Building Systems

air filter

Maintaining schools for second pandemic winter

Every team should create a checklist, and then continually review their internal systems—floor by floor—to reveal any possible failure points.
healthcare facilities 

Guidelines inform resilient healthcare facilities 

Newly released guidelines offer a standard for approaching the planning and designing of healthcare facilities from a resiliency perspective.
Vancouver

Digitizing fire protection for facility inspections

With fire equipment, the biggest culprit for non-compliance issues usually involves obstructions blocking fire extinguishers and hoses from view.
Surrey city Lalonde

Surrey awards three major infrastructure projects

The City of Surrey has awarded contracts for three major infrastructure projects from the Surrey Invests initiative.
remote work

A cybersafe return to the workplace

At last, our buildings are ready to catch up with the conveniences and expectations that future users have come to expect in the 21st century—and COVID has been the much-needed accelerant for this transformation in the building industry.
inclusive

A path to fully inclusive community hubs

The idea of creating inclusive community hubs—where people of all ages and abilities can gather together—is gaining significant momentum.
campus

Campus high-rise brings health to new heights

Dingy is a word that conjures thoughts of old institutional spaces. Academic buildings with dimly-lit hallways and windowless classrooms punctured with fluorescent glare. Rarely are
Indigenous

Indigenous voices hushed in planning processes

Indigenous communities across Canada continue to be sidelined or completely excluded from initial planning phases of new developments and renovations.
facility security

Updating facility security in a post-COVID era

A former counterterrorism expert explains some steps that can be taken to enhance facility security.
zero carbon

Ottawa hockey facility a zero carbon first

How AMPED Sports Lab and Ice Complex in Ottawa, Ontario, became the first Zero Carbon Building Performance Standard certified arena.
ventilation standard

ASHRAE updates healthcare facility ventilation standard

The 2021 edition delivers critical guidance for designers and operators of these frontline facilities and incorporates 17 changes to the standard.
building technology

How to optimize building technology management

Leveraging appropriate service technology and integrated service tools can ensure buildings are safe and properly maintained. 
FM

Pandemic intensifies evolving role of FM

Facility managers are no longer viewed as a back-office function, but rather “a strategic instrument to attract and retain talent and create a great experience,”
Fossil fuel fired cogeneration systems to lose eligibility for accelerated capital cost allowance

Cogeneration systems to lose tax enticement

The 2021 federal budget adds some clean energy equipment to immediately qualify for accelerated capital cost allowance, and names various combined heat and power applications to be delisted after 2023.
toxic chemicals

What toxic chemicals are lurking in our buildings?

In the age of COVID, it's also important to consider how chemical exposures influence our ability to fight disease.
Inuit art

New home for world’s largest Inuit art collection

Qaumajuq, meaning “it is bright” or “it is lit” in Inuktitut, opens virtually this week, but the 40,000-square foot addition has been almost a decade in the making.
water efficiency

ASHRAE & IAPMO unite on water efficiency document

The document will combine ASHRAE's and IAPMO’s respective standards to offer complimentary guidance and references.