A Call to Arms - Let the Digging Begin!

If you're beginning to ponder your 2009 facility budgets and if you're worried about how you're going to fund significant cost increases from electricity to toilet paper, perhaps you'll consider signing a petition asking those responsible for the nation's "energy policy" (i.e. the US Congress) that we, the people, (you know, the folks they're supposed to represent) are asking, NO - WE'RE NOW DEMANDING that oil companies be allowed to produce more oil and natural gas from North American sources.

What -- did Poor Richard say North America? How can this be possible?

On a planet that's 8,000 miles in diameter, do you really believe that the ONLY oil and natural gas reserves are under that tiny patch of desert in the Middle East? Puh-lease....

Look, our facilities budgets are becoming "victims" of US energy policy! If you think your facility is not being victimized because you have a fleet of hybrid cars or solar panels on the roof -- think again. What about every product and service your facility will purchase over the next 12 months? It's time to wake up and recognize that energy is a component of EVERYTHING - EVERYTHING. Facility managers everywhere should send a message to the pin heads in Washington who are driving up the expenses in our buildings and our vehicle fleets!

THIS IS A CALL TO ARMS !

By the way, I hope you don't have misguided anger or resentment toward the oil companies. If you do, please answer this question: If asinine government policies forced YOUR organization's product or service to have limited supplies combined with steady and growing international demand - would YOUR stockholders refuse the profits? Would you give back the bonus awarded to the facilities department? Would your organization consider a 5 - 10% profit margin to be obscene?

Last point -- we need to remember that crude oil and natural gas are renewable resources that are also 100% organic & all natural. Tell that to the next hippie burnout that complains about the styrofoam coffee cups in your break room. Watch his eyes get wide as his brain struggles to comprehend what you've just said.

This is a call to arms! We're getting ripped off by OUR government, not the oil companies. Write to your elected representatives and to learn more about the petition, go to:

http://www.americansolutions.com/

Poor Richard

Disgruntled FM, Taxpayer and Voter

Common Floor Area Measurement Definitions Announced

The International Facility Management Association and the Building Owners and Managers Association International have published A Unified Approach to Measuring Office Space, a report outlining common definitions for floor area measurements as well as major revisions to IFMA and BOMA’s respective area measurement standards. These common definitions will be incorporated into the standards supported by each organization, with the primary goal being to clarify building measurement and industry comparisons based on floor area measurements.

Currently, IFMA recognizes The ASTM Standard Classification for Building Floor Area Measurements for Facility Management, while BOMA supports The ANSI/BOMA Standard Method for Measuring Floor Area in Office Buildings. Together, the two standards form the foundation for benchmarking and best practice. They are commonly used by facility professionals and building owners and managers to measure floor area in office buildings.

IFMA and BOMA appointed a working group comprised of key members of both organizations to develop these common definitions. The professionals included had extensive experience in floor measurement issues.

Their mandate was to develop commonly agreed upon definitions to be contained in each floor measurement standard as well as commentaries with parallel definitions that elaborate on the floor area measurement process. The definitions and commentaries are available in the new joint publication, and are meant to be uniform and easily understood by non-technical readers.

“We’ve known that the members of our community need a common communication protocol. They need one set of measurements and one methodology,” said Lynne Blair, IFMA chair of the working group and president of LY Blair Associates in Ottawa. “It’s important to help them save time, effort and money, and with this new unified approach, we can do that.”

“The major benefit of this publication is that it establishes common terms and approaches for measurement that each organization will use as they revise their respective standards,” said Kent C. Gibson, CPM, BOMA chair of the working group and vice president of Zions Securities Corporation in Salt Lake City. “This allows both organizations to be consistent in going forward in the development of their standards. Part of the foundation has been laid.”

A Unified Approach to Measuring Office Space is currently being offered by IFMA and BOMA.