NET EFFECT
5 Minutes with ...
Philip Stephens
Director of Facilities
Management Services
Carolinas Medical Center NorthEast,
Concord, N.C.
FacilitiesNet Forum
Podcast: Management Strategy
The Facilities Management Tip of the Day podcast touches on essential maintenance and engineering issues for managers. Topics include landscape management, HVAC systems, ADA, emergency preparedness, security, plumbing and roofing.
News: EPA Issues Emissions Standards for Hospital Sterilizers
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has implemented national emissions standards for ethylene oxide sterilizers, which are used by hospitals to sterilize medical devices. Contained in a final rule effective Dec. 28, 2007, the standards generally require hospital ethylene oxide sterilization facilities to sterilize full loads of items to reduce hazardous emissions.
News: DOE Finalizes Energy Efficiency Regulations
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has established regulations that require new federal buildings to achieve at least 30 percent greater energy efficiency over prevailing building codes. Mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the standards apply to new federal commercial and multi-family high-rise residential buildings, as well as new federal low-rise residential buildings.
Podcast: Facilities Focus on Demand Response
Rick Lubinski, president of Think Energy Management, discusses demand-side management and demand response. Learn the difference, the benefits and how to get started with a demand-side-management program.
Blog Watch
Facility Departments Team Up to Find Rebates
Rebates for energy upgrades have become more widespread in the past few years. But finding them isn’t necessarily easy. The incentives may not be well publicized, the programs don’t always last very long, and money is available on a first-come, first-served basis. So if you’re late you may be out of luck.
The problem is even trickier if you manage a portfolio of buildings scattered across the country. One solution: multiply your eyes and ears.
That’s what Bob Holesko does. He’s the vice president of facilities for HEI Hotels and Resorts, a national owner and operator of upscale hospitality facilities. Energy is a big issue for HEI, and Bob has assembled an energy team to help him analyze opportunities and carry out upgrades. Key players are Rick Lubinski of Think Energy and Andy Gerlach of the Loyalton Group. Along with them, Holesko works with a select group of vendors …
One More Vote For VSDs
Variable–speed drives (VSDs) passed a milestone recently.
As many facility executives know, VSDs reduce the amount of energy an electric motor uses by reducing the frequency of the electrical power delivered to the motor. With a chiller, for example, a VSD can slow the motor in part-load conditions, reducing capacity to match the reduced load and saving energy in the process.
Facility executives with long memories may be skeptical about VSDs. Older VSDs sometimes caused problems with harmonics, which can lead to overloaded conductors and transformers and overheated motors. But now, VSDs with acceptable levels of total harmonic distortion are available …
Elevators’ Role in Emergency Evacuations
One thing I’ll always remember from high school fire drills is, “Whatever you do, don’t take the elevators.”
Those coordinating the drills liked to utter that phrase over and over, so that explains my confusion when I read this headline on the Building and Fire Research Laboratory web site: “Elevators Seen as Playing Hi-Rise Fire Evacuation Role.”
Since 9/11, researchers have been rethinking evacuation strategies in high-rise buildings, and that has led to discussions on the use of elevators in emergency situations. A paper called Emergency Egress Strategies for Buildings by Richard W. Bukowski, a fire prevention engineer with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, touches on the challenge people with disabilities face during tall-building evacuations.
“The time needed to descend undamaged and smoke-free stairs is about one floor per minute,” Bukowski says. “If the fire is on the 60th floor, occupants on that floor or above will spend one hour or more trying to escape the building. Escape from such a height can be exhausting for those in the best shape, let alone those who are elderly or have lower stamina.”
Evacuation becomes more difficult, if not impossible, for people who use wheelchairs, crutches, or walkers, and for those with respiratory issues and temporary conditions, such as injuries or pregnancy …
eTool
EnergyWise Roof Calculator
The free EnergyWise Roof Calculator allows roofing professionals to construct virtual roof assemblies to evaluate thermal efficiency and estimate energy costs. It also contains minimum thermal insulation requirements established by ASHRAE Standard 90.1-1999.
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