June 21, 2015

The latest issue of Insight Weekly is available to view online

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Furniture, Newsletter, Wellbeing, Workplace design

In this week’s issue; Dan Callegari argues the importance of creating a working environment that is inherently flexible enough to meet the needs of everybody; and Mark Eltringham lists the award winning products from the recent Neocon workplace design convention in Chicago. A new US report finds Generation Y isn’t as tech savvy as it’s made out to be; Regus research discovers many workers are afraid that working from home will mean they grow lonely, overweight and stale; and muscular skeletal problems and mental ill health remain the main causes of workplace absence. In London, a new kind of workplace is unveiled as part of the London Festival of Architecture; an office built around a tree. Subscribe for free quarterly issues of Work&Place and for weekly news via the subscription form in the right hand sidebar, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

June 19, 2015

RICS case studies focus on business impact of strategic facilities management

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

Six case studies, which outline how businesses can make the most of strategic facilities management to enhance their performance are being launched today (19 June), at the NEC in Birmingham. Developed by International Workplace for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the latest set of case studies in the series, provides examples of best practice as outlined in RICS’ Strategic Facilities Management (FM) Guidance Note. The case studies, which can be downloaded from RICS’ website, cover a range of strategic FM issues including procurement, innovation, technology, sustainability, talent management and health and safety. Key themes include a professional understanding of the impact of FM to a company’s reputation, brand and performance, engagement with staff and the supply chain, the importance of measuring impact and outcomes and communication.

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June 18, 2015

Facilities managers must focus more on people and less on buildings

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Workplace design

A report from facilities management company Mitie claims that the design and management of too many workplaces are hampering the productivity of employees. Based on a survey of nearly 2,500 service sector staff carried out by Quora Consulting, the report comes to the perhaps unsurprising conclusion that facilities managers should prioritise people over buildings. The study found that younger workers are especially critical of their surroundings and working cultures. Two thirds of 20-29 year olds claim that their offices are not designed to optimise productivity. Finance and legal workers also feel let down by their workplaces with almost half claiming their workplaces do not optimise their productivity. These sectors were also emotionally disengaged with fewer than 35 percent identifying themselves as ‘emotionally attached’ to their workplaces.

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June 17, 2015

Eight sustainability megatrends that will impact on UK real estate

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

The ‘Big Eight’ sustainability megatrends that will impact on real estate over the next 15-20 years have been identified in a new report by JLL. Analysing a total of 40 themes, JLL’s Upstream Sustainability Services team claims to have pinpointed eight interconnected trends which are most critical. These are the low carbon economy; technological innovation; urbanisation; land and resource scarcity; workforce transformation; changing demographics; health and wellness; and transparency and social value. According to the report these trends present opportunities as well as risks. Forward-thinking companies which are able to unpick and manage climate change and extreme weather risk, build resilient supply chains, exploit the latest developments in technology, and anticipate the needs of the modern office worker or consumer will stay competitive and succeed.

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June 15, 2015

‘Tree office’ coworking space opens in an East London Square

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

A new kind of workplace has been opened in London…an office built around a tree. The pop-up office designed as a coworking space is based in Hoxton Square in the first initiative from the Park Hack project, led by Groundwork London and Hackney Council, set up to test new innovative models that sustain and enhance public open spaces. It is designed to operate as a working office and will be available to hire over the next seven months for businesses, creative workers and community groups. It is equipped with a power supply and WiFi and has the capability to also host small meetings or intimate events. Those who hire the space will be directly supporting the local environment, with income generated being reinvested into Hackney’s parks and green spaces. TREExOFFICE is also featured in the London Festival of Architecture that is taking place this month.

June 13, 2015

The latest issue of Insight Weekly is available to view online

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Newsletter, Public Sector, Wellbeing, Work&Place, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s issue; Dr Kerstin Sailer, Ros Pomeroy and Rosie Haslem describe the ten demonstrable facts about the workplace you may not know; Mark Eltringham says the most pervasive and enduring myth about the office is that it is somehow dying off and discovers that people have been writing guides to good ergonomics since the early seventeenth Century. Also this week; a parliamentary inquiry into the effects of design on behaviour is launched by the Design Commission, a survey for World FM Day reveals the key role played by FM in wellbeing and productivity, the US Government’s plans to reform the way federal office space is managed, and too few employers advertise jobs with flexible working opportunities. Subscribe for free quarterly issues of Work&Place and for weekly news via the subscription form in the right hand sidebar, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

June 12, 2015

‘Trailblazing’ firm wins Gold Award for sustainable buildings

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

Environmental engineers Max Fordham have been named Gold Award winners in the 2015 Ashden Awards which champion sustainable buildings. The firm, which was the recipient of the Ashden Award for Sustainable Buildings, works with architects to minimise the energy requirements of new buildings. This results in buildings that can meet many of their own lighting, heating and air conditioning needs through measures such as harnessing natural light and ventilation. Its work on new buildings – such as the Hive [pictured] can cut carbon emissions by up to 50 percent. Demand Logic, a clean tech company that helps large buildings make big savings on their energy bills, won the 2015 Impax Ashden Award for Energy Innovation for a cloud-based system which plugs into the management system of commercial buildings and detects what it calls ‘energy insanities’ where, for example, energy sapping systems such as boilers are left on when not needed.

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June 11, 2015

US Govt passes legislation to reduce the amount of office space it occupies

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

Over the past few years, the UK Cabinet Office has looked to the way it procures and occupies real estate as an important way of reducing the country’s budget deficit. One other country that is following suit is the US. The congressional Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of the US House of Representatives has unanimously approved legislation to reform the way federal office space is managed, procured and occupied. The Public Buildings Reform and Savings Act of 2015 sets out ways to reduce and consolidate space, divest unnecessary buildings, improve oversight of facilities management, negotiate better and shorter lease terms with the aim of saving billions of dollars each year. In the UK, the Government claims to have reduced the public sector estate by 2 million sq ft in just three years with a range of similar approaches, saving around £1.2 billion.

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June 11, 2015

Government urged by top organisations to combat climate change

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

In an open letter to the Financial Times, 80 UK businesses, including Willmott Dixon, Cisco, E.on, Kinnarps, UK-GBC and BT have joined with the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) to call on the government to take action to combat climate change. It calls on the administration to; seek a strong global deal in Paris in December which limits temperature rises to below 2°C; set an ambitious 5th carbon budget to drive forward UK emissions reductions (covering period 2028-32) and establish a long-term framework for investment in the low-carbon economy. WWF-UK Chief Executive David Nussbaum said: “British business is ready to step up. From construction and energy to retail, the best British enterprises know that green growth is the future. They take on board that it’s no longer credible to base a sustainable economy on fossil fuels, so the Government should put us on track for a low-carbon world.”

June 10, 2015

Facilities management shown to play role in productivity and wellbeing

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

The role of facilities management in increasing productivity and wellbeing is highlighted in a new survey by Sodexo and RICS of their facilities management professional members and contacts to mark World FM Day. Over half of those questioned (61%) said that improvements to workplace environments and services have a positive effect on employees and that employee wellbeing would have a high impact on their organisation over the next two years. The report claims that FM is helping to enhance areas such as social interactions among colleagues (30%), ease of efficiency in day to day tasks (22%) and employees’ health and wellbeing (22%). It builds on the recent Sodexo – Harris Interactive survey, “How Leaders Value Quality of Life,” which revealed 66 percent of managers are convinced that improving quality of life is a strategic priority for their institutions.

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June 9, 2015

National increase in number of commercial property new builds for 2015

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

There has been a strong start to the year for non-residential construction, with the annual total starts for new builds and existing projects rising by 7.9 percent over the first three months. According to JLL and Glenigan’s latest Commercial Construction Index Q1 outperformed same quarter in 2014 – with new building activity increasing most in Yorkshire & the Humber (30.6%) during Q1, boosted by the Hammerson’s Victoria Gate scheme in Leeds. In Scotland, building is up (28.1%), in Wales by 24.4 percent and the East Midlands has seen a 24.2 percent rise. Greater South East (London, the South East and the East of England) saw the volume of new builds rise 7.3 percent from £11.2bn to £12.0bn. However, construction has fallen in the North West (-14.2%) and the West Midlands (-9.2%), while across the UK refurbishments and extension projects have declined slightly.

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June 9, 2015

Inquiry launched to explore the links between design and behaviour

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Workplace, Workplace design

A parliamentary inquiry into the effects of design on behaviour has been launched by the Design Commission. The eight month process was announced at an event in Parliament yesterday by architect Richard Rogers and will begin with a call for submissions which will end on 3 July. The inquiry will be led by Bartlett dean Alan Penn and Janet Whitaker, vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Design and Innovation Group (APDIG) and who helped to establish the House of Lords on committee on the built environment. The inquiry aims to explore how the design of the built environment can have a positive impact on behaviour, and present a number of case studies of best practice as well as report back to Parliament with recommendations “designed to stimulate new thinking in planning policy across central and local government”.