Pete Zuraw and E. Lander Medlin
Background Deferred renewal backlog is an old subject for higher education facilities leaders, but one that, in our current reality, requires new emphasis. In April 2021, APPA released an estimate that higher education as a whole is facing urgent deferred renewal of more than $112 billion. That estimate is a brand new impetus for reviving […]
Christine Hanlon
Over the past year, the disruption caused by the pandemic has revealed that forming connections is at the very heart of the postsecondary experience. At the same time, the COVID-19 crisis has created opportunities for shaping campus spaces and places to meet emerging challenges in connecting students, faculty, and staff. “More than ever, the pandemic […]
By Bobby Watson
In October 2017, the UTHealth Facilities, Planning, and Engineering (FPE) department submitted its Energy and Water Management Plan (EWMP) to the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) with an aggressive new 5% campus energy-consumption reduction goal to be reached by the end of FY 2021. By the end of FY 2020, total energy consumption decreased by […]
Patty Smith
Just about a year ago I shared my thoughts with the readership regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. I discussed the satisfaction of meeting the pandemic head on, the disruption it caused our staffs, student, and faculty, and the uncertainty it created about enrollment, and I ended by sharing a glimmer of hope that the fall ’21 […]
Peter Hmelyar
The era of “healthy buildings” has arrived. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, building owners increasingly recognized the bottom-line benefits of implementing measures to optimize indoor air quality (IAQ) and other critical environmental measures. While COVID may not have created this trend, it has certainly given it high-profile momentum. The requirements for creating healthy buildings are […]
Alan Sactor
Looking back over all the challenges from COVID-19 that we dealt with in our facilities over the last year, I wonder how many of us, other than those who manage fire safety, think about the role of fire codes? Fire and life safety codes were utilized in the strategies for managing the threats from COVID-19. […]
Markus Hogue
Schools across the APPA regions have started to implement unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, to inspect facilities infrastructure. No more than five years ago, universities were paying for helicopters to capture images of their campus. Today, some universities have their own fleet of drones to oversee their facilities. The cost of equipment […]
Kelly Stumpf and John Cook
In keeping with the “FM Essentials” theme of this issue, we offer the following best practices when working on renovation or new construction projects where technology will play a pivotal role. 1. Start planning NOW for the people side of change that might accompany new learning spaces, new workflows, etc. 2. Use the project as […]
Behrooz Abiri
Schools and universities with storied hallways were not built to meet the power demands of today’s tech-dependent world. When it comes to the management of these buildings, many obstacles prevent seamless operations: architectural or design limitations, costly maintenance, and the complex needs of the modern academic landscape. These obstacles cannot simply be resolved by longer-lasting […]
