December 8, 2015

Two thirds of UK staff will work or check emails over Christmas ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace

A common complaint over the Christmas period is that the vast majority of the population is off from Christmas Eve to after New Year’s Day. In fact a new survey shows that almost two thirds (66 percent) of people in the UK will be working during the festive period, almost 1 in 3 (31 percent) will be working on Christmas Day and 63 percent will check their emails over the period. Although 40 percent of those polled in the survey, which was carried out by retailer Cotton traders, do not have a choice about working over Christmas; of those that do, 46 percent are doing so to earn extra income to fund their Christmas and in the spirit of the season, 39 percent swapped shifts to allow colleagues with a young family to have the day off. Meanwhile, with a clear indication that the Christmas season has begun, advice has been issued by the TUC to staff and employers on how to avoid an embarrassing Christmas party.

December 7, 2015

Ambitious commitments made by Green Building Councils at COP21 ⁰

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

A total of 25 Green Building Councils from around the world have unveiled commitments reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure that the building and construction industry plays its part in limiting global warming to 2 degrees. More than 1.25 billion square metres of buildings – almost double the size of Singapore – will be registered, renovated or certified as green building space over the next five years, under ambitious commitments made by Green Building Councils at COP21 in Paris. Green building is one of the most cost-effective solutions to climate change, which generates significant environmental, economic and societal benefits. A new alliance of 16 countries and over 60 organisations, known as the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (which includes WorldGBC, its 74 Green Building Councils and their 27,000 member companies) is now committed to help countries meet their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) through green building.

December 7, 2015

Groundbreaking office sharing scheme rolled out to over 100 UK councils ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Property, Public Sector

One of the most intriguing and yet least talked about developments in the UK’s workplace design and management scene over the past couple of years has been the roll out of the One Public Sector Estate scheme, which encourages local authorities to share and divest parts of their vast, messy and under-utilised estate. The Cabinet Office, the central government department behind the scheme, claims that the current programme involving 32 local authorities will yield around £129 million in property sales and savings of £77 million in running costs over a period of five years. Now, more than 100 councils are set to join the scheme including several that are set to acquire greater autonomy through the Government’s plans for devolution. The new regions set to sign up to the programme include Greater Manchester, the City of Liverpool, West Midlands and Sheffield as part of 24 new ‘partnerships’.

December 4, 2015

New Acas guidance aims to prevent disability discrimination at work ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Legal news, News, Workplace

A new guide to help employers and managers identify, tackle and prevent disability discrimination in the workplace has been published by Acas. The new free guide ‘Disability discrimination: key points for the workplace’ helps employers get to grips with what disability means, how it can happen and how to prevent and manage complaints in the workplace. Iver the past year, the Acas helpline dealt with around 12,000 calls on disability related discrimination. Over four out of ten disabled people seeking work found that misconceptions around their capability to work were the biggest barrier to getting hired. According to Acas’ Head of Equality, Steve Williams: “Disability is a complex area of employment law that can encompass many conditions or situations that employers may not be aware of. HIV, cancer, depression, phobias, diabetes or an impairment caused by obesity are all conditions that could be considered as a disability.”

December 3, 2015

Dog-friendly offices more appealing to Millennials than play rooms ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace, Workplace design

Only a third of US workers believe that promotion offers the potential to advance their career with more than a third of all workers and 44 percent of Millennials preferring to jump ship if the right opportunity arises. Addison Group’s second annual generational workplace survey found that regardless of generation, healthcare benefits was most important benefit (70 percent), followed by a high salary (59 percent). However, Millennials would choose one company over another that paid a higher salary if free meals, beverages and snacks (40 percent) and tuition reimbursement (36 percent) were provided. Millennials also rank a dog-friendly office (14 percent) higher than a napping room, concierge services and a play room with ping pong, billiards and video games. They also value the social aspect of the workplace highly, with nearly twice as many (15 percent) marking work-sponsored happy hours as important compared to Baby Boomers (8 percent).

December 2, 2015

Too much focus on standing in the sit-stand debate say ergonomics experts ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Furniture, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Campaigners have been keen to promote the health benefits of adjustable or sit-stand workstations. However, according to the latest advice from the experts at the Ergonomics Program at Colorado State University’s Office of Risk Management and Insurance, too much focus has been placed on standing more and sitting less, when the mixture of the two postures is most important. Although sitting for too long can have detrimental effects on the body, standing for too long has its own set of detriments such as pooling of blood in the feet, increased back pain, varicose veins and even an increased risk of atherosclerosis (i.e. hardening and narrowing of the arteries). At the recent U.S. National Ergonomics Conference and Exposition, Dr. Joan Vernikos, former director of life sciences at NASA, simply said to stand up often. “Standing up often, at least 30 times a day, is a powerful antidote to sitting,” she said.

December 2, 2015

RICS issues new international property measurement statement ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

From 1 January 2016, all property measurements undertaken or commissioned by RICS’ professionals will need to comply with its new Property Measurement Professional Statement, which incorporates the new International Property Measurement Standard (IPMS), that changes the way office buildings are measured worldwide. The IPMS was developed by the independent Standards Setting Committee to address how different measurements create inconsistencies between regions. According to RICS, the change represents a major advance and will be welcomed by investors, occupiers and governments. RICS is making the new Property Measurement Professional Statement (incorporating IPMS) mandatory for all its professionals that undertake or commission property measurements in order to assure clients of surveyors that they will benefit from international best practice as the norm when working with RICS professionals.

December 1, 2015

Despite its drawbacks, LiFi has the potential to revolutionise office design ⁰

by Paul Goodchild • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace design

During 2016, we can all expect to be hearing a lot more about a new technology called Li-Fi, which uses light to transmit high speed data. Li-Fi has already been trialled extensively in lab conditions and now for the first time it has been installed in an office in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It may even be substantially quicker than standard Wi-Fi. The people behind it claim it is already able to transmit data at a rate of 1 GB per second, which is around 100 times faster than Wi-Fi. Using light as a medium, however, does mean its main drawback is that it cannot penetrate walls. Designers and managers may also have concerns that the way it transmits data – basically by flickering the light from an individual LED like a massively sped up signal lamp (pictured) – but the developers claim this is completely imperceptible to the human eye and so has no consequences for individuals.

December 1, 2015

Regional office market takes off, with Bristol and Manchester in demand ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Demand for prime office space in key regional business hubs is strengthening, driven primarily by the professional services sector, according to a review of market trends in the UK property markets by Cushman & Wakefield. Manchester is the strongest performing regional office market, with several large transactions recently completed, but a number of other cities, such as Bristol, are also in hot demand. The Thames Valley, South East and West Midlands have been the strongest performing regions in 2015, and prime rents in the top office locations have reached new highs, with further growth forecast. While overall take up is being constrained, to a certain extent, by the lack of prime stock new commercial property developments are picking up as a result, but are still some way below what is required to meet demand levels and cities such as Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham have all seen reductions in availability rates.

November 30, 2015

BRE acquires rival green building scheme to create new accreditation ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

Those bewildered by the confusion of acronyms that surrounds building environmental standards will be pleased to hear that BRE has acquired a rival standard to merge with itsBREEAM accreditation. BRE claims that the acquisition of CEEQUAL, a sustainability scheme for civil engineering, allows it to ‘create a single, science based standard and certification tool for civil engineering and infrastructure projects’. As a result of the acquisition, CEEQUAL will transfer its operations to BRE Global after which CEEQUAL will then be delivered by the BREEAM certification team with support from a CEEQUAL management team. The move is supported by the Institution of Civil Engineers and has been prompted by ‘the industry’s desire for a single sustainability rating scheme that addresses the challenges that infrastructure clients, professions and contractors currently face in delivering more sustainable and resilient infrastructure.’

November 30, 2015

Six hour working day + WeWork London plans + Megacities & COP21 ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, Public Sector, Technology, Workplace design

In this week’s newsletter; Mark Eltringham argues the six hour working day is a deeply conservative idea, dressed up in radical clothing; Matias Rodsevic says it’s important to understand what employee engagement actually means and Darren Bilsborough identifies seven separate layers or “skins” of workplace productivity. As COP21 gets underway, there’s evidence that Megacities are taking the lead in climate action, WeWork unveils its latest plans to dominate London; three new reports reveal technological confusion in the workplace; and a study says the Government’s challenge is how best to match its commitments with its resources. You can also download the new issue of Work&Place and access our first Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

November 27, 2015

Built environment crucial to attaining emissions targets say RICS of COP21 ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The built environment has a vital role to play in helping governments meet their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions targets says RICS – ahead of the 21st Conference of the Parties or COP21. This begins on Monday, when 196 governments meet in Paris for the climate change summit hosted by the United Nations. Buildings are some of the biggest emitters of CO2 accounting for one-third of global greenhouse gasses. Commercial and residential buildings also account for 40 percent of the world’s energy consumption. RICs is working with members in the land, real estate and construction sectors to find solutions across the property lifecycle to support more sustainable business practices, and will be in Paris to join stakeholders from governments, industry and civil society to support efforts to reach an agreement. The commitments made at the summit could have far-reaching repercussions for the built environment, and the global economy more generally.