Ultimately, the hybrid office will have at its heart a planning principle based on people rotating in and out of the office, with flexible schedules they have more control over than ever.

Facility owners and managers must rethink the demands of existing operations and systems to deal with rapidly fluctuating capacity.

Colleges and universities are questioning how much space will be needed in the future campus, how it will be operated, and how to make our built environment more healthy, sustainable and resilient.

Retrofits to remedy energy losses through the building envelope are sometimes based on assumptions and uncertainty.

It is critical that FMs be part of a back-to-work strategy to voice their ideas, suggestions and areas for improvement that can all be applied going forward.

Circadian lighting plays a special role in facilities management as long-term care homes and schools increasingly look to enhance wellbeing among seniors and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

After many conversations and much planning, the agency has recently started allowing employees to come back into the workplace.

The zero carbon project marks an evolution in warehouses and, more broadly, the potential for a lower-emitting industrial sector.

A much anticipated, and unfinished, addition to St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto was fast-tracked to keep pace with a fast-moving pandemic.

Touch-free technology to help limit the spread of infection is now seen in almost every area of a workplace, not just washrooms.

Staying on top of daily tasks in facility management becomes even more complicated when FMs have to plan for external circumstances beyond their control.

The office remains a preferable environment for the majority of workers who find working from home every day an unfavourable option.

Abandonment of the Sidewalk Labs project proposed for Toronto is unfortunate, but it serves as an important lesson that building a smart city from the top down is hard.

Collaborative spaces will take on new importance as flexibility remains a key factor moving forward when reinventing and reopening the workplace.

At least 84 Canadian commercial buildings have been abuzz during protracted COVID-19-related business shutdowns. They house the data centres that have literally underpinned the continued functioning of the economy.

COVID-19 is expected to push cobotics to the forefront of cleaning as facilities prioritize health and safety more than ever.

Workplace technology like occupancy analytics will take on greater relevance as facilities strive to become more productive and healthy.