|
CBRE Econometric Advisors forecasts US office vacancy to peak in late 2024 and then gradually recede
There is relief for the U.S. office market on the long-term horizon in the form of constrained new supply, according to a new report from CBRE Research: Limited New Supply Should Support Office Market Recovery in 2025. Construction completions added an average of 10.7 million sq. ft. per quarter to the U.S. office market over the past 20 years, according to CBRE. That new supply, coupled with reduced demand for office space, has led to a 30-year high in office vacancy in this year’s first quarter: 17.8%.
Now, higher interest rates and constrained availability of financing mean that construction activity is poised to cool, which will gradually align office vacancies closer to demand. CBRE’s Econometric Advisors division forecasts that construction completions will slow to a quarterly average of 4 million sq. ft. from mid-2024 through 2028. That’s roughly 37% of the historical quarterly average.The impending construction slowdown in the office sector is similar to what the retail sector went through in the past decade, points out CBRE, with a rise in office rents possible as in retail.
Read more . . .
| | |
|
by Eileen McMorrow — NeoCon 2023 was a resounding success! The 54th edition, which was held June 12-14, at THE MART in Chicago, experienced robust attendance of 50,000 throughout the three days. A global platform for commercial interiors, the show presented engaging events, inspiring installations and experiences, sold-out educational programming, as well as thousands of groundbreaking new exhibitor solutions to address the dynamic needs of our ever-evolving world. A testament to the power of collaboration and gathering together, NeoCon was a catalyst for meaningful conversations, igniting a collective passion for a better shared future through design. A trend report highlights some of the latest exhibitor innovations.
In the Best of NeoCon Conference Seating Category, the Davis Zen Conference (above) won the Gold Award; OmniRoom by Mute, a first-time NeoCon participant from Warsaw, Poland, won the Gold Award for Demountable Walls; and Flote from Hightower won the Best of Competition in Lounge Furniture Collections.
Read more . . .
| |
|
by Eileen McMorrow — Education-packed sessions and training by key industry thought-leaders influence facility professionals to expand their knowledge and advance their skills by attending World Workplace, the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) annual conference. The conference sessions selected below are among the most compelling to attract facility leaders to Denver, Sept. 27-29, 2023.
World Workplace 2023 tracks will include Emerging Topic: Circular Economy; Emerging Topic: Prop Tech; Sustainability; FM Solutions; Leadership and Strategy; Finance and Business; Project Management; Real Estate; Operations and Maintenance; Risk Management; and Academics.
Sessions of interest include:
Read more . . .
| |
| |
|
|
Fitwel and Tishman Speyer recently announced that Rockefeller Center, one of the world’s most iconic landmarks, has received the prestigious Fitwel Healthy Building Certification. This achievement underscores owner Tishman Speyer and Rockefeller Center’s commitment to prioritizing the health and well-being of their customers, visitors and the surrounding community. Created by CDC and GSA, Fitwel is used by top real estate companies across the globe to ensure their assets are designed and operated to positively impact the health, productivity, and satisfaction of residents, employees, and tenants. The standard translates the global public health evidence base into practical, implementable design and operational strategies and guidelines to be used at the building and community level and at scale.
To meet Fitwel's comprehensive requirements, Rockefeller Center, a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres in New York, successfully implemented various measures including indoor air quality (IAQ), outdoor spaces such as parks and gardens, walkability, bikeability, access to healthy food options, and community engagement.
Read more . . .
| |
|
OpenWorks whitepaper highlights the risky downside of insourcing FM services — Did you know that companies and organizations that have not thoroughly researched the concept of insourcing regarding their janitorial and facility management providers are risking their companies? Traditionally, people believe they have greater control when they rely on in-house facility management and cleaning crews. However, this belief couldn’t be further from the truth.
This whitepaper shows how outsourcing can reduce operational risk, help you regain control over daily activities, and save money. While facility services is a relatively small 2%-to-5% budget line-item cost, behind it lurks a multimillion-dollar operational risk that financial, operational and facility leaders are not considering when they choose to insource commercial cleaning. In-house cleaning crews and facilities management teams don’t save the company money. Instead, they expose operations to various risks.
Read more . . .
| |
|
A full 66% of facility professionals identify staffing and retention as a top challenge for 2023, while 54% of FM managers and staff have left or have considered leaving their job in the past year. These results from the Facility Management (FM) Training Outlook Survey indicate the top challenges facing facility professionals today and how organizations can improve retention and overcome staffing pressures.
Since 2019, the Professional Facility Management Institute (ProFMI) and Building Operating Management (BOM) magazine have been conducting the Facility Management (FM) Training Outlook Survey to determine the need for FM training and credentials from both the management and staff points of view. At this link, download the full FM Training Outlook Survey Report for 2023.
Read more . . .
| |
|
ABM, a national provider of facility services, infrastructure solutions and parking management, has debuted its first branded electric vehicle (EV) products, including Level 2 and 3 charging stations and a cloud-based operating platform, in partnership with Noodoe. This bolsters ABM's ability to provide comprehensive single-source solutions to design, build, operate and maintain custom, scalable EV infrastructure installations.
ABM EV charging stations and hardware: ABM has launched branded chargers, along with related accessories, to help prepare customers to meet current needs of drivers while future-proofing for tomorrow. ABM’s chargers include: ABM Level 2 AC Charging Stations and Level 3 DC Fast Chargers.
ABM EV OS software: This advanced and versatile cloud-based operating platform helps customers optimize the user experience through autonomous operations, while enabling the lowest possible operating cost. With the ability to run a single charging station or a network across multiple locations, the software provides intelligent monitoring, remote operation management, comprehensive reporting and automatic infrastructure diagnostics. It also provides payment processing and is customizable with integrations such as customer loyalty programs, entry badges and parking systems.
Read more . . .
| |
|
Investment managers and corporate occupiers are both exploring ways to maintain and strengthen the long-term performance of their real estate portfolios. New questions are being asked about the impact of changes in occupancy, new work patterns, and dynamic real estate markets. This includes assessing and analyzing utilization, evaluating portfolio risk, considering a range of scenarios, setting priorities for action, and collaborating with tenants and landlords to find viable solutions.
The panelists for this Innovation Forum from OSCRE International will address the following:
- What risk elements are compelling occupiers and investors to develop new strategies?
- What kinds of scenarios are leading companies considering?
- How is this tied to valuation of assets and portfolios as a whole?
- What demands does this place on having the right data?
Register for Future-Proofing the Portfolio: Leading Industry Practices at OSCRE. OSCRE International is a global nonprofit consortium focused on the development of real estate data standards and support of their implementation, enabling organizations to become more data driven.
Read more . . .
| |
|
It may not be your number one concern, but keeping it clean is a daily concern for all facility managers, building owners and the executives who want their workforce at the workplace. Created to deliver impactful solutions to the global cleaning and sanitation community, ISSA Show North America 2023 will feature the latest products and innovations, access to education, and ways to engage with peers and industry leaders on critical topics facing cleaning professionals. In Las Vegas, November 13-16, the ISSA Show NA 2023 is designed to help you improve your career, better manage your organization and learn about the latest cleaning technology.
The Facility Operations & Maintenance Track offers a range of topics to empower FMs to understand the power of clean while also making wise decisions about the skills they need to manage building service contractors. Among the sessions that The McMorrow Reports recommends:
How Do You Measure the ROI of IAQ? Dinesh Wadhwani is an air quality expert and serial entrepreneur in the technology and life sciences industry. Wadhwani is the founder and CEO of ThinkLite and works closely with Fortune 500 companies, townships, and enterprises across the globe to improve IAQ.
Read more . . .
| |
|
The design-build industry has every incentive to stop contributing to landfills, to question conventional construction methods, and to limit damaging emissions because its leadership cares about the future of our planet and humans’ well-being. Fortunately, FreeAxez designed Gridd with the goal of creating a system that would be long-lasting and reusable, counting construction’s negative impact and making a positive difference. Gridd® by FreeAxez is a low-profile raised floor and cable management system made from steel, one of the most durable materials available, with minimal components. Gridd was created with the goal of remaining in use forever — easily relocated, reconfigured or repurposed — and never being discarded into a landfill.
FreeAxez commissioned The McMorrow Reports to research and write the paper, The Circular Economy of Gridd®: How to Deliver the Power to Change, which explores the circularity of Gridd as considered under the ISO 59.010 Standard: Circular Economy. A case study is presented that compares a project with conventional wiring and cable management (with wires and cables above ceilings and embedded in walls) to a project that uses Gridd, with the goal of illustrating how Gridd is not only a circular product, but also is an alternative to other cabling methods because of the potentially smaller carbon footprint for installation.
Download the GRIDD® Research Paper to learn more.
| |
|
The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) announces the member-elected executive committee and appointed members of its Global Board of Directors for the 2023-24 fiscal year. Led by Chair Dean Stanberry, CFM, SFP, the board will concentrate efforts on ensuring facility management (FM) professionals worldwide have the resources and support to advance in step with emerging industry and business trends.
Stanberry is joined on the executive committee by First Vice Chair Lynn Baez, CFM, SFP, FMP, CBCP, IFMA Fellow, and Second Vice Chair Christa Dodoo, CFM, CIWFM, FMP, CMQ-OE. Laurie A. Gilmer, P.E., CFM, FMP, SFP, LEED AP will remain involved as past chair.
"Facility management’s significance has soared beyond the mere upkeep of physical spaces," stated Stanberry. "The pandemic underscored the critical need for adaptive, safe and efficient environments, pushing FM to the forefront. We’re no longer just custodians of bricks and mortar but facilitators of innovative, agile workspaces that drive productivity and well-being."
IFMA’s Gobal Board intends to build on successes achieved over the past year, including exceeding 23,000 members worldwide; releasing 10 research reports, eight of which were first of a kind; adding new, industry-leading training geared toward keeping FM skills proportional to changing demands; and partnering with other well-respected organizations to address built environment issues and opportunities.
Read more . . .
| |
|
In Part 1 of Eileen McMorrow’s interview with Josh Lowe, co-founder and chief solutions officer, AkitaBox, he explained how traditionally, Facility Condition Assessments (FCA) of buildings were performed by A/E firms every five to seven years. That’s no longer acceptable. Contemporaneous data on buildings is in demand as property owners want to know how their real estate is performing or serving the needs of the business.
In Part 2, below, Lowe details how new software enables the availability of up to the minute data to be accessible to the facility and building management team and all the technicians who service building equipment.
Why do living FCAs make sense as part of the lifecycle?
Rob Lowe: I walk into facilities and onto campuses with chillers installed in the 1970s and ‘80s, and they are old, but functioning. The lifecycle should be for the life of the asset, and most things do not outlive the building shell. Data is for the lifecycle of each asset in the building, and it applies to the whole building. When the data was treated as transactional, the data died with the last touch point. Each person encountering an item for service must re-pull organic data on it. It is transactional, when we should be maintaining it for the full lifecycle of the equipment and the facility.
Read more . . .
| |
|
The Book of the Week from FMLink's new Books section hails from the Green Building category. This collection of peer-reviewed books has been curated by the editorial team at FMLink to provide facilities, engineering and A&D professionals with access to publications relating to the Green Building topic.
Turn to Emerald Architecture for a full-color collection of 24 in-depth case studies of sustainable structures and facilities.
Packed with more than 200 design-inspiring photos and illustrations, this beautiful architectural guide presents design data and specifications from a wide variety of projects.
For each case study, Emerald Architecture: Case Studies in Green Building gives a description of the building, how it works, and how successful it has been.
This and other Green Building titles are now available for purchase on FMLink.
| | | | |
