Operations

building technology

How to optimize building technology management

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

How schools are boosting air quality measures

The report found that schools have prioritized ventilation and filtration to reduce the transmission of the virus.
HVAC air conveyance systems

COVID-19 and HVAC systems

Cleaning and disinfecting HVAC air conveyance systems has never been more critical.
New flat rates for Ontario elevators licenses

New fee model for Ontario elevator licenses

The flat license rate will penalize mid-rise and high-rise owners with extra costs if an elevator passes the periodic inspection and does not require a follow-up. It will be a bargain if just one follow-up inspection is required.
Climate risk infuses real estate investment agendas

Climate risk infuses investment agendas

Canadian commercial real estate assets are comparatively less exposed to the dire physical threats that extreme weather poses or has already served up in other global regions.
Facility management

Adapt today, optimize tomorrow

Four solutions for a smarter, safer, and cleaner building as cleaning and maintenance is reinvented.
ASHRAE

ASHRAE partners with CIBSE to encourage safe and sustainable environments

The agreement outlines how ASHRAE and CIBSE will work cooperatively to promote a more sustainable built environment through HVAC&R technology.
Fire code updates demand ongoing vigilance

Fire code updates demand steady upkeep

Although they increasingly rely on professional service providers to keep up with the complexities of compliance, owners/managers ultimately carry the responsibility for life safety and bear the brunt of enforcement.
COVID-19 related investment announced in fall economic statement

COVID-19 related investment unveiled

The commercial real estate, facilities management and construction/retrofit sectors appear poised to capture a share of the spending announced in the Canadian government’s fall economic statement.
Multifamily energy performance

Multifamily energy performance typically vexing

Multifamily and industrial properties are routinely lumped together as favoured investment assets, but asset managers face divergent degrees of difficulty when they seek to mine value from energy performance.
pest control

Green goals in pest control are worth setting

Green initiatives are more than a trend. Many industries are putting greater emphasis on ensuring products are sourced and processed in an environmentally conscious manner
BOMA Toronto's race2reduce aligns with climate capitalism

Real estate makes space for climate capitalism

The 2020 race2reduce field boasts more than 1,730 buildings encompassing 248 million square feet of space in common areas and tenant premises — an increase from 650 buildings covering 95 million square feet in 2019.
energy efficiency

Report suggests new building codes aren’t tough enough on energy efficiency

An Efficiency Canada report suggests a lack of mandatory air leak testing in buildings hinders attempts at net-zero energy efficiency.
energy retrofits

Feds to invest $2 billion in energy retrofits

A promised $2 billion investment in large-scale building retrofits will be central to the Canadian government’s job creation ambitions. Energy efficiency champions have plenty of ideas of how and where the funds could be best leveraged.
Public disclosure of energy use and GHG intensity holds little appeal for building owners concerned about uninformed scrutiny

Public disclosure could foil energy reporting

The City of Winnipeg has invited commercial building owners and institutional facility managers to affix their Energy Star Portfolio Manager results on a publicly accessible map.
COVID-19 repercussions driving up global adjustment costs for commercial electricity customers

COVID-19 incubates global adjustment 2021-22

For Class A consumers, cost-saving potential will be diminished even if they successfully curtail demand during the five peak hours since those peaks are expected to be lower than usual.
Building an organic smart building from the bottom up could be easier than a top-down model

Open protocols could nurture organic smart city

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.