Assessing the health and hygiene performance of apartment buildingsD.C.W. Ho; H.F. Leung; S.K. Wong; A.K.C. Cheung; S.S.Y. Lau; W.S. Wong; D.P.Y. Lung; K.W. Chau
2004 Facilities
doi: 10.1108/02632770410527789
The recent global outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome has aroused public concern on environmental health and hygiene. Develops a practical assessment scheme for assessing the health and hygiene performance of apartment buildings in Hong Kong. The scheme involves assessing a hierarchy of building factors that have a bearing on environmental qualities, and thus occupants’ health. Proposes an index method to integrate the assessment outcomes into a simple and user‐ friendly performance indicator for public consumption. The index can inform the public of the health and hygiene risk of different buildings and facilitate building owners, developers, and government bodies to make more informed and socially responsible decisions on environmental health and hygiene improvement. Although the assessment scheme is tailored for the institutional and cultural settings of Hong Kong, the assessment framework for the development of the scheme is also applicable to other cities.
Modernising government workplaces: towards evidence, as well as experienceWim Pullen; Stephen Bradley
2004 Facilities
doi: 10.1108/02632770410527798
Based on a presentation entitled "Modernising government workplaces", looks at how modernisation can help in increasing productivity in the workplace. Examines public buildings as economic and social assets and factors of productivity while taking into account the work of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE). Concludes that CABE should set up an independent research body that produces evidence-based knowledge, applied in educational programmes at universities, commercial training bodies and professional institutes, and which provides evidence-based knowledge, not just experience-based learning.
Serviced offices: owner capabilities for FM coordinationJan Bröchner; Henrik Olsson; Davor Sinik
2004 Facilities
doi: 10.1108/02632770410527806
Owners of multi-tenant office buildings pursue various strategies for providing bundles of services to building users. In order to study what determines patterns of bundling, 12 Swedish owners were interviewed in 2002. Strategies were found to depend on the size of their property holdings, where those who held less than 100,000m2 differed from large property owners. There is also a difference between owners that have a tradition of providing construction and property-related services and owners with their main activities in the financial sector. These patterns can be explained by considering transaction costs arising from services coordination and by referring to the dynamics of learning and competence in owner organizations. It is suggested that service-offering owners should increase their competence for monitoring service delivery. Some property owners may benefit more from developing the competence needed for a sole provider coordinated strategy.
An assessment of the effectiveness of e‐learning on university space planning and designGhasson Shabha
2004 Facilities
doi: 10.1108/02632770410527815
It is apparent that the world of education has changed over the last ten years. The emergence of newly adopted metaphors such as “virtual university”, “networked campus” and “e‐university” may have yet greater impact on a university’s modus operandi in the twenty‐first century. This, in turn, will require more flexibility to cater for varying learning, managerial and organisational requirements. In terms of space management this will shift the emphasis towards a more time‐flexible, space‐flexible and location‐flexible pattern which will become sine qua non for e‐learning. One of the main questions this paper is seeking to address is “what are the wider implications of these changes on the space design and management of existing university buildings?”. An attempt will be made to examine, speculate and extrapolate the design implications on a selected building at the UCE , Perry Barr Campus in the West Midlands.
Business continuity planning as a facilities management toolMichael Pitt; Sonia Goyal
2004 Facilities
doi: 10.1108/02632770410527824
The inevitability of crises within the business environment suggests that the majority of organisations should have a business continuity plan (BCP). This work highlights those organisations that do not plan in this way and those which focus on information technology rather than utilising a holistic, integrated approach. Through extensive primary research this paper explores the current uptake and scope of business continuity planning within the business environment in the UK. The paper shows that the viability and effectiveness of BCPs is dependent on regular review, audit and testing.