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.

The facility brings together a multi-purpose satellite fire station, a live-fire training building, and a municipal emergency operations centre.

Schools have the duty to prevent and control infectious diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic makes the process of cleaning schools even more imperative.

Many companies have been forced to rethink the traditional workplace structure, as physical office space quickly morphs into a work-from-home situation.

While climate change may have slipped somewhat from people’s consciousness and priorities right now, it’s noteworthy that the pandemic and climate crises are both problems of exponential growth against a limited capacity to cope.

Many employees are not accustomed to being remote workers and might find the lack of traditional office space challenging.

Global and Canadian survey results suggest proptech is more piecemeal than strategically deployed in many cases, hindering the capacity to integrate data collection and interpretation.

Major workplace trends are creating the impetus for more sustainable, adaptable and productive places of employment.

While museum relics are meant to be cherished and preserved long-term, the building systems that protect them are not.

It's still unclear how the process of securing environmental approvals for combined heat and power systems will be streamlined, but the Ontario government's recent pledge has been greeted enthusiastically in the buildings sector.