Author: MaintenX

Facilities are sometimes surprised to find their sewer bill to cost as much as, or even more than, their water bill. How can this be?

Sewer charges can be higher than water costs for many reasons. One major reason can often be the difference between the systems for water distribution and waste water collection. For example, waste water flows using gravity, as it isn’t pumped. In hilly or mountainous terrain, sewer lines need to be built deep below the ground. Trench digging is the largest part of the cost of building a working pipeline. The deeper the pipe goes under the ground, the higher the cost of construction will be.

Water Distribution

The sizes of drinking water distribution and waste water collection systems can also change the costs associated with these water and sewage systems.

Another factor is the difference in the treatment methods used for drinking water and waste water.

Complexities in Water Treatment

The complexity of waste water treatment has increased radically over the years. In the past, waste water treatment involved filtering out large objects, then discharging the rest into nearby water. The result was a lot of pollution. Since then, treatment has evolved to include sophisticated biological systems that remove organic materials by using complicated filters and state-of-the-art disinfection methods. In fact, the water released by the treatment facility is oftentimes cleaner than the receiving stream. The advanced systems are expensive to build and maintain, thus increasing costs, but they’re certainly more efficient and environmentally friendly.

Want to know more? Contact MaintenX today!

Most facility managers are always looking for ways to cut costs and reduce their facility’s energy use.

One very effective product for this is an occupancy sensor, a device that detects if a space is occupied and turns the lights (and in some cases even a HVAC system) on or off automatically.

How Occupancy Sensors Can Save You Money

Occupancy sensors are used extensively in today’s facilities, and are a great way to reduce your facility’s energy consumption and therefore costs.  Occupancy sensors are also ideal for rooms where lights are frequently left on.

The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Organization recommends occupancy sensors as effective tools. In many states, when building or renovating a commercial facility, contractors must follow specific state and federal standards and codes. These new codes often require a stricter level of energy efficiency.

If you are interested in installing occupancy sensors throughout your commercial location or in your home, contact MaintenX today!

Good work merits a hearty pat on the back. Really good work often warrants a prize, preferably given in front of a large audience. No matter what prize you settle on, incentives and recognition are the best ways to motivate your facility’s occupants to achieve even greater energy savings for your facility and business or organization.

By providing incentives and recognition to your facility’s occupants, you will help sustain the push and general support for your program amongst your workforce.

Everyone likes free food!

Consider starting your incentive program with something like a pizza party, an ice cream social, a company-wide breakfast event, or any other food rewards you can think of. This will help you hit your program’s goals and make overall progress.

Cash and other prizes

Depending on the savings levels you’re looking for, you may also want to consider awarding cash or prizes to your facility’s occupants for great energy-saving ideas or individual energy-saving champs.

Some ENERGY STAR partners find success in their programs by tying energy savings to pay-for-performance strategies, cash bonuses, and other employee rewards.

Why not make it official?

Complement your facility’s ENERGY STAR recognition opportunities with internal support by recognizing the individuals or teams who made a difference. This recognition will mean more if it’s given formally, like at an awards ceremony or during an important meeting, or if it comes from your organization’s top management.

Want to know more? Call MaintenX today!

Smart building systems can save your facility a lot of money. Here are a few examples of the technology that’s revolutionizing the facility management industry.

Building Automation Systems

A building automation system (BAS) can be installed in almost any building, including:

• Retail stores
• Restaurants
• Commercial real estate
• Industrial buildings
• Warehouses

Automated building management is facilitated by predictive technologies that provide facility managers with remote scheduling, monitoring, and control of building equipment and lighting.

How Does It Work?

Building automation systems work much better than the typical updates like new paint, new carpet and other facility assets. Today’s facility occupants demand more, and facility managers know that building automation is the wave of the future.

With advanced systems like cloud computing, the BAS combines predictive technologies and customized preferences to proactively manage the various dynamics of your building. Facility managers now have their control abilities heightened, and occupants of each part of a building have greater insight into and control over their spaces.

Machine Learning

Machine learning uses predictive analytics to form a strategy, empowering the BAS to automatically evaluate the data model of your building, discover new insights, and adjust its approach without requiring programming if:

• Someone decides a zone is too hot or cold
• If the weather outside changes from sunny to cloudy
• Any other parameter you set

Want to know more? Call MaintenX today!

HVAC technicians are in high demand to build, install, and maintain our constantly evolving systems, and experts predict the demand of HVAC technicians will only rise.

Why are HVAC technicians so sought-after? We’ll explore the reasons below.

Problem Solving

This one’s a no-brainer. No one likes to feel like an automaton at work. We all want to be stimulated intellectually and be able to overcome problems.

That’s what HVAC professionals do every day: solve problems. Heating and air service technicians need to be able to look at a system, figure out what is wrong, and quickly make the repair. It takes mechanical skill, technical ability, and practical understanding.

Variety: The Spice of Life

The different types of service calls you get as an HVAC technician mean you’re not confined to an office. The different types of work available for HVAC professionals mean there’s plenty of variety for them to enjoy. Installation, maintenance, and repair of diverse HVAC systems are all part of the vocation.

Job Security

HVAC is a service-oriented career, but you’re not just serving other people by choosing a career in heating and air, you’re also doing a service to yourself.

The economy will always change. The market for construction jobs booms and busts along with it. Manufacturing jobs are constantly being outsourced overseas or automated. Heating and air conditioning jobs, on the other hand, will always be in demand; almost every building has a heating and air conditioning system, and maintenance is necessary no matter the state of the economy.

The people inside your building or leased space are responsible for the bulk of its energy use. After all, plug loads, lighting, and HVAC in tenant spaces often account for 50 percent or more of a building’s total energy use.

So since the actions of your employees and other occupants impact how the building’s systems run, by working with building occupants, you can empower and engage them to become part of the solution.

Here are some low-cost ideas to get your occupants on board and interested in saving energy.

Encourage them to take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Ask building occupants to make a pledge to take the stairs at least once a week. Afterwards, post motivational signs in the stairwell to remind them that they’re doing their body, and your bottom line, good.

Give them energy “citations” to hand out.

Why not let your building’s occupants to be your eyes and ears? Your facility’s occupants will enjoy the experience, but it will also train them to keep an eye out for wasteful behaviors.

Give out prizes.

You’d be surprised what people will do for free stuff. You could host an ice cream social to tell tenants about energy-saving efforts, or give out gift cards to anyone who suggests a useful energy-saving idea.

Teach them how to enable power management settings.

Computer power management settings are a great idea to reduce energy consumption. But be sure to give your occupants step-by-step instructions. Helpful reminders like this one from Food Lion’s energy team can help reinforce the instructions.

Want to know more? Call MaintenX today!

Preventive maintenance is not only a requisite program for food safety professionals, it is also an area where a well-designed program can deliver cost savings as well as data that allows managers to optimize their facilities. Well-maintained equipment will ensure that your facility runs efficiently and documents performance.

There are many preventive maintenance activities that facility managers overlook. Here are some tips to follow so you don’t.

Starting Out

Perhaps the best way to develop your preventive maintenance program is to take inventory. Make a list of all equipment requiring maintenance. This list should include the following:

• Equipment name
• Location
• Serial number
• Description
• Maintenance schedule
• Responsibility
• Procedures

Maintenance Procedures

It is absolutely vital that your facility’s maintenance program includes procedures that describe in great detail how to do the work and properly document it. Your facility’s maintenance master list should consist of only one document. The following procedures are essential parts of any facility’s maintenance program:

• Maintenance procedures for all facility assets
• Tool reconciliation procedures for all relevant facility features
• Procedures for emergency and temporary repairs
• Spare parts inventory lists with product names and serial numbers
• Thoroughly laid-out and straightforward training procedures

Want to know more about this topic? Call MaintenX today!

As a property manager, you have many responsibilities; from changing smoke alarm batteries to painting and dealing with contractors, maintenance can be daunting.

Save yourself money and hassle by replacing or repairing equipment in a timely way, and focusing on preventative maintenance. Here are some helpful tips to help you keep track of your facility.

Change the batteries on your smoke detectors.

This problem could literally save your occupants’ lives. Because smoke alarms are always on, it’s easy to forget about them. That’s why it’s important to put in new batteries at least two times a year.

Test the HVAC system.

As long as you’re doing maintenance around your property, it’s also a great idea to test both the heating and the air-conditioning before your facility’s occupants need them.

Perform any needed pruning, trimming, or other yard work.

Remember to take care of your facility’s outdoor features by:

• Pruning
• Trimming
• Performing other outdoor maintenance as a preventative measure

Keeping up this maintenance of your facility’s landscape also helps with insect and pest control, protection of the property, proper plant growth, and occupant safety.

Check for water damage and leaks.

Fall is a perfect time to check your property for water damage and leaks. You’ll also need to look for soft spots on the roof, ceiling, and walls.

Want to know more maintenance tips? Call the experts at MaintenX today!

Environmental contamination can lead to costly fines from your waste company. And even worse, it can result in your recycling going straight to the landfill.

Below are some simple steps to get people using your recycling program:

Give people the details.

It’s vital that everyone inside your facility knows what can and what can’t be recycled. We suggest that you hold regular refresher meetings to update employees on any changes to your recycling program. This will help you ensure that everyone knows what is recyclable.

Use images, not text.

People only have a few seconds to spare as they approach a recycling bin to decide on where they will toss their waste. That’s why they’ll need images help them quickly identify the right container to put their waste in.

Use consistent colors.

A consistent color system can help people learn what’s recyclable and what isn’t. Right now there aren’t standardized colors for recycling, although many cities have adopted an informal color scheme.

Motivate facility occupants with easy-to-understand goals.

A little healthy competition is a great way to motivate people to reach their goals. Posting regular diversion rate updates will help people keep the recycling program top of mind.

Use compostable food service materials.

Using compostable plates and flatware can go a long way toward helping your facility divert a substantial amount of waste from landfills. This is because this process makes it easier for people to know how to do the right thing. For special events, facility occupants can just toss their leftover plates and food all in the same bin.

To learn more about getting people motivated to recycle call MaintenX today!

A large portion of a product’s environmental impact is determined by its design. That means that by the time the blueprints for your new washing machine, electronic device, or power washer have been completed, the amount of material that can be recovered from it for reuse, remanufacture, or repair has been set already.

Below, we’ll take a look at how design is being used to reduce waste. Here are some products that are currently putting the concept of eco-design into practice.

The Do chair

The Do chair was designed to be ergonomic and user-friendly while also being ecological. Made entirely from recyclable and recycled materials, the chair was designed for effortless disassembly.

The materials used to construct the Do chair were also reduced by using markings designed to easily identify the specific material type. This helps to facilitate stress-free and accurate recycling practices.

Kingfisher drill

A lot of power tools have components that are very durable, but they also tend to get thrown away with the rest of the tool when more sensitive parts break down. The makers of the Kingfisher drill have developed a cordless construction that can be disassembled in less than a minute to keep working parts and remove faulty parts, which can be shipped back to the manufacturer to be fixed.

Want to know more about the many benefits of using more sustainable, energy-efficient products? Call the experts at MaintenX today!