Facilitiesnet A new Center for Disease Control and Prevention study involving 196 cooling towers nationwide found that 84 percent contained Legionella DNA, indicating that the dangerous bacteria that causes a severe, even fatal type of pneumonia were present or had been at some point. This means the real question is not “if there will be [...]

Skift Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson thinks hotel security is a complex and “tough” issue, and he has no intention of trying to ban gun-show attendees or licensed-gun owners in right-to carry states. Speaking at the Yahoo Finance All Markets event in New York City Wednesday, Sorenson addressed hotel security, given the recent Las Vegas attack [...]

The Architect’s Newspaper Hoteliers and musicians smashed guitars in Hollywood, Florida to celebrate a construction milestone at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, a $1.5 billion entertainment complex featuring a mega guitar–shaped hotel. The 450-foot-tall hotel will boast more than 600 rooms, around half of the complex’s total, plus a 41,000-square-foot spa and a [...]

BUILDINGS The Global Cool Cities Alliance has released a new webpage detailing the myriad benefits of cool roofs on institutional and commercial facilities urban areas. Page topics include saving energy, strengthening the electric grid, promoting cleaner air and cancelling climate change.

FacilitiesNet Equipment is the most important investment — apart from front-line workers — for grounds managers who are responsible for institutional and commercial landscapes. Mowers, utility vehicles and other powered equipment enable workers to create and maintain landscapes that enhance facilities’ appearance and ensure landscapes’ health and appearance over time.

Forbes Many questions still surround the attack on the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on October 1, from the motive of the mass murderer to the actual timeline of events, particularly within the Mandalay Bay Hotel. But the full range of consequences to the hospitality and travel industries is just beginning to be [...]

FMLink In addition to the overall devastating loss of life and property, Hurricane Harvey struck a significant blow to the Houston area, home to the sixth largest import terminal in the world, as well as all the shipping lanes in the Gulf Coast area. Given the strong economic linkages between the Gulf Coast and the [...]

The Commercial Appeal A Kentucky woman who was among nine people sickened by Legionnaires’ disease after staying at a Graceland-area hotel later died as a result of the ailment, an autopsy report confirmed. Linda Gail Godsey, 62, a resident of Breathitt County, died on June 21, just days after she and three family members returned [...]

New Scientist A combination of rusty water and stainless steel taps, or faucets, can put people at risk of life-threatening legionnaires’ disease. It’s already known that rust particles in a water system, which can come from iron pipes, encourage the growth of Legionella bacteria. These bacteria cause legionnaires’ disease, which can involve headaches, muscle pain, [...]

IFMA’s FMJ Magazine Workplace violence is an all-too-common factor in modern society. Consequently, facility managers face an array of challenges to maximize safety and security of personnel. A recently formulated concept, Preparedness Without Paranoia, recognizes telltale signs of an evolving threat and empowers people to take effective action on their own.  READ MORE

Facility Executive Consistency in the hotel business is key. Hotels operate and build large brands off of the idea that they can be consistent in every aspect when delivering a guest experience. One way that hotels express this consistency is through the policies and procedures they utilize for maintaining guest security. Most hotels have their [...]

IFMA’s FMJ Magazine An emerging theme within the security industry, but less familiar in the facilities industry, is the value stream of security. Securing assets and protecting the people and processes of an organization is a critical business function that has come to be called enterprise security risk management. The most important word in the [...]

Buildings Out-of-the-way locations, extreme weather and short schedules impose difficult restrictions on roofing projects. FMs who are preparing for a re-cover or re-roofing installation may find their choices limited to certain materials or specifications that can stand up to their building’s unique challenges. Take a cue from these seven roofing projects, each of which required [...]

Facility Executive Facility management executives can realize dramatic reductions in energy consumption and operating costs by installing high performance equipment. But without proper maintenance and monitoring programs, those cost and consumption reductions could eventually fade away. Inevitably, the performance of high efficiency equipment will begin to decline due to environmental factors as well as normal [...]

Sourceable Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London and the 2014 Lacrosse apartment blaze in Melbourne, Australia, fire safety within multistorey buildings has been the subject of considerable public attention. For facility managers, this raises questions about the types of issues which can be overlooked and strategies they should adopt to ensure that risks within [...]

Press Release ATLANTA (August 08, 2017) – A new study from pest control leader Orkin finds that eight of 10 hotels have dealt with bed bugs in the past year, and 40 percent have treated for bed bugs in the past month. In addition to revealing that bed bugs are not a rare occurrence in hotels, [...]

Facility Executive The U.S. Department of Energy has selected Seventhwave and its partners to study and discover the energy and cost savings associated with integrated controls. With offices in Madison, Wisconsin, and Chicago, Seventhwave is a nonprofit firm providing energy efficiency engineering, education, research and program delivery.  READ MORE

FMLink Early detection of fire and smoke is understood to be essential to save lives, property and the environment. Modern technology such as video fire detectors, especially in high-risk places such as tunnels, manufacturing, public buildings or storage areas, enable a fast response to a potential fire. A new International Organization for Standardization technical specification [...]

Facilitiesnet Fire alarm testing and inspections have become big business. Fire alarms are a highly regulated and closely watched part of our everyday lives. The National Fire Protection Association, International Building Code and other code-writing bodies have long included the mandatory annual testing of fire alarm systems as a means of good and proper life [...]

Idaho Business Review    The hotel rooms at a new dual-branded Marriott Hotel near Los Angeles, which is scheduled to open 2018, will be framed, drywalled, carpet, and furnished 840 miles away in Bose, Idaho. The structure will be a modular hotel, made of blocks that were created over the course of six months on the [...]