RF’s Olena Yakobchuk. © 123RF.com

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123RF’s rawpixel. © 123RF.com

For people to take on leadership roles that will shape the business, they need to be engaged in and motivated by activities that will benefit the organisation.

empower people to be creative and innovative. Google claims that ‘20 percent time’ resulted in new products that currently account for 50 percent of its revenue. Before ‘20 percent time’, 3M had ‘15 percent culture’. For nearly four decades, it has encouraged employees to spend 15 percent of their time on the projects they choose – what former chairman William McKnight called ‘experimental doodling’. This policy underpins structured, employee-led collaborative processes that have made 3M one of the most innovative companies in history, as well as one of the most consistently profitable. The field services division of Powercor/Citipower maintains a portfolio of projects that are specifically targeted at realising the business’ strategic objectives. These projects are developed and led by field management staff. Projects selected for the

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portfolio are the highest priority strategic initiatives that the business unit has the capacity to complete – making them both meaningful and achievable. Senior managers lead through sponsorship – supporting and enabling the project teams, so that they maximise the opportunity for success. As a result, the division has successfully completed 15 of 18 projects, secured some valuable strategic wins and built important working relationships with other business units. These examples highlight intentional programs to use the leadership bandwidth of the entire organisation to generate value-based business outcomes – employee-led activities that solve problems and create new opportunities. Giving staff the tools, support and trust to pursue meaningful change sends a powerful message about the value that the organisation places in its leadership. However, the most enduring benefit comes from the development it creates in its employees’ leadership capabilities. Leading meaningful work creates what Harvard researcher Teresa Amabile describes as “an upward spiral of creativity, engagement and performance”, which drives a quest for new leadership opportunities in their day-to-day activities. The result? Leadership bandwidth continues to expand, and adaptation becomes part of the operational fabric. ● > Jeff Schwisow is a strategic execution specialist and the author of Projectify: how to use projects to engage your people in strategy that evolves your business. Find out more at www.jeffschwisow.com.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2018 FM

3/08/18 11:27 AM

34 | FEATURE

ISO 41000 – GAME-CHANGER OR WHITE ELEPHANT?

Martin Leitch.

The recent publication of ISO 41001 represents a significant milestone towards FM industry maturity, but will the industry embrace it or view it as another costly level of compliance? By MARTIN LEITCH.

n April this year I had the pleasure of facilitating a discussion around the new international facilities management standards at Total Facilities in Melbourne. Two key conclusions resulted from the discussion around various aspects of the new Standards. The fi rst of these was that the Standards are likely to represent a game-changer for the industry by establishing industry-wide benchmarks of quality and performance. For service providers this means that they will be able to establish systems and procedures that are measurable against defi ned targets and for demand organisations there is now a framework against which they can specify and measure service provision. The second conclusion that the panel arrived at was that engagement with the Standards is likely to increase exponentially to the number of organisations adopting the Standards that will ultimately become compliant and certified. The reasoning behind these conclusions is best described with reference to the benefits listed in the Standards, as discussed below. However, in order to provide context to this discussion, the ISO 41000 series currently comprises: ● ISO 41011: Facility management – Vocabulary ● ISO 41012: Facility management – Guidance on strategic sourcing and the development of agreements, and ● ISO 41001 Facility management – Management systems – Requirements with guidance for use. These are supported by a Technical Report: ● ISO 41013:2017 Facility management – Scope, key concepts and benefits.

PURPOSE As stated in ISO 41001, the Standard establishes a common interpretation and understanding of FM and provides a common basis upon which FM can be assessed and measured. This acknowledges the recognition that, until now, global FM principles and practices have been lacking, resulting in discrepancies in service quality, demand organisation expectations and unnecessary levels of contractual conﬂ ict.

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123RF’s Bram Janssens. © 123RF.com

Significantly, ISO 41001 confi rms that this is a certifiable Standard, stating that it is applicable to organisations wishing to seek accreditation by a third party certification body.

This creates waste and redundancy, both factors that reduce efficiency and effectiveness. Adoption of the Standards will contribute significantly to minimising this risk and have a direct positive impact on fi nancial performance.

THE STANDARDS

4. Improved service consistency

Although the most recent Standard to be published, ISO 41001 establishes an overall framework within which a facilities management system can be established, supported by the other Standards in the series. It comprises seven primary criteria structured around the ‘Plan-Do-Check-Act’ methodology: ● context of the organisation ● leadership ● planning ● support ● operations ● performance evaluation, and ● improvement. In line with many Standards, ISO 41001 does not set out to be prescriptive, but provides for maximum ﬂexibility in its interpretation through the guidance notes provided. On the other hand, ISO 41012 is a bit more speciﬁc about the processes for strategic sourcing of support services and structuring FM agreements, with a section on measuring service provision performance. The key features of this Standard are the annexes – they include, for example, templates for service level agreements and descriptions of general agreement clauses.

Customer satisfaction is impacted by, among other criteria, the consistency in all aspects of service delivery. By establishing, and continually improving, tried and tested processes and procedures, organisations will improve consistency without too much eﬀort. The Standards provide comprehensive checklists for the broad range of activities that support the successful implementation of a new FM system.

5. Providing a common platform for all types of organisations This is basically saying that the Standards will create a level playing field at an internationally acceptable level of performance for all organisations in the FM space. However, this should not be viewed as stifling differentiation and/or innovation, in fact quite the reverse. Compliance with the Standards means that organisations do not have to be focused on what should be ‘business as usual’ processes and, as a consequence, be able to divert more energy and resources to becoming more creative and innovative. This will not only set these organisations apart from the rest, but will also result in improved performance across the whole industry.

MOVING FORWARD THE BENEFITS ISO 41001 identifies five benefits of an integrated system standard for FM, listed and described as follows:

1. Improved workforce productivity, safety and health and well-being Throughout my career, I have dealt with both demand organisations and service providers and through these interactions regularly have come across unproductive time consumed with ‘reinventing the wheel’. This has not been the fault of these organisations, but rather the lack of industry endorsed systems and processes. The Standards specifically address this and give all organisations the opportunity to take an ‘off the shelf’ solution and tailor it to meet individual requirements. In doing so, the Standards give organisations the confidence that their FM system is not missing something, particularly when it comes to safety, health and well-being.

2. Improved communication of requirements and methodologies among and between private and public sector organisations One of the critical elements of communication is the language we use. For too long there has been confusion in the industry around certain terminologies. This leads to, at best, misunderstandings and, at worst, contractual conﬂ ict. The Standards, and in particular 41011, will play an essential role in resolving potential confusion and misinterpretation.

3. Improved efficiency and effectiveness, thus improving cost benefits to organisations In the absence of standard systems and processes, there is a high risk of using unnecessary and/or inappropriate resources.

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Now that the much anticipated Standards have been published, it is time for organisations to start considering their position with regard to their adoption and future certification. The current status in Australia, at the time of writing, is that the Standards are still to be formally adopted by Standards. Australia and the overall certification process is yet to be established. Fundamental to this latter activity is a further International Standard currently under development, ISO 17021-11 – the Technical Specification to deliver competence requirements for auditing and certification of ISO 41001. It is not expected that this will be published until early 2019. In conclusion, there are still a number of questions to be answered, including: ● How many organisations will seek certification? ● How many demand organisations will specify certified compliance for their service providers? ● Will this really be an industry game-changer? The answers to these will only become evident over time – the critical milestone, in my opinion, being the formalisation of the certification process. But, if the industry is serious about improving quality and performance, it is not too early for organisations to start preparing and developing a compliance action plan. > Martin Leitch FBIFM APP is a workplace management consultant with more than 30 years’ experience in delivering a wide range of facilities management con sultancy and education services in the UK and Australia.

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36 | TECHNOLOGY

The business district of the future Density is no longer a dirty word, as business parks and their industrial counterparts reinvent themselves to offer dynamic, sustainable workplace environments with all the amenities of the city, writes KEVIN ORR.

ince the first business park opened its doors in 1955, as a precinct in Alabama where employees could park their cars and walk straight to their desks, the concept has replicated itself across the globe. Business parks are currently booming in Australian cities, largely due to population growth and the prohibitive cost and availability of land. In the last few years, investors and tenants have been rushing to snap up lucrative positions in ever-expanding outer suburban growth areas, where floor plates can be larger, major arterial networks offer easy access and jobs can be filled by local residents. Meanwhile, as governments look to create more employment zones, business and industrial parks are reducing the need to segregate traditional industrial activities.

EVOLUTION OF BUSINESS PARKS Most people would still associate business parks with the proliferation of buildings that lack design in a ‘white collar factory environment’ where employees aren’t likely to hang out with each other after work. But, as modern work practices and expectations change, business parks have been rapidly evolving to remain competitive. Business park customers expect strong sustainability credentials and access to transport infrastructure, along with the retail

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and lifestyle amenities that will attract and retain talent. As a result, business park owners are focusing on the delivery of direct and tangible benefits to customers by reducing total occupancy costs and operating expenses, while improving the health and well-being of employees. Initiatives include funky spaces with bean bags, free food, fitness classes and knowledge sharing workshops. Sydney Business Park, still in development, is planning to offer a pub on-site, as well as childcare facilities, a gymnasium and plenty of walkways and running tracks for its people to get out and about. Caribbean Park in Melbourne features wide roads, generous open spaces and a 15-hectare lake that, as the park’s managing director Ben Spooner says, “has been a real differentiator” that brings people together. The entire park is Wi-Fi enabled and close to transport hubs, providing modern connectivity within a natural setting.

Keven Orr.

to work. In addition, business parks can also provide guaranteed parking spots to carpoolers, further improving the commute. For commuters who prefer public transport, on-demand shuttle buses to and from key transportation hubs can ease the commute for employees. This helps encourage more commuters onto public transport, as it improves the business park’s connection to the network. The benefits don’t stop there either. The on-demand service could also be used to help transport employees throughout the day. Need to go to the bank at lunch? No problem, all you

THE SMART TRANSPORT REVOLUTION As business parks crank up the style and functionality of these business centres, to truly make them appealing to customers, they also need to improve access. With many located in the suburbs, transport options can be limited. Due to this, many business parks see a significant uptick in the number of cars on local roads. At the end of the day, you’re bringing in thousands of new employees to the area. This leads to the one thing that every commuter hates – congestion. But smart business park owners are turning to new smart mobility technologies to help alleviate transport pains. For instance, some business park owners are turning to carpooling solutions to help reduce the number of people driving to them. Essentially, the business park can utilise smart carpooling apps to offer all employers access to a carpooling solution, which matches employees based on their route to work. To incentivise uptake of the platform, drivers are given fuel or other business park vouchers, while passengers get a free ride

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To incentivise uptake of the platform, drivers are given fuel or other business park vouchers, while passengers get a free ride to work.

would need to do is order the on-demand bus to and from the bank via the app. By providing an ‘always-on’ on-demand public transit service, business parks can offer a unique differentiator to businesses, helping employees travel around the park and the surrounding area. Not only will this help support the local community but also enable business parks to go completely car-free.

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION As an added benefit to improving the commute, smart mobility solutions also help

Liftango co-founders Trystan Eeles (L) and Kevin Orr (R) with an on-demand bus

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business parks meet their sustainability requirements – often a differentiator for business parks. Business parks represent a significant part of the property industry with millions of dollars invested in either acquiring or upgrading them every year. Owners and tenants are constantly seeking new sustainable techniques to drive efficiencies and significant cost savings, to future-proof their developments. Smart mobility solutions are helping business parks achieve this goal when it comes to transport and access. Sophisticated reporting systems within these solutions offer real-time travel data, allowing owners to make instant decisions about their sites and reports on the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and other environmental goals. Additionally, these solutions can scale with demand. So, if a business park continues to grow, smart mobility solutions can be scaled up to meet the demand in a sustainable manner. Having this commuter data can be an extremely powerful tool for business parks. It enables business park owners to better understand how employees are accessing the business park, as well as providing details on the impact on the local community. If business park owners can show they’re helping to address key transport challenges, there is an opportunity to improve relationships with local councils to better address the needs of employees and the community. Business parks are going through an evolution, as they look to become the key business districts within our cities. By taking advantage of new, smart transportation technologies, they can quickly compete against highly connected city centre hubs, while staying on top of their environmental and sustainability commitments. ● >Kevin Orr is the CEO and co-founder of smart mobility service provider, Liftango. He has 10 years of experience in the corporate world as a business intelligence manager for a $10 billion SuperFund. Orr has a background and degree qualifications in GIS and mathematics, with strong analytics experience.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2018 FM

1/08/18 10:09 AM

38 | WORKPLACE CULTURE

In and out Facilities management may be a behind-the-scenes industry, but both customer and employee satisfaction are vital to its success. MARIE-CLAIRE ROSS looks at why trust is important for FMs, their teams and their customers.

rust is a foundational element of all high-performance cultures. According to 20 years of research by Great Places to Work, workplaces that score high on trust also finish first in profitability, revenue growth and stock performance. But not all high trust companies are equal. The more consistent and inclusive an organisation is on key factors related to trust, and the more diverse its demographics, the more likely it is to outperform peers in revenue growth. Organisations that rate in the top quartile for trust enjoy three times the growth of companies in the bottom quartile. Creating a high trust culture boils down to every employee knowing they can rely on every person around them. It means everyone is committed to performing at a high level and helping their peers achieve as well. People are more willing to experiment, share information and talk openly about issues. Employees who don’t trust those around them close down. In a low trust environment, the safest choice is to find excuses and rein in effort and commitment. It means employees won’t contribute in meetings, raise issues or try anything new. It stops innovation and team cohesion, and increases the likelihood of psychological illness claims. One of the reasons for differences in employee experiences with trust across an organisation is because of naturally forming silos. Cohesive teams tend to

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Marie-Claire Ross.

form an in-group bias, which makes them unintentionally exclude other departments. Even in healthy cultures employees may want to cooperate, but they can’t seem to, despite themselves. Their team’s goals and priorities always get in the way. It means they often break their promises – missing deadlines, going over budget, failing to adhere to specifications or customer expectations. According to a study in Harvard Business Review, managers say they are three times more likely to miss performance commitments because of insufficient support from other units than because of their own teams’ failure to deliver. At its most basic form, trust is a promise that an organisation’s people will deliver on time, to the right level of quality and on budget without hurting the environment, company brand or other people. The good news is that facilities management professionals can show other departments how it’s done. After years of managing shared services from IT, HR, procurement and finance, facilities leaders know how to integrate different stakeholder requirements. But there is one important factor that facilities management leaders need to focus on to unite and align different teams. In my work helping leaders build trust in their organisations, the companies that build trust most efficiently are the ones where leadership empowers employees to provide the best customer experience. Everyone, including those in support functions who don’t deal with customers, is focused on delivering on the customer brand promise. This provides a sense of purpose that unites colleagues in an organisation. As a facilities leader, how do you focus on the end customer and help the frontline deliver? The customer must be at the heart of everything you do – even when you don’t deal with them. For your team to be reliable and deliver the best service to other teams, it’s important to ensure your team members are focused on the customer brand experience. This

ensures you will deliver the best service to internal customers and be in alignment with their requirements. Here are four steps to enhance how your facilities management team delivers.

1. UNDERSTAND CUSTOMER NEEDS As part of on-boarding new members to your team, ensure they spend time learning about the basic levers of how the business operates. For example, the demographics and psychographics about your customer, your brand promise, who your competitors are and the overall organisational strategy. Where possible, have employees spend time with customers asking questions or observing how they make choices. Say your organisation has a customer service phone line – have team members spend time on the phone, helping customers through their issues. Ultimately, organisations have to solve customer problems to stay in business. The reality is you can’t make good decisions if you are siloed. In addition, encourage team members to spend time with internal customers. The goal is for your team to get to know how other groups think and behave and why. For example, have your team members: ● do work experience in a different department for a week ● understand the goals, language and priorities of other teams and how their work benefits the end user ● present back to your team what they have learned from their immersive work experience ● do a show and tell of the role of facilities management to other units, and/or ● write a letter to the FM team as to how they will create customer value through connecting the external customer experience to other internal customers.

2. PROVIDE EMPLOYEES WITH THE AUTONOMY TO DELIVER “Of all the things I have done, the most vital is coordinating the talents of those who work for

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123RF’s Tetiana Turovska. © 123RF.com

Bringing out the best in everybody from the factory floor to the corner office is every leader’s responsibility.

us and pointing them towards a certain goal.” – Walt Disney It is one thing to teach employees about the strategy and how the company improves customer lives, but it’s another thing to empower people to make customer-friendly decisions that protect the business’ longterm health. This requires continual teaching, coaching and discussion of how to apply the right decisions. In the book, Judgement on the Front Line by Chris DeRose and Noel M Tichy, the authors write that a common problem-solving framework engenders trust and enables those at senior and mid levels to act as coaches instead of dictating answers. For example, the Ritz-Carlton uses a five-step decision-making framework to teach employees how to make the right decisions for customers. Every day, at 9am at every hotel around the globe, a leader facilitates a 15-minute line-up meeting to continually embed and coach employees on how to solve a customer or service challenge. Housekeepers right through to floor managers convene to review guest experiences, resolve issues and identify ways to improve service. Speed up learning and improve autonomy by creating a framework that employees can use to make individual decisions without having it answered by the hierarchy. These problem identification and correction frameworks can be created for a variety of situations, from handling an internal customer enquiry right through to increasing innovation.

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People thrive in their jobs when they have autonomy and the power to control their work environment. It also sends the message that leaders trust employees to do the right thing, which is one of the most important building blocks of trust. Without autonomy, employees feel devalued and suffer poor mental health. What decision-making framework can you develop with your team members so they can make the best customer judgement calls?

3. PROVIDE THE RIGHT FEEDBACK LOOPS The most critical function in supporting your team is often the most difficult. It involves providing your team members with regular feedback and, in turn, they provide feedback on their progress, bottlenecks and even challenge your ideas. Leaders need to focus on faster feedback loops to accelerate progress towards goals. In team meetings, encourage colleagues to regularly trade ideas on how things are going and what can be improved. Making feedback a daily occurrence emboldens people to challenge, share and learn. It requires leaders who have the emotional fortitude to admit they don’t have all the answers to tolerate a diversity of viewpoints and ask tough, incisive questions. This requires leaders who see everyone as equal, rather than old-style leaders who look down on those they consider beneath their rank. But it also means having open, transparent and honest conversations and being willing to talk about the difficult stuff. Otherwise, how do you work through problems or resolve conflicts if no one wants to talk about them?

4. DESIGNING A CLIENT CENTRIC APPROACH In today’s fast-paced business world, the more trust you have across your organisation the faster you can operate. Eliminating differences in employees’ experiences across the organisation and bringing out the best in everybody from the factory floor to the corner office is every leader’s responsibility. As a facilities leader, improving trust within your own team will improve how other internal teams feel about facilities management. This requires clearly understanding and being in alignment with the optimal customer experience the frontline needs to deliver, so you can reverse engineer the right systems and solutions that support the customer brand promise. Ultimately, your organisation is in business because it serves a customer need. It may feel that all facilities management does is organise workspaces and services, but for your team to find meaning in their work and for facilities management to be highly regarded internally, then truly understanding the customer is critical. ● > Marie-Claire Ross is the chief corporate catalyst at Trustologie. She is a workplace sociologist, author and consultant focused on helping leaders put the right processes in place to empower employees to speak up about issues, challenge each other and share information. If you want to find out more about building trust, download the free insights paper ‘Building Trust – How High-Trust Companies Deliver Faster Results, Increase Profitability and Loyalty’ at http://bit.ly/buildingtrust2016.

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40 | MAINTENANCE

hat are cooling towers and how do they work? Essentially, cooling towers are heat rejection devices that circulate water through mechanical equipment to collect a facility’s heat. The hot water is then pumped into the cooling tower to reduce its temperature. Basically, the purpose of a cooling tower is to lower the temperature of the water pumped from a heat source. The hot water is sprayed down the tower over a material called ‘fill’ to increase the time it takes for the water and the air to cross paths. At the same time, air is drawn to the top of the cooling tower by a fan and travels upward through the wet deck fill opposite the water flow. The cooled water drains to the basin at the bottom of the cooling tower and is recirculated to the heat source. Cooling towers can serve different purposes depending on the site requirements, the available space, the climate and the environment. Two of the most common types of cooling towers in HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) are ‘induced draft’ towers (air is pulled) and ‘forced draft evaporative’ towers (air is pushed). Where water is a more valuable resource than energy, dry cooling towers or air-cooled systems come into play. In dusty or dirty

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environments, cooling towers with closed loop heat exchangers are used (although less efficient) to avoid contaminating the water.

COOLING TOWER CHECKS Cooling towers are a significant part of each facility and must be checked on a regular basis. Apart from mandatory requirements on cooling towers to be controlled, a consistent maintenance plan can minimise downtime and increase the efficiency in cooling towers.

LEGIONELLA OUTBREAK CHECKS Typically, untreated cooling towers represent the perfect breeding ground for legionella bacteria, which can be a serious public health concern as the virus can cause severe respiratory infections and illnesses in humans. The solution is to treat the cooling tower continuously with chemicals and other agents to minimise scale formation, corrosion and fouling with a bio-dispersant. It’s worth mentioning that bio-dispersants need to be non-corrosive and compatible with other chemicals used.

SUNLIGHT EXPOSURE Algae and biological growths flourish when exposed to sunlight and moisture. A physical check of the cooling tower should confirm that its sides and basin are protected against direct sunlight. The solution to this is to install sunlight protection to the structure of the tower.

SHUTDOWN TIME RISK EVALUATION Generally, cooling towers that are shut down during winter or intermittently used have a higher potential for health risks, as idle systems can create stagnant water and encourage legionella growth. The solution is to implement a recirculating pump that can be equipped with a timer. This pump can automatically run water through the system at regular intervals.

REMOVING AND ACTIVATING ‘DEAD LEGS’ ‘Dead legs’ are pipes filled with water that have no or low flow through them and are longer than the internal diameter of the

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In addition to its effect on a cooling tower’s efficiency, the iron released from corrosion can encourage legionella to grow.

main pipe. Dead pipes are associated with legionella and stagnant water problems. The solution is either to remove or to activate the dead pipes, as they need to be eliminated from the pipe network in the cooling tower. In cases where removal is not an option, they can be activated by connecting them out to another pipe or pump.

CORROSION CONTROL PLAN Corrosion is one of the main potential threats to cooling towers. In addition to its effect on a cooling tower’s efficiency, the iron released from corrosion can encourage legionella to grow. The solution is to add an anti-corrosion plan to the cooling tower maintenance plan. This can be from adding an extra coating on key parts of the cooling tower to choosing the right bio-dispersant with minimum corrosion effects.

FLOAT VALVES AND OVERFLOW Float valves need to be checked regularly to ensure they are not set too high. This

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adjustment is required to balance a cooling tower’s operation with its make-up line and ensure that no water is wasted through overflow during a pump shutdown.

AUTOMATED WATER TREATMENT CONTROLLER Remote controllers enable facility managers to monitor their cooling tower’s parameters and they can also be fitted with automated dosing devices. By installing this device, the quality of the cooling tower water can be continually monitored and a facility manager can be dispatched when on-site resolution is required.

EVALUATING VIBRATION, ALIGNMENT AND NOISE LEVEL Cooling towers can be subject to a lot of vibration and misalignment, and can create a community noise problem. There are a few checks that can be performed on the vibration and sound levels via laser alignment equipment. According to Herbert W Stanford’s HVAC Water Chillers and Cooling Towers:

Fundamentals, Application and Operation, cooling towers normally have an anticipated noise level of 65 to 85 decibels at 50 feet (15 metres) away from the tower. Depending on the facility’s requirements, this noise level can be controlled and minimised; for example, replacing the fans with centrifugal fans or adding vibration isolators to support the tower are some measures that can reduce the noise level.

COOLING TOWERS’ STRUCTURE ACCESS In addition to the aforementioned checks, cooling towers need to be checked for easy and safe access, as well as having clear labels and signs on their structures.

THE BOTTOM LINE The Victorian requirements for cooling towers are defined within the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 and the Public Health and Well-being Regulations 2009. Facility managers need to ensure that regular compliance is met and there is a developed and comprehensive risk management plan for a cooling tower’s cleaning and maintenance. Periodic maintenance can prevent bacterial build-up and keep the tower running at peak performance at all times. ● > Arian Bahramsari is a facility manager at Facility Management Victoria, based in Docklands, Melbourne.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2018 FM

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In the food services industry, food safety is a non-negotiable requirement. From the smallest café to the largest catering service, continuous temperature monitoring with immediate noti½cation of breaches is critical to ensuring food safety, food quality and adequate shelf-life. Reliance on manually checking and recording of refrigeration temperatures is time consuming, prone to errors, and doesn’t help if a refrigeration unit fails after hours.

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• CCP’s wireless Smart Tags may be placed directly inside the refrigeration cabinet – there is no need for expensive wiring. • CCP Smart Tags continuously sample and record critical control points (such as temperature and humidity) and transmit this data to a secure cloudbased platform where it is analysed and transformed into business intelligence. Dashboards and reports are available via web and mobile applications 24/7. • The system is fully-con½gurable. Temperature thresholds and delays can be easily set to trigger instant noti½cation of breaches on any smart device - so you can take immediate corrective action. • Temperature records are fully automated and managed for you - HACCP reports can be retrieved 24/7. • CCP’s advanced analytics provide insights to empower your business to reduce energy consumption and minimise refrigeration maintenance costs. • Smart Tags can deploy a range of communication technologies, such as WiFi, NB IoT and Sigfox to suit your connectivity requirements. • CCP’s platform integrates with other IoT solutions and systems, including POS and ERP applications to provide maximum ¾exibility and versatility.

To arrange a free demonstration, or for more information: 1800 100 CCP (227) sales@ccp-network.com ccp-network.com

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2/08/18 4:32 PM

ADVERTORIAL | 43

Community dialogue in smart lighting upgrades

ighting plays an exceptional role in today’s urban landscape. It is the pinnacle of many council initiatives and its technological possibilities are often the basis for a developing smart city. It is also one of the few programs councils work on that will affect every resident in the area. Georgia Power, one of the largest subsidiaries of US gas and electricity utility company Southern Company, is responsible for the mass changeover of LED street lighting in over 275 municipalities, having installed over 255,000 LED street lighting fixtures with smart control capabilities. This includes the City of Atlanta with 37,000 fixtures and trickles down to smaller communities with only a few dozen street lighting units.

When planning and undertaking large-scale lighting projects in municipalities, many aspects must be taken into consideration. Scotty Hutto, lighting services manager of Georgia Power Co, US, points out that community dialogue is an absolute necessity. With his understanding of smart technologies, derived from 35 years of lighting and energy-related experience, including leading the start-up of Georgia Power’s SiteView ‘Surveillance as a Service’ program, Hutto will bring his insights Down Under in September this year at the Australian Smart Lighting Summit, which will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Local councils and attendees will be treated to a thoughtprovoking presentation on smart lighting

trials that are currently being undertaken in Georgia in the US. Hutto believes you need to “let your community know what you’re doing and why”, so that when you invest time in the front end, you will be saved the pain, aggravation and time on the back end of the project. He also notes the necessity of pre-planning and allowing for unforeseen circumstances, such as weather delays, while simultaneously addressing the needs of the community and remaining on time and within budget. Through his position at Georgia Power, Hutto has been actively involved in the implementation of LED street lighting and IoT (Internet of Things) technology. To name a few outstanding projects:

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Municipalities worldwide are employing smart lighting advancements in the quest to improve quality of life and sustainability.

● City of Savannah is Georgia Power’s first

smart lighting conversion ● City of Atlanta’s smart lighting installation is the largest, and ● its IoT device installation is the most technologically advanced and challenging. Although most conversions were welcomed with positive feedback, not all changes in the process were met without resistance. Through careful consultation and responsive measures, the problem was proactively solved once a solution was available. Following initial instalments of 4000-Kelvin LED fixtures, like many other US street lighting projects, complaints were received about the unit’s perceived brightness, particularly in residential zones. Following a change of standards and increased access to 3000K temperature fittings, however, complaints have virtually been eliminated. With the council’s determination to improve the community experience, municipalities worldwide are employing smart lighting advancements in the quest to improve quality of life and sustainability, and encourage community involvement. In the lead-up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games, City of Gold Coast (CoGC) implemented smart street lighting fixtures. This benefited residents through reduced

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energy and maintenance costs, and the games highlighted new lighting installations in the Surfers Paradise Sign and Broadbeach Sign. Executive coordinator of the Energy Management Program at CoGC, Pamela Bessette, leads a team responsible for managing and implementing effective energybased solutions across Australia’s largest Local Government Authority. Through her position with CoGC, Bessette is able to utilise the smart lighting network through intelligent phone and desktop apps that allow for real-time access to enhance, dim and switch the lights on or off from any location. Employing such advanced smart street lighting technology has allowed for the accurate assessment of energy consumption, an increase in lighting shelf life, a reduction in carbon emissions and the ability to creatively embellish visual lighting effects in the streets of Queensland. Although the lights are underutilised at this current stage, Bessette believes this will change once the team is more familiar with the system over the next few months. One application that is growing among the flora and fauna is the implementation of intelligent technology in a garden space. In the heart of Sydney flourishes the

connectivity of a smart city. Sydney’s Royal Botanical Garden, a 202-year-old institution, encapsulates two distinct environments: the garden itself and the Domain. Given the distinction between areas, the need to differentiate between requirements is what “drives the need for smarter lighting to ensure consistency for general lighting and public safety,” says George Salouros, director of Assets and Facilities Management at the Botanic Gardens and Centennial Parklands. Working backwards through the decades, Salouros points out that the easiest process for incorporating smart lighting solutions into the parklands has been to steadily upgrade the newest buildings first. The Sydney parkland holds a certain level of significance to the community. With some buildings as old as 165 years and some as young as four, it was imperative that the process of converting to smart lighting was not only efficient, but also effective. Salouros oversees the lighting assets across 11 square kilometres (1100 hectares) of parkland, which is managed by the Botanic Gardens and Centennial Parklands. He was also closely involved with the design and installation of the connectivity of Sydney’s Royal Botanical Garden. Hutto, Bessette and Salouros will be speaking at the 6th Australian Smart Lighting Summit on 11 and 12 September 2018 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Hosting over 150 delegates and 30 local and international keynote speakers, the summit promises to enlighten attendees, who will be privy to the latest information surrounding smart lighting technologies and initiatives. ●

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2/08/18 11:27 AM

46 | CONNECTIONS

Learning and remote frontiers There are all sorts of progressions gracing the FM industry and, in this new instalment in GRAHAM CONSTABLE’s thoughtprovoking series, Marcus focuses on the innovations at the International Space Station (ISS).

arcus sat in Scoma’s Restaurant with his mentor and friend, Raoul. Nearby, Fisherman’s Wharf hummed with activity and the lights around the San Francisco Bay glittered as Raoul listened to Marcus talk about his trip to Houston. They hadn’t spoken in a couple of months. “A good idea of yours Raoul, for me to stop over. Houston to Sydney is a long flight! The food here is great, as usual.” “That place in Sydney was good too.” “Yeah, but we don’t have a Bay like this.” Raoul agreed. “It’s cool.” “The Bay’s beautiful, and the Space Centre is cool, Raoul – the real deal.” “Oh yes, your Houston trip,” Raoul remembered.

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“You should see the Neutral Buoyancy Lab – I watched astronauts training underwater. Riveting.” “That was called the Weightless Training Facility – or something – before.” “The Buoyancy Lab is different to the original. I remember the original structure, too. You’ve been to the Centre?” “Sure, it’s quite an operation.” “Isn’t it! You should see the equipment they have inside that tank. It’s so big!” “Sounds like you had a memorable visit Marcus.” “And I haven’t even told you about the simulators.” Raoul grinned at his friend’s enthusiasm. “So, what did you learn? When we spoke last I suggested you focus on collaboration, innovation and purpose behind the ISS. Were you successful?” “I have filled my voice recorder and have enough hard copy to write a book!” “Excellent. Give me a quick summary of what makes up the ISS; it must be quite a structure now.” Marcus laid out some schematics of the vehicle. “Overall size is 110 metres by 59 metres – that’s one of your football fields. It has a mass of 410,000 kilograms (or 68 African bull elephants), it orbits 400 kilometres – or 240 miles – in low earth orbit every 90 minutes and it can house a crew of six at any one time. In the Orbiter days, these numbers were regularly augmented by the shuttle crew. The vehicle is an intricate network of habitats and laboratory modules, trusses, truss segments, airlocks, numerous electrical, control and environmental systems, eight miles of electrical cabling, an acre’s worth of solar arrays – generating 110 kilowatts of power per orbit – more computers than in an average corporate HQ, payload and equipment racks… I could go on. Nothing like this has ever been built before, ever, by humankind.” Marcus mused, “I remember sitting out late one night in the Aussie bush with my late father-in-law, Stu, on his front deck. The whole sky was the Milky Way. There was complete silence but for the faint sound of

Graham Constable.

the distant Murray River, when Stu noticed a solid unblinking bright light moving across the sky. He said ‘I can’t hear anything. What kind of aeroplane is that?’” Marcus chuckled. “I told him, ‘Stu, that’s no aeroplane. That’s the Space Station!’ It blew his mind. ‘Wow,’ he said. ‘Right over my backyard!’” Raoul grinned. “That’s quite a story.” “That it is, and here I am, exploring how it works.” “So how does it work, Marcus?” “You’ll have to read my book!” Marcus grinned. “Joking aside, I must sift through my material before I can answer that one properly. It’s an operation that has relevance for the future of my industry.” Marcus continued, “For the moment, I can tell you two revealing things. First, the huge collaborative effort involved in assembling, flying and keeping the vehicle operational. Second, the learning approach NASA takes when preparing for and dealing with in-flight challenges. And third, the collective and unrelenting focus on the purpose of the ISS.” “That’s three things!” Raoul teased. Marcus smiled. “I guess that’s why they’re up there and I’m down here!” “Oh, nonsense. You used to fly military jets.” “Training ones, Raoul. I was never operational.” “Not many get to do even that.” Marcus became pensive. “It was an all too brief period of unbridled joy, mental and physical focus. Nothing has come close since!” Raoul pressed Marcus. “Enough reminiscing. Tell me more about your three points. I’m interested in what you’re learning.” Marcus cleared his materials. “Consider collaboration. The ISS is the world’s largest international cooperative science and technology program, involving more than 100,000 people in space agencies around the world and at well over 500 contractor facilities in 37 US states and in 16 countries.” Raoul shook his head slowly. Marcus leaned forward. “And that’s when things are going well on the ISS.” Raoul pressed Marcus. “Where do you see this consistent level of effort elsewhere?”

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We have a culture of developing creative solutions, bred out of the mind-set that failure is not an option.

Marcus paused. “On the same scale? Then, in the military. How about your company, Raoul?” “We thrive on cooperation, but not at that scale.” Raoul pressed again, “What about some of the organisations operating globally in your industry?” “Chalk and cheese.” Marcus didn’t hesitate. Raoul played devil’s advocate. “There’s a distinction to be made here my friend. They’re not flying a space station.” “True, but I wonder if they remember their purpose, why they’re in the FM business. This shapes everything they do.” “Carry on. I want to see where this is going.” “Disconnects rule the roost, Raoul. By contrast, elsewhere there’s an Aus university running a highly innovative program for its graduates. It equips them to thrive in the global economy, to enable them to constantly adapt and remain relevant in the face of disruption and uncertainty.” Raoul’s eyes lit up. “I need to pay this uni a visit; they sound like my kind of people!” “This initiative is unique because it allows graduates to conceptualise, construct and practise internal innovation projects that are – wait for it – aligned with the university’s long-term vision and strategy. How insightful!” “Walking the talk.” “Exactly.” Both voiced: “Purpose! Cooperation and Innovation.” They laughed.

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“The 13 initiatives are all team focused and fully subscribed,” Marcus went on. “One of the teams focuses on improving the capacity to learn through feedback. Data that tracks student engagement and their learning behaviours is analysed. Reports are generated highlighting learning progress – individual- and team-based – pinpointing areas of personalised improvement.” “Cool!” “Another team uses AI and machine learning to mimic the function of a teaching assistant, allowing lecturers to direct their focus towards answering complex questions, engaging in deeper discussions and encouraging greater student interaction.” Marcus laughed. “It’s light years ahead of my uni days, which didn’t equip me for anything of consequence!” Raoul nodded. Marcus continued. “I’ve not observed any property or FM focused corporate doing similar with their employees. Oh, and one other team has designed a chatbot initiative through Facebook Messenger to provide a networked, immediate response regarding facility enquiries. They collect this data through the chatbot to highlight and illustrate the state of campus facilities to predict future failures and so improve resource allocation.” “Drivers?” “To develop critical thinking about an ongoing issue for them arising from their physical environment. Now, if graduates can do it, why can’t paid professionals?” “So, the ISS?” “You’ll appreciate the remoteness and criticality of the ISS. I’ll relate the maintenance and reliability thing another time, but referring to my second point, one of the flight directors, when asked about collaboration and learning, said: ‘We train hard, not only on failure recognition and resolution, but also on how to think ahead to the implications of the next possible failure and how to protect for it. We have a culture of developing creative solutions, bred out of the mind-set that failure is not an option. For a flight controller, when you’re not on console and hear that something failed, you feel bad

for the team that is dealing with the issue. That said, on the inside you’re wishing you could be there, helping to resolve it. This is a key tenet to our training and what it means to be a part of mission operations – not just for ISS, but for any program we support.’” Raoul nodded appreciatively. “Impressive!” “He also said, ‘…part of the Johnson Mission Operations Directorate’s mantra is plan, train, fly. Lessons learned are documented and folded back into planning and operations, but also into training for crews and flight controllers. They are built into everything.’” “Any lessons for you?” Raoul asked. “When I was focusing just on the astronaut effort the flight director reminded me of the bigger picture. It was a good lesson for me!” “You are the apprentice, don’t forget.” Raoul grinned. “I listened to a professor of neuroscience from the University of Southern California. He was highlighting the current modes of learning generally used. He sees this global ‘cognitive crisis’, as he calls it, being solved with – let me recall – personalised learning, multi-modal techniques and tools, closed loop feedback with data-led interventions, role playing, games and experience. He discusses things like ‘motion capture physiology’ and ‘augmented virtual environments’ in the learning sphere. It’s a bit off-topic I know, but these principles are not too dissimilar from my NASA and uni examples. There are lessons to be learned for our industry.” “You mean in terms of its future relevance?” “Yes. Which brings me to my second, second point.” Marcus laughed. “OK, my third point. The purpose of the ISS is never forgotten. It drives the collective effort and behaviours of all involved and there are queues of people wanting to get involved. We should be following suit in our industry.” “So, what are you going to do next?” “Story-tell what I’m learning and encourage our industry to connect with and embrace initiatives and principles like these. Maybe even provide a reason for highly charged graduates like these to focus their business energy in my industry.” ●

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48 | ENERGY WATCH

Poor power quality can cost you big time Franchisers and franchisees of such outlets as convenience stores, fast food operators and service stations are not necessarily used to intensive energy audits and energy saving measures, and as a result can pay significantly more for electricity than is strictly needed. JOHN CARRIER explores the opportunities for making big savings by concentrating on power quality, in particular energy savings through prevention of high supply voltages and its benefits for efficient solar power generation.

ou expect your morning shower to be uneventful, and the hot and cold mixing taps to control the water temperature to be on the same settings as on any other day. You’d notice a loss in water pressure immediately. High water pressure would cause more water flow and, if persistent, would add to the water consumption bill. There is great similarity with the electrical energy you purchase. The kilowatt-hours consumed over a month, or other given period, are equivalent to litres of water delivered – more water pressure delivers more litres. The higher the voltage (the equivalent of water pressure), the more kilowatt-hours and the more dollars spent on electrical energy. Good power quality depends on constant voltage and other parameters (mentioned below). Constant voltage is the most important one, but equally important is that it’s at the right level. The other important power quality indicators are an absence of voltage spikes (these can blow up equipment) and an annoying ‘flicker’ (short, sharp variations in voltage) sometimes visible in lighting. Organising a power quality survey can be quickly done at very moderate cost and start you on the energy cost saving journey.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VOLTAGE AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION Most connected equipment will consume more power, the higher the voltage. For example, a 10 percent rise in voltage increases power consumption by 1.1 by 1.1, or 21 percent. In mathematical terms, the power consumption is proportional to the square of the voltage. A 4.5-kilowatt airconditioner rated at 230 volts will consume an extra 0.95 kilowatts, costing an additional 28 cents every hour if the voltage is 253 volts. A 21 percent cost increase for a couple of minutes is one thing, but for extended periods it can be very costly. Low voltage can also cause problems. A drop of six percent will reduce power by 0.94 by 0.94, or 12 percent. Low voltage can affect freezers, refrigerated display cases, lighting, fans and other motor-driven loads.

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Given the importance of constant voltage at the correct value, power companies (the poles and wire people) are required to stick to tightly regulated boundaries on voltage highs and lows. In practice, electricity distributors don’t know whether, at your particular installation, they’re sticking to the standards! This has come about because of a number of factors, a salient one being increased solar generation influencing voltage on the networks.

UNPREDICTABILITY IS THE BIG PROBLEM Voltage at your installation will vary. Your neighbouring installations and varying conditions in the network see to that. It’s not a matter of reducing the voltage or increasing it by a certain amount – and leaving it set. Instead, constant adjustment to the correct value is required if both power consumption and correct functioning of electrical equipment are to be maintained. There is hardware available to do this, namely voltage regulators. But – and there always is a ‘but’ – there is no such thing as a free lunch, and voltage regulators generally consume energy.

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In areas where there are a lot of solar installations, voltage rise is very likely to occur. In part, the voltage rise is due to the networks not having designed their systems with sufficiently heavy cable to accommodate the power supplied by the solar systems. As the solar system penetration grows, so do high voltage problems.

WHAT ELSE IS IMPORTANT?

A BORING BUT IMPORTANT DETAIL Voltage regulators are not a common item in electrical installations as yet. In the past the necessity for these didn’t arise. For modern installations the voltage regulator should be able to supply a constant voltage lying between 230 and 220 volts for single-phase installations and 400 volts for three-phase installations. A 30-kilowatt or higher power customer is likely to have a three-phase installation. Voltage control with virtually no power loss can be achieved through computer-based, solid-state voltage regulators with feedback control. The feedback part measures the voltage at your switchboard and sends that measurement to the computer, which compares it with the supply voltage and computes the switching pattern for the solid-state switches to give you the required voltage. Sophisticated and reliable! Solid-state switches are inherently very rugged – and there’s virtually no energy lost in the regulation process.

THE EXPECTED PAYBACK A modest example may be a nominal 30-kilowatt consumer being supplied at

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mostly 240 volts. By using the voltage regulator to adjust to 220 volts (an equipment standard frequently encountered) the savings are worked out as follows… The 30-kilowatt load is assumed to be the power drawn at 220 volts. Therefore, at 240 volts the power drawn is increased by the square of the voltage ratio of 240 divided by 220, equal to 1.09 by 1.09, or 18.8 percent. That’s a whopping increase amounting to an additional 5.6 kilowatts. With that sort of increase in electricity consumption, typical payback in savings through voltage control is usually under three years.

Power factor is a very important feature of an installation because it can increase your electricity bill. Power factor is the ratio of minimum electrical current needed to power your motors, air-conditioners and lighting etc to that actually supplied. An installation with a power factor of 0.8 requires 25 percent more current than strictly needed. Increasingly consumers are being charged an additional monthly charge to cover the cost of the ‘apparent power’ that has to be supplied. Apparent power is measured in kilovoltamps (kVA), a similar unit to kilowatts (kW). Typical charges for smaller consumers in many jurisdictions is of the order of $20 per kVA per month and this can easily increase an annual electricity bill by 10 percent or more. Power factor has become a sufficiently large problem that many grid companies also require solar systems to provide that extra current rather than having to supply it from the grid where it chews up more energy losses for the electricity distributor. Power factor correction is another piece of hardware that can have very attractive payback times of two to three years in electricity savings. Basically, the power factor is corrected to within spitting distance of 1.00 and kept there irrespective of load variations. Important to note is the requirement that the power factor is individually corrected on all three phases of three-phase installations – otherwise the worst phase will determine the size to the kVA monthly charge.

BUT WAIT – THERE’S MORE

AND IN CONCLUSION

Solar systems for commercial premises are getting more and more popular. Often you have sufficient roof area to generate your own power requirements when the sun is out. However, a little-known fact is that if voltage rises too much, your solar system is switched off. The typical top voltage where this happens is 264 volts. A fast food franchise operation could benefit significantly through the use of solar power, so maintaining voltage at a controlled level will allow the business to use all the solar power available.

Apart from the political football that electricity is, there are technical issues that appear to reside in the ‘too hard’ basket of electricity networks. Power quality deterioration and, in particular, voltage, is one that consumers can end up paying for. Future-proofing your business by arranging a power quality survey and then implementing the findings makes great sense. ● > John Carrier, national sales manager, Power Parameters Pty Ltd.

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50 | HARD FM

What's in the pipeline The Australian millennium drought effectively ended the age of ‘water entitlement’, shining a spotlight on the need to conserve water. This led to a renewed focus on integrated water management, water recycling and a better approach to water-sensitive urban design. However, our cities are not immune to problems with water supply, so what’s next in the pipeline? PAUL ANGUS explains.

hy do we often take for granted the very things that deserve our gratitude the most, assuming they will be there whenever we need them? This applies to our sense of entitlement to water. Having wholesome water on demand is one such luxury we take for granted; however, we should never forget that water is a precious commodity. Price determination depends equally on demand and supply, which will further rise, as water scarcity and population numbers increases.

COUNTING DOWN TO ZERO You’ve probably never given it a second thought, but how often do you brush your teeth and leave the water running from the tap? Perhaps you shower for a longer period than you actually really need? Do you regularly check your water bill to see how much you are actually using and modify your behaviour to reduce your consumption? Hold on to that thought for a second, and then consider that, according to the United Nations, there will not be enough water to sustain the world’s population by the year

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2040. This has already motivated many building owners and facility managers to do everything they can to minimise water usage and save the resource, wherever possible, within their asset. Many people do not understand or care about the scarcity and vulnerability of our precious water resource. However, recent events in Cape Town have shown the dangers of water scarcity, and it faces the prospect of being the first major city in the modern era to face the threat of running out of drinking water. For the estimated population of 3.78 million, the inevitable ‘Day Zero’ predicted in the next few months will result in the water supply being completely depleted. Like many growing cities around the world, Cape Town has experienced increasing population growth; however, uncontrollable circumstances including a record drought – perhaps intensified by climate change – are sparking one of the world’s most dramatic urban water disasters.

Paul Angus.

LONDON CALLING Of all the cities in the world, London is one that springs to mind when discussing a water shortage. With more than eight million inhabitants and an average annual rainfall of about 600 millimetres (less than Paris’ average and only about half that of New York), London relies on and draws 80 percent of its water from rivers (the Thames and Lea). According to the Greater London Authority, the city is pushing close to capacity and is likely to have supply problems as early as 2025, predicting “serious shortages” by 2040.

WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE? So what is the situation like here in Australia? Across the seas, east of Cape Town, several Australian cities are watching events affecting their South African counterpart nervously. Despite covering almost 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, water, especially wholesome drinking water, is not as plentiful as you may think. Only three percent of it is fresh water and it is not spread equitably among the countries or people around the world,

with some having water far in excess of their needs and others already facing water scarcity. Meanwhile, global demand for wholesome water will exceed supply by 40 percent in a little over a decade – as early as 2030 – thanks to a combination of population growth, human action and climate change. Over the last several years, Australia has been faced with a similar dire water crisis, which is threatening communities across the country. Many of the same issues that affect Cape Town also plague Perth and Adelaide, with the New South Wales Central Coast, Goulburn and Broken Hill not lagging far behind, with worryingly little water to supply ever-increasing populations. These isolated locations within the world’s driest continent face mounting challenges in providing fresh water to their residents. The vast majority of Perth’s water originates from underground aquifers, plus from two huge – and costly – desalination plants, which provide the city with approximately a third of its water. The notion that Australia’s largest city, Sydney, could potentially run out of water led

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to the construction of a desalination plant that can potentially produce up to 50 million litres of water each day, equating to 15 percent of Sydney’s water requirements. However, the millennium drought ended, and rainwater replenished an array of water reservoirs and dams providing the city’s water supply. As a result, the desalination plant was placed into maintenance mode just a few years later, mothballed but ready to spring into action when necessary. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Sydney is Australia’s most populated city, with an estimated population of over five million people. Sydney currently uses approximately 33.7 billion litres of water per year and, as it grows, the demand for water will increase. In a little over a decade, based on anticipated population growth, the demand for water is expected to grow by 30 percent, to 44 billion litres by 2030. Although alarming as all of the above is to hear, as a facility manager, how do the risks of water scarcity affect the management and value of your asset? The supply of water is often not seen as a high business risk, based on its relatively low cost at present. However, risk lies in the security of supply, which is paramount to the continuity of a business. In a building, if water supply is cut for any given reason, for a significant period of time, the building becomes uninhabitable and unproductive and, as such, a loss of earnings will be incurred. In order to build confidence and value, and remain attractive for tenants and investors alike, it is paramount to ensure a self-sufficient water strategy is in place.

DON’T LOSE IT, REUSE IT Population growth plus the desire to live closer to the workplace is resulting in urban growth in the form of high-rise towers, which is having an adverse effect on our cities’ ageing water-supply infrastructure. Increased accommodation and rental costs are driving unprecedented growth in the inner ring and suburbs of Australian cities. Accommodating more people in established areas takes advantage of existing infrastructure, but also presents capacity and physical challenges

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New buildings can be intelligently designed to incorporate the necessary pipework reticulation to connect to the recycled supply. and constraints. Infrastructure planning at a precinct scale can be highly responsive to the broader development aspirations, while creating opportunities for more flexible, innovative and integrated responses through planning at a finer grain than traditional centralised approaches. We are already preparing our assets to face the water shortage challenges of tomorrow by embracing advanced technologies, including integrated water management, water recycling and watersensitive urban design approach. However, what more can and should we be doing now? Let’s embrace the digital revolution to count every drop. Measuring what we use by gathering data – the right data – through smart water networks assists in understanding where and exactly how water is being used, creating a strategy to review usage patterns and to reduce water consumption. On-site water systems collect and treat non-potable water, which can include wastewater, stormwater, rainwater and more. This water can then be reused in a building for non-drinking water requirements, such as irrigation, toilet flushing and mechanical cooling requirements. However, by using alternative water sources for these needs, reusing on-site water systems reduces the waste of valuable, wholesome drinking water. In fact, water reuse can account for up to 50 to 95 percent of the water used in residential or commercial buildings. On the flip side, water storage and treatment takes up valuable space, which results in the loss of potential revenue. So what is the solution?

NOT JUST A PIPE DREAM The Sydney Water and Better Buildings Partnership masterplan is for over 50 percent of Sydney’s water demand in 2030 to be supplied by recycled water, direct from a decentralised infrastructure supply. However,

the city’s existing building assets will need to be ready to connect to this network when it becomes available. So what do we need to do for our existing assets? First, we should consider the practical need for building owners and facilities managers to identify if the upgrade of assets for recycled water is financially sound. Second, an off-site recycled water scheme would be designed to supply non-potable water of a quality that is fit for purpose for use in cooling towers, toilet flushing and irrigation, without requiring the need to change the existing cooling tower, toilet and urinals. Finally, the cost of connecting an existing building to a recycled water network is reduced by undertaking the required plumbing upgrades incrementally, during planned building refurbishment. The capability to connect to recycled water can be built into the retrofit scope in advance of the recycled water scheme’s completion. Furthermore, new buildings can be intelligently designed to incorporate the necessary pipework reticulation to connect to the recycled supply. As soon as the infrastructure network is available, recycled water can be connected to the building asset from an off-site scheme. From office buildings to conference centres to eco-district developments, whatever the asset, decentralised recycled water systems will effectively change the way buildings, districts and entire communities use, and reuse, water, now and for future generations. Few cities around the world are as connected to water as Sydney, yet the city is not immune to problems with water supply. AECOM’s recent Sydney Manifesto report encourages us to create a watersensitive city. Download the report today at http://bit.ly/2HtjUxc and see what you can do to make sure every drop counts. ● > Paul Angus is an associate director – Hydraulic Services at AECOM, based in Sydney. He specialises in providing a sustainable approach to system design, including water conservation, recycling and generating innovative engineering solutions.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2018 FM

6/08/18 9:16 AM

52 | WORKPLACE HEALTH

The right headspace

Claire Dellora.

CLAIRE DELLORA explains why workplace mental health and well-being is good for business.

ental health and well-being in the workplace is becoming a hot topic for business leaders with promises of increased productivity and profitability, lower sickness levels and compensation costs. So, what does a mentally healthy workplace look like and what can employers do to create a workplace within which their employees can thrive? The latest research conducted by SuperFriend, a national workplace mental well-being organisation, asked over 5000 workers across Australia about the current state of mental health and well-being at their workplace. The ‘Indicators of a Thriving Workplace Survey’ measures workplace mental health and well-being against 38 desired state indicators. These indicators are grouped into four key domains: Leadership, Connectedness, Policies and Practices, and Capabilities and Culture. SuperFriend’s insights strategist Dr Nerida Joss says awareness is increasing, with three in five workers reporting that investing in workplace mental health and well-being would improve productivity and one in two workers believing it would reduce compensation claims and associated costs.

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Employee expectations of a mentally healthy workplace are also on the rise, with two in five workers reporting they have previously left a job because of a poor workplace mental health environment. “The importance of investing in workplace mental health and well-being is on the radars of many business leaders, but a lot of employers simply don’t know where to start. Our research is telling us that two in five workers believe employers lack the skills and training to address mental health and wellbeing issues,” Joss says. According to the research, Australia is about halfway towards optimal mental health and well-being in the workplace with greater progress in the areas of Leadership and Connectedness compared to Policies and

Practices, and Capabilities and Culture. The 38 characteristics that have been identified as indicators of a mentally healthy workplace can be used by organisations to get a pulse check on their own current state of mental health and well-being. The survey results can also help to prompt action by identifying an organisation’s strengths and indicating opportunities for improvement. As a first step, Joss suggests that workplaces create a health and well-being committee, if they don’t already have one, with representation from across the organisation. This approach allows the opinions from different levels of the business to be heard. Only one in every five workers reported that organisationwide consultation was currently in place.

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Workplace health and well-being is more than just the fruit box, subsidised yoga sessions or having the right policies in place.

“Business owners and leaders are likely to see their workplace environment in a more a positive light,” Joss says. “So, it is important to ask the whole organisation for feedback to get an accurate understanding of issues and opportunities. Workplace health and well-being is more than just the fruit box, subsidised yoga sessions or having the right policies in place – a mental health and well-being strategy that is actively promoted and implemented ensures initiatives are based on need, are measurable and can create long-term outcomes.” Joss says the survey shows that one in two workers are not aware of any mental health and well-being policies in place at their workplace while only one in six workers believes their workplace policies are being implemented effectively.

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Leaders who set a positive example and walk the talk can support the development of a mentally healthy workplace that brings these policies alive, raises awareness and reduces the stigma associated with mental health issues. Through its research, SuperFriend also discovered what the most mentally healthy organisations are doing to support the mental health and well-being of their employees. Workers who responded to the survey and reported that 80 percent of the indicators were in place had common themes to their responses. According to these workers, their workplace environment has employees who are friendly and courteous and managers who are accessible and who listen to their employees. These organisations make an effort to help their employees find purpose and meaning in their work and create a culture that encourages open discussion about issues that affect mental health and wellbeing. These workers were also more likely to report loving their job and describing their employer as one of the best in the sector with regard to creating and sustaining a mentally healthy workplace.

“To assist employers with how to get started, the report includes evidence-based actions in each of the four domains,” Joss says. “For example, by fostering a culture of care across the organisation, employees will feel more connected and valued, and from the report we know connected workers are twice as likely to report being happy in their job. “To achieve this, it may be as simple as colleagues being courteous to each other by greeting each other in the morning, smiling, making eye contact or saying thank you. Other solutions include creating spaces to connect with others away from their main work environment.” SuperFriend is focused on creating positive, healthy and safe working environments. It works with businesses to support, develop and embed workplace mental health and well-being practices, as well as guiding organisations to build supportive and high performing teams through workplace programs and resources. For more information, visit superfriend.com. au/resources/indicators-thriving-workplace. ● > Claire Dellora is the communications coordinator at SuperFriend.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2018 FM

1/08/18 10:32 AM

54 | CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Experiential planning and design In this latest article KAREN SKILLINGS discusses experiential learning and the little talked about ‘lessons learned workshops’, which help to avoid the mistakes we’ve made in previous designs, or simply help us do it better.

xperiential learning is the process of learning through experience, and is more specifically defined as ‘learning through reflection

on doing’. One of the most common experiential learning processes that a design team and change manager will embark upon is the staff engagement surveys or workshops where discovery, culture or brand, mind mapping and co-creation will be discovered. This may include all employee engagement or vertical sampling throughout your organisation. The staff engagement workshops can uncover design imperatives such as what shared facilities and learning spaces may be required, how people use established zones and mixed-use spaces, and what higher proportion of shared and bookable facilities may be required. The gold to be found in the staff engagement workshops can be used for both design and change, as the findings are distilled into the concept design for the new workplace model, allowing the change manager to formulate many ideas that will be pivotal in designing a connected and flexible change program. The other experiential learning process that could be undertaken may normally occur when

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the organisation has a custom facility that requires significant design and expenditure – the lessons learned workshop. A lessons learned workshop is a process of review and endorsement for the inclusion, exclusion or modification of design responses to achieve ‘to be’ adopted requirements. This workshop is undertaken to receive feedback from the existing users of the space on the ways in which all parts of the business or a specialist space operates or could be improved. The lessons learned workshop’s purpose is to receive feedback and to ensure this feedback is considered in the new design. The workshop should avoid solutions and designing the new space (but predictably such discussions will evolve as often these users have been thinking and devising improvements throughout the past years of occupying their space). The lessons learned process can be the beginning of the ‘requirements gathering’ for the design of the new workplace. It will be followed by or will occur concurrently with any number of staff engagements, including workshops that gather and define precise and detailed design and change requirements, such as the staff engagement workshops mentioned earlier. The lessons learned workshop normally involves the fitout, design and change teams, as well as the key users of the facility who will share knowledge with us. Any relationship diagram provided at the end of the workshop is for information and reference only and is not a design brief for the facility (although can be used as baseline if required). The workings captured in this workshop could result in a ordering of conclusions such as: ● no change – the existing provision was specifically mentioned and regarded as adequate or better and stands as the ‘built’ brief for the new design ● no user info – there was no specific discussion or mention of the line item as there were no users with a view to how the design has worked or is working and its continuation in the new design needs to be verified

Karen Skillings.

● not applicable – the line item does not

exist, or has ceased to be relevant due to the cessation of technology or some other reason ● technology – the line item requires development and design of a technology response, and ● engineering – the line item requires development and design of an engineering response. Although this exercise is not to capture a design brief, it can serve to do this to a degree. It can support future design considerations for a replacement facility. This is the opportunity to flush out general user considerations that a general employee engagement workshop could not possibly capture for the custom facility, such as: ● anthropometry (body sizes) ● range of capabilities ● range of working postures and visual needs of the users ● control design such as auditory tasks – alarms, speakers, radios, phones, location and mounting ● working postures such as variety, seating, clearances, forearm supports etc, 24/7 requirements ● displays – catering for a full range of operating scenarios; i.e. visual, aural and tactile needs ● distribution – wall-mounted off-desk and on-desk locations, arrangement and adjustability to meet anthropometric needs ● controls – adequate space and locations, left- and right-handed users, allocations clearly identifiable and emergency controls, and ● maintenance and cable management – suitably housed and accessible. The extra benefits of the lessons learned workshop are that the findings can be designed into a document, which can evolve and record more data as it is collected. It can also act as a design verification artefact to check the delivery of each item if it makes it into the schematic design, the detailed design development, engineering and technology designs, and fitout construction documents.

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● views and opportunities are captured, to be

carefully considered as validated, and ● the outcomes may inform a new set of

behaviours that everyone understands, connects to and can apply.

AT THE END OF THE WORKSHOP

DESIGNING YOUR QUESTIONS FOR THE LESSONS LEARNED WORKSHOP You may start with the obvious – what is absolutely critical for the design if we do it again? Other questions could be: ● What don’t you use? ● In the new design will there be a replication and then cutover? ● How are we working now, where is it faltering and where we can make improvements? ● Do we understand the employee numbers on the floor? ● Did we get the ceilings right before installing video conferencing last time? ● Did the physical layout need a raised floor? ● What do you like about the space arrangements? ● What are the environmental issues with your space? ● Would you replicate anything from a workstation point of view, environment etc and, if so, what?

TOOLS OF THE LESSONS LEARNED WORKSHOP There are people who want walls to scribble on. It is a tactile way to work in a workshop. Walls are the new paper and workshops are the time to encourage chatter, so start with drawings and then encourage conversation, but remember: capture everything! At some stage, the information gathered may be adjudicated to go into the brief for the design team or will be used in your change program.

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Considerations: ● In the big scheme of things where does the

facility fit into the business? Draw it up on butcher’s paper – something that can be taken away to document later. ● Who is the next team with affinities and adjacencies? Draw it up and then ask for the next and the next. ● End up with a tick sheet for the other things that are discussed.

WHAT ELSE CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS LESSONS LEARNED WORKSHOP? ● Knowledge of the ergonomics and what

should improve ● what needs to be on the issues list ● IT standards desired and/or required ● acoustics standards desired and/or

required (i.e. would you put expensive equipment in a facility right next to a major road? Vibrations may play havoc in the facility), and ● how the physical system works, including how the interface looks with colour/contrast.

HOW THE CHANGE MANAGER WILL USE THIS INFORMATION The change manager is trying to ‘get the relationships’ – they are capturing the relationships they need to solve and are identifying the priorities. To do this: ● they learn what energises you ● your feedback helps them consider focus areas for future workshops and surveys

The design and the change team will review the engagement results, sum up the findings and distil them into the concept for the new workplace model (if appropriate), which in turn provides a segue into further employee engagement, particularly those business units identified with affinities and adjacencies. Are you surprised how much can be gained from having the change and design teams working together from the get-go? The change and design teams are great partners with many opportunities to share experiential learnings that will benefit both parties in their workplace project. A workplace project is the enabler for this partnership, and designers and change managers know that to develop innovative design solutions for their clients and, to ensure these changes are embraced, they need to work together to achieve the same goals. This partnership enables high-quality design and smooth transitions, unifies disparate teams and creates inspirational workplaces that will retain and attract quality employees to stay on and grow with their employer into the future. Who could ask for more? If you are interested in what else is going on in the design phase of any accommodation project, check out the Design Roadmap, which is another of my free journals available for you and your project team on my website. I look forward to next time taking you through Phase 5 in the Accommodation Life cycle, ‘the fitout phase’. ● > Karen Skillings is the principal of Skillings Education and an expert in information management, change management and relocations. An accomplished author, she has several publications to her name and has developed nationally-recognised training programs.

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56 | PROPERTY WATCH

Releasing the value of the silver in the portfolio To sell or not to sell a property? RODNEY TIMM looks at the underutilised owned assets of businesses and ways to avoid foreclosing on their value.

any businesses, particularly in the industrial sector as well as other enterprises such as church groups, sporting groups and community clubs, have owned property assets that are underutilised and rapidly becoming functionally obsolete and in a poor state of physical repair. Often these organisations do not realise the underlying value of the site based on alternative and improved uses. This happens as urban populations grow, and urban residential sprawl starts moving into peripheral zones that were typically focused on employment uses, semiagricultural and light manufacturing activities. But these underutilised assets may also be near or central to residential and business areas, particularly in the church, sporting and social clubs, when there has been a drop-off in membership, and fees and use charges do not cover the most basic maintenance. The tendency starts a downward spiral of relevance as the condition of physical assets and sporting facilities gets worse, membership numbers decrease and fewer fees are collected, leading to even less maintenance.

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Rodney Timm.

THE WORLD HAS CHANGED It is evident that over the last decade most of the world as we know it has changed. The need for and use of physical assets has transformed significantly as evolving connectivity and converging technologies continue to change everything we do in a business, leisure and a social context. As a result, the nature of the physical structures and the properties that we previously needed to manage our business or conduct commerce enterprises, and even enjoy social and leisure activities, are often no longer required in the same format and size as was previously the case. The production or distribution complex no longer supports the company needs with just-in-time delivery from a cheaper labour economy – the business premises may now be irrelevant with customer contacts done virtually. Even social clubs and sporting fields are no longer patronised to the previous extent or in a similar way. Often there is an emotional attachment to these owned properties, however, particularly if this is the place where that business started out, or the chairman of the sporting club won the championship when he was an emerging talent. In addition to this attachment, there is the tendency in small- to medium-sized companies and older family-controlled businesses – as well as in clubs that have autocratic or ineffective management committees and membership structures – that inertia and the inability to make decisions becomes the norm. As a result, despite the deterioration in the condition of assets or overcapitalising on properties by continually having to spend the limited available capital inappropriately, in attempts to extend the life cycle, the hard decisions are not made.

OBJECTIVE DECISION-MAKING Often the lack of good objective decisionmaking related to properties and assets, with the inability to put aside emotional attachments, can lead to the demise of the business or the club. For example, it is obviously preferable to sell off an inefficient production facility with an increasing higherand-better-use land value, despite it being

where the business commenced, than to fund and relocate to a new state-of-theart processing plant – even if it’s many kilometres away in a new emerging industrial hub, with ease of access to the freeway system. This strategy may prove to be the salvation for an ailing company, providing a renewed ability to compete with efficient productivity, ease of distribution away from congested streets and ultimately excel in the face of new emerging competitors. For example, for a golf club, it is likely to be a better strategy to embark on reducing

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But often, without too much foresight, the sell-off of owned property assets is a last ditch effort by the business or club leadership to bolster revenues and cash flow. And under pressure, the ‘family silver’ in the form of the property is handed to an eager allpromising developer or property speculator for a pittance, without the leadership fully understanding the underlying value. Although the cash injection could be the boost required to keep the enterprise going, many millions of dollars worth of value may have been ‘left on the table’ in an over-hasty negotiation and disposal. These types of transactions usually occur immediately prior to financial year-end, providing a boost to the past year’s performance – but what happens the following year when these pressures arise again? With a few basic rules within a governance structures these over-hasty selloff decisions can be avoided.

PROPERTY SELL-OFF TRAPS

Selling a property that is no longer operationally suitable, functionally obsolete or declared as excess to requirements, is fraught with challenges for the uninitiated. www.fmmagazine.com.au

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the length of a number of holes, even reducing par by a few strokes, to improve the player amenities and reverse the declining membership trend. This may require having a new residential or senior-living complex, developed on the excess or freed-up land, to fund the changes – but a better option than having the bank move in and appoint administrators. With better player facilities and golf course condition, more members are likely to be attracted, and with fee revenue growth ongoing, maintenance and services can be improved, providing longer-term sustainability.

Selling a property that is no longer operationally suitable, functionally obsolete or declared as excess to requirements, is fraught with challenges for the uninitiated. Selling a commercial property is more complex than selling a residential home, and the kinds of poor sales decisions and traps, many of which overlap, that seem to occur regularly can be categorised into a number of groups, including the following: ● Disposing of a property without fully understanding the upside potential and the ongoing liabilities that may be attached. Selling quickly can be attractive, particularly if the financial year-end is imminent, and business profits need to be bolstered. And realising a healthy profit over the book value can provide a distorted perspective and result in potentially leaving millions on the table. But the true upside value and potential ongoing liability risks, such as remediation, are determined by many variables that are seldom encapsulated in a single valuation report. ● Getting lured into a disposal transaction that seems ‘too good to be true’ by an

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58 | PROPERTY WATCH

Probably one of the biggest mistakes companies make is being stuck in decisionmaking inertia.

unsolicited approach from a developer or builder is usually fraught with unexpected and unwelcome surprises. For the uninitiated, property disposal and development processes are complex with many hidden risks and costs. Poorly drafted documentation, usually prepared by the purchaser’s solicitor, can mean that the proceeds of the sale at the end are likely to be significantly less than what was originally offered. Often the transaction is structured with a relatively low upfront purchase price, with the promised upside revenue coming from the development profit that is to be split between the parties over the medium term as revenues are received. However, this revenue is calculated after deducting the development infrastructure, management, marketing and other related costs, which always seem to be far greater than originally estimated. But at this stage, the vendor is locked into the sales process even if the ultimate price after being adjusted for costs and risks is significantly below the initial promised price. ● Being convinced by a purchaser to invest operating capital from the business into the development process, or to have financing mortgage lodged on the property before

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receiving the full sales consideration. This can ultimately lead to disastrous outcomes. It is usually framed as being necessary ‘to fund the development infrastructure and working capital requirements’ in return for an increased share of the upside net revenues. Often this form of vendor financing, because of development delays and challenges that arise, can ultimately starve the business-as-usual operations of cash flow and destroy the business. Or, if the development process is excessively delayed and the financiers move in, the business faces an administrator selling the property and needing to relocate. ● Another approach that can lead to a poor ending is when a business determines that the development process is relatively easy, the risks manageable and the profit potential is huge. Without the required skills, experience and understanding of the development process internally, by default the company quickly morphs into being a developer, taking risks that are not fully understood or priced. And with the funding being provided by the business’ free cashflow, the business quickly moves from being a stable known operating model to becoming a high-risk speculative developer. With even slight changes in the property

market dynamics or with planning approval delays, the development process can quickly absorb the company’s capital backing. ● In all sale and development processes, not having the appropriate professional support and financial modelling controls aligned to the sales or the development agreement means that there is little control over the process and the proceeds of the development. With experienced support to model all costs and risks of the process, and to allocate these appropriately, is essential to determine the net revenue sharing and to ensure that the seller of the property receives the revenue as agreed. Probably one of the biggest mistakes companies make is being stuck in decision-making inertia. These companies continue to operate from obsolete premises that are not aligned to new business processes, because ‘this is the way we have always done it’. The whole process of new site selection, new build and relocation are deemed to be too much effort and ‘business as usual’, with poor processes, continues. As the company slowly loses market share, margins come under pressure and eventually the business is forced to close. ● > Rodney Timm is a director of Property Beyond Pty Ltd.

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FEATURE | 59

THESE WALLS CAN TALK Monash University and Honeywell Building Solutions are working together to create the buildings of the future, reports TIFFANY PACZEK.

oneywell and Monash University recently signed a collaboration agreement to deliver one of the world’s fi rst ‘cognitive office buildings’, bringing together next-generation technology and research to significantly change the way buildings are managed. They’re using big data to “intelligently and automatically alter the internal environment” to develop cognitive buildings and redefi ne the term ‘smart buildings’. A cognitive building is a smart building that collects data from various sensors – and then takes that data to learn from it and fi nd meaning from it, to improve the functionality and management of the building. Honeywell will deploy its Honeywell Vector Occupant app across the Monash Clayton campus to collect data on how staff and students rate spaces, navigate buildings, report faults, and how often and when particular buildings are accessed, through the use of smart device technology. The data will feed into Honeywell’s Command and Control Suite that’s based in the Future Control Room at Monash, connecting key personnel with the data visualisations. It provides simple, intuitive displays to building operations teams and allows them to enhance facilities and security management, and to create comfortable spaces for staff and students, all while reducing energy consumption. Karl Mahoney, vice president of Honeywell Building Solutions Asia Pacific, says that the data gathered from the Monash buildings will allow the university to achieve unprecedented levels of optimisation. “Using Monash University buildings, we want to bring a new level of intelligence – a brain, if you will – allowing them to service their occupants in ways we might never have thought possible. This first research project is a great vehicle for Honeywell working alongside Monash IT experts and students to solve real challenges for the university,” says Mahoney. At the Honeywell and Monash collaboration signing and launch event, held in Monash’s New Horizons building, Mahoney said, “I have no doubt you’ve heard the terms ‘smart

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Clockwise from top left: Jon Whittle, dean of IT, Monash; Steve Dimopoulos, MP State Member for Oakleigh; Marc Parlange, provost and senior vice president, Monash; and Karl Mahoney, vice president Honeywell Asia Pacific.

Data gathered from the Monash buildings will allow the university to achieve unprecedented levels of optimisation.

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cities’ and ‘smart buildings’. What this means is that cities and buildings are leveraging the power of data, sensors and analytics through the Internet of Things to become more connected, resulting in safer, greener and more productive workplaces. “Where cognitive buildings will differ is that they will take this intelligence to a whole new level. They will diagnose, respond and learn in a way that will deliver unprecedented levels of optimisation, and serve their occupants in ways we can’t even imagine today. “So for all the teaching teams, the researchers and the students, cognitive buildings – and a longer-term cognitive campus – will deliver spaces that are not only more comfortable, safer, energy efficient and potentially healthier, but can dynamically suggest new ways of using spaces, helping Monash maximise the utilisation of their assets, and the educational outcomes,” Mahoney said. Cognitive buildings benefit the four groups of occupants – the building users, the service providers, the contract managers and the strategic planners.

BUILDING USERS The objective of cognitive buildings for users is to create an intuitive and responsive interface for the building users to immerse themselves into the Monash campus, while ensuring optimal comfort for productive learning environments. The cognitive building allows for easy navigation of the campus, giving users ready access to information about the building, its assets and the services available. It gives them the ability to rate spaces, comfort and services, providing feedback on the level of satisfaction and comfort they experience with speciﬁc areas. Users also have the ability to report on and request services, providing the opportunity to improve services or works as needed.

SERVICE PROVIDERS For building operators and service technicians, the objective is to foster intelligent campus operations through an integrated interface, allowing for eﬃcient maintenance of building assets and systems and supporting the transition to a customercentric service provider focus. Service requests are received and easily updated, allowing service providers to quickly respond to and investigate any maintenance requests and to review open cases through an intuitive service portal. It uses real-time asset data and inputs condition assessments and updates values directly into the system. It also provides access to equipment performance, allowing technicians to quickly understand the system context to reduce turnaround times and identify an asset’s strategic importance and response priority, in order to respond to critical issues ﬁ rst.

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The cognitive building allows for easy navigation of the campus, giving users ready access to information about the building, its assets and the services available. CONTACT MANAGERS For this group, comprising building owners and facility managers, the objective is to provide real-time actionable information to maintain high-performance buildings, in order to ensure mission critical environments are maintained and to deliver quality experiences. It allows them to review the asset performance and services, providing access to an asset performance dashboard to track comfort, user satisfaction and service performance. They can report back to building users and give them direct feedback from operations, and thus maintain high customer satisfaction ratings.

STRATEGIC PLANNERS For IT staff the objective is to provide actionable analytics for informed decision-making. They can access strategic analytics and use patterns in space usage, up-to-date asset condition and performance history in order to plan space utilisation and asset maintenance. The testing phase at Monash University thus far has revealed reduced energy consumption for the Clayton campus. The research outcomes will contribute to the broader Monash University Net Zero initiative, in which Monash aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030 – the most ambitious project of its kind undertaken by an Australian university. Monash Faculty of IT dean, Professor Jon Whittle, says the size of the Clayton Campus and its energy requirements are similar to a small city, making it the perfect place to establish a ‘cognitive building’ environment. “As Australia’s largest university, with more than 78,000 students, 16,000 staff and over 150 buildings spread across four domestic campuses, we’re a significant consumer of energy,” Whittle says. “The team at Monash, working together with Honeywell, is changing the way building performance data can be used to help mitigate risk, enhance business continuity and reduce operational costs,” says Whittle. ●

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The biohazard necessities What is the correct way to dispose of biohazardous waste and reduce the risk of contamination in your facility? KELSEY RZEPECKI reports.

here are an estimated 16 billion injections administered globally each year, and not all of the used syringes and needles end up properly disposed of, creating risks of injury and infection, as well as opportunities for reuse, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). A person who experiences a needlestick injury from a needle used on an infected patient has a 30 percent risk of becoming infected with Hepatitis B, a 1.8 percent risk of Hepatitis C and a 0.3 percent risk of HIV. You can avoid costly citations and prevent harmful exposure by practising proper use of waste containers and biohazard safety labelling.

IMPORTANCE OF WASTE SEGREGATION Incorrect waste segregation and labelling are among the most common violations for healthcare facilities. Medical waste introduces an added risk of exposing medical personnel, waste handlers and patients to harmful infections if it’s not managed properly. No matter the type of biohazardous waste, it all has the possibility of being infectious. This is why biohazardous waste can never be put in a regular bin. In the US, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) describes the requirement employers must put in place to protect workers who may come into contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials. Part of its standard includes consistent labelling and containment of biohazards using bags, containers, and safety labels and signs to reduce the chances of harmful exposure from the facility to the outside world.

CONTAINERS Biohazard waste is anything that is soaked in blood. A good rule of thumb to follow to

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determine the type of container to use is to consider the level of risk the waste could have on a person’s well-being. Essentially, the higher the risk the waste poses to humans, the more rigid the container you need. For example, OSHA’s rules for containers that carry regulated waste state that: ● the container must be closable ● it must be constructed to prevent leakage and large enough to contain all the contents ● it must be labelled and colour-coded according to standards ● it must be closed before removal to prevent spills during handling, transporting, shipping or storage, and ● if there is outside contamination of the waste container it must be put into a second container. It’s a good idea to learn the purpose of each biohazard waste container and which method is best to use depending on the nature of the waste.

BIOHAZARD LABELS AND SIGNS Employers are responsible for clearly communicating biological hazards to employees through warning labels and signs. The biohazard label must be fluorescent orange or red-orange and clearly display the word ‘biohazard’ and the universal biohazard symbol in a contrasting colour (usually black). Apply labels as close as possible to the container with an adhesive, wire, string or other method. Apply labels to: ● all bags/containers of waste used to store, transport or dispose of blood and other potentially infectious material ● refrigerators and freezers that store blood or other potentially infectious material ● pathological waste containers ● entrance doors to work areas to warn and inform personnel of the presence of biohazards, and ● any equipment that has come into contact with blood or other potentially infectious

material – make sure the label includes information that states which portions of the equipment remain contaminated.

RED MEDICAL WASTE BAGS AND CONTAINERS Use red bags to dispose of liquid and solid items contaminated with blood or other potentially infectious materials. If the waste can pour, drip or flake off after drying, store it in a red bag or red colour-coded container at the location it was used. Sharps: all sharps such as used needles and anything used for cutting and injecting must be stored in a rigid, leak-proof, tamperproof and puncture-proof container. It can be made from a variety of products, from cardboard to plastic. Label or colour-code the container according to the blood-borne pathogens standard. If leakage is possible, place it in a second container that is closable, which prevents leakage during handling, storing, transport or shipping. Upon closure, you can use duct tape to better secure the lid, as long as it doesn’t serve as the primary lid. Individual containers of blood: place in a labelled container during storage, transport, shipment or disposal. If leaks are possible, place materials in a secondary container. Contaminated laundry: put all laundry that’s been in contact with blood or may contain sharps in a red bag. Items include gauze, gloves, gowns, bedding, bench paper, personal protective equipment (PPE) and more. If laundry is wet and at risk of leaking or soaking through from the bag or container, place the laundry in bags or containers that prevent leakage. Pathological waste: place any recognisable human or animal organs, body parts and tissues in a red pathological waste container. This consists of a red rigid container with a tight lid with a red bag liner labelled with the universal biohazard symbol.

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TIPS FOR MAINTAINING COMPLIANCE Here are five ways you can maintain safety and compliance with managing biohazards in any facility: ● Provide consistent training: teach and train all employees on proper biohazard management to ensure consistency throughout your facility and reduce the chances of human error and harmful exposure. ● Maintain your sharps injury log: establish and maintain a sharps injury log for recording injuries due to contaminated sharps. This will allow you to recognise patterns and areas for improvement. ● Be mindful of storage areas: different types of waste can be stored in the same room. Prevent mishandling and injuries by ensuring workers and custodial personnel are aware of the presence of biohazards and how to approach them safely. Clearly label and segregate waste to prevent human error and to maintain efficiency. ● Reassess hazards: assess the work environment for any hidden hazards or improper work practices and take the necessary steps to correct them. Safeguard your facility from newfound hazards by conducting refresher training for employees and adding emphasis to problem areas using safety labels and signs. ● Assess your safety labels and signs: do a walkthrough to determine if any safety labels or signs need updating, replacing or other maintenance. ● > Kelsey Rzepecki is a copywriter for Graphic Products, maker of the DuraLabel line of industrial label and sign printers. For more information about customised visual communication, visit www.GraphicProducts.com.

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The car park door is often the first and last experience a tenant or customer has of a building. Its performance is critical to the building’s operations. There are a number of considerations facility managers must understand about door operators to ensure they meet a building’s demands. These include: • Performance – car park doors activate hundreds of times a day, so the operator must be reliable. In the event of power outages, it is imperative the door remains operational to allow emergency access. A battery back-up system can easily and cost-effectively offer this. • Safety and compliance – a monitored entrapment protection system can also help stop a closing door upon non-contact detection of an obstruction, which is why this is now a mandatory inclusion to ensure system compliance. • Access control – most commercial door operators are designed to work with a variety of accessories, including card swipes, boom gates, loop detectors and fire panels. The operator needs to be adaptable and easy to integrate into the building ecosystem. Another consideration is the management of transmitters, including key ring or car visor remote controls. To manage multiple devices, Grifco offers a ‘transmitter management system’ that allows operators to manage up to 1000 devices. If transmitters are lost or access denied, the device (and hence tenant’s access) can be easily paused or deleted, or a new one added. Contact Grifco on 1800 GRIFCO or info@grifco.com.au to improve the performance, safety and access control of your car park door. For further information visit www.grifco.com.au.

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A VERITABLE FEAST Outsourcing your catering can seem as tricky as getting the perfect rise on your soufflé. To help simplify the process STEPHANIE CLIFFORD-SMITH breaks down the two pricing models.

icture this: your company has decided to tender out catering and the project has landed on your desk. There’s a lot riding on it too; the culture of your entire company is reflected in the hospitality you provide to clients and staff, an impression that’s set the moment they step out of the lift. Faced with this assignment, Carly Cumming, general manager of Sydney catering company, Gastronomy, says a facilities manager will be choosing between two pricing models – ‘per plate’ and ‘cost plus’. It can be confusing and your decision will depend less on the bottom line and more on your company culture. “The options are similar to those in the building industry (fi xed lump sum and cost plus) and both models have their time and place,” says Cumming.

PER PLATE In a ‘per plate’ model the caterer quotes and charges a set price for each product. It works the same in a restaurant, when there is a set price for a two-course lunch or a sandwich. “This model is great for certainty of costs and where the company culture works on a user pays system; i.e. where every item ordered from or through the caterer is charged to the cost centre or department that used it,” she says. Unlike in a restaurant though, when you order a ‘plate’, the costs of waitstaff to serve, set up and clean up are added separately, according to the level of service a user is looking for, which may not be clear to the end users whose cost centre is being charged. Similar to the system within the building industry, a caterer will provide a quote for an assumed level of service. Any variations to the initial service can be more expensive, so requesting to use alternative sub-suppliers or increasing staffi ng levels can result in potentially increased costs. “An advantage with this model for your company is that the caterer carries the risks of shrinkage. That said, they’ll also get the benefits of economies of scale in growth phases,” Cumming says.

COST PLUS

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Companies that either subsidise services or want flexibility to direct service levels and quality tend to choose the ‘cost plus’ option, Cumming says. “Subsidised models are where a company is prepared to pay to increase service levels or where the catering is used as a staff benefit and therefore sold at lower than market rates,” she says. Sometimes a company will want greater control and this model also allows for this. “For example, you may have sub-suppliers and products you want the caterer to use. You may have an existing preference for grass-fed beef from a supplier in the Hunter Valley, and want the caterer to continue using that beef, not the beef they would use as a standard in their two-course pricing.” This arrangement operates with the caterer on-charging all inputs plus a management fee. Say your organisation needs coffee and cake for 100 people, you would be charged for the flour, milk, eggs, coffee and sugar etc at cost, plus a negotiated percentage management fee and labour. In the ‘cost plus’ model the caterer negotiates to get you the cheapest possible

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price on, for example, milk and adds their margin. It’s still cheaper than doing it yourself and the caterer does everything for you and provides a consolidated invoice and reporting. As catering use increases, the corporate gets the beneﬁt of scaling rather than the caterer. Of course, this means they carry the risk of shrinkage too, so the decision needs to be in line with business plans and forecasts. This model is commonly used, but isn’t without its complications. One risk is that some operators will tell the customer they’ll charge a lower percentage when, in reality, they’re getting rebates from their suppliers and not passing them on. Cumming believes if you’re going to use the ‘cost plus’ model you need to have contract conditions requiring the caterer to either guarantee they’re getting no other rebate from suppliers than what they show the customer, or split proﬁt sharing rebates with the customer. “Obviously that’s complicated, so transparency from the outset is vital,” she says.

WHAT’S YOUR STYLE? Your answer shouldn’t be based on price alone. Your decision should be based on the culture, future plans and forecasts of your company and that of your catering partner – after all, you want a long-lasting partnership that makes you look good. “Either way, like managing every other supplier, your relationship with your caterer depends on unambiguous communication, open channels and clear objectives,” says Cumming. “We can do everything from chips and dips one day to a 10-course degustation the next – you just need to tell us your brief.” ●

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> Stephanie Cliﬀord-Smith is innovation manager at Gastronomy.

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© 2018 HID Global Corporation/ASSA ABLOY AB. All rights reserved. HID, HID Global, the HID Blue Brick logo, and the Chain Design are trademarks or registered trademarks of HID Global or its licensor(s)/supplier(s) in the US and other countries and may not be used without permission.

26/07/18 9:10 AM 3/08/18 12:19 PM

66 | EVENTS

AUSTRALASIAN WASTE AND RECYCLING EXPO

CORRECTIONAL SERVICES HEALTHCARE SUMMIT

WHERE: ICC Sydney, Darling Harbour WHEN: 29-30 August

WHERE: Rendezvous Hotel, Melbourne WHEN: 13-14 September

awre.com.au

informa.com.au/event/correctional-services-healthcaresummit

___

ISSA CLEANING AND HYGIENE EXPO WHERE: ICC Sydney, Darling Harbour WHEN: 29-30 August

NATIONAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY CONFERENCE

issacleaninghygieneexpo.com

WHERE: Sofitel Wentworth, Sydney WHEN: 19-20 November

___

www.eec.org.au ___

TERTIARY EDUCATION MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE WHERE: Crown Conference Centre, Perth WHEN: 9-13 September

FACILITY EXECUTIVE LIVE!

temc.org.au

WHERE: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, US WHEN: 20 September

___

facilityexecutive.com/live ___

6TH AUSTRALIAN SMART LIGHTING SUMMIT WHERE: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne WHEN: 11-12 September

IFMA’S WORLD WORKPLACE

www.lightingconference.com.au

WHERE: Charlotte Convention Centre, North Carolina, US WHEN: 3-5 October

___

worldworkplace.ifma.org ___

BMAM EXPO ASIA WHERE: Impact Exhibition Centre, Bangkok, Thailand WHEN: 12-14 September

bmamexpoasia.com

IHEA 2018 WHERE: Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane WHEN: 6-11 October

event.icebergevents.com.au/ifhe-2018

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