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Energy-efficient strategies for restaurant facility management
Bambi Majumdar Facilities & GroundsAccording to the annual energy consumption review conducted by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, residential and commercial buildings consume about 11 percent of the total energy of the country. Restaurants and hotels, which form a major portion of those commercial buildings, are now set to increase their energy-efficient activities and turn their establishments into green buildings in every sense of the word. The percentage of owners taking a green approach is expected to rise to almost 65 percent by 2015.
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Greenbuild offers a glimpse of emerging green building trends
Don Rosato ManufacturingThe U.S. Green Building Council's Greenbuild International Conference and Expo is the world's largest conference and expo dedicated to green building. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the USGBC put on quite a show for attendees in Philadelphia. This year, 30,000 attendees from 90 countries came to Greenbuild, which featured 1,000 exhibitors and sponsors with green products and service innovations and 100 education sessions led by business, environmental and social leaders.
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Green-building applications: The road ahead
Don Rosato EngineeringGrowth in green-building material demand will outpace the growth of building construction expenditures as green materials continue to account for an increasing share of building materials used. In the U.S., demand for green-building materials is projected to expand 13 percent annually through 2015, generating sales of more than $70 billion.
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Maintenance tips for restaurant facility management
Bambi Majumdar Facilities & GroundsFacility management is clearly defined as a comprehensive analysis, maintenance and management of everyday background operations so the core business can go on functioning, unhindered. This is important for all businesses, but for more dynamic operations like restaurants this means having access to instant and actionable data that can be used to stay ahead of problems.
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The View from Europe: Taxing question
Andrew Gaved Construction & Building MaterialsAs the precise details of the forthcoming EU F-gas regulations are currently being hammered out in Brussels, many in the European refrigeration and air conditioning industry are bracing themselves for significant new cost to be added to the supply chain. The European Parliament has made plain its desire to effectively "penalize" those who use HFCs, by charging an allocation fee for production of the refrigerants.
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Benchmarking in the green spa industry
Beatrice (Vallant) Hochegger Recreation & LeisureBefore describing existing benchmarks for the green spa industry, it is necessary to understand the term benchmark as well as its purpose. Therefore, this article will start with a short introduction to benchmarks in general and within the spa industry, followed by benchmarks for green spas.
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Fabricated green building products rapidly advancing
Don Rosato EngineeringGreen building technology redefines how we make and live in buildings. From a plastics processing standpoint, we can both reduce a building's energy consumption and simultaneously provide for a building's energy production.
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Advances in remote controls for facility management
Joy Burgess Facilities & GroundsThe term "intelligent building" generally refers to a building that is able to control building systems via automation features. Building automation often includes automated communication, environmental monitoring, environmental control and automated security. A decade ago, this seemed to be an exciting idea for the future. But with recent advances in remote controls, intelligent buildings have become a reality.
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Biophilia: The next step in green design
Michael J. Berens Interior Design, Furnishings & FixturesAs the U.S. Green Building Council gets ready to roll out LEED v4 at the Greenbuild conference Nov. 20-22, now is a good time to pause and reflect on how just how far green and sustainable design have come since LEED first launched in 2000. Once considered a fringe movement within A&D circles, green building and green products have helped to keep the industry afloat during the post-recession economic stagnation.
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Disaster preparation: Helpful tips for businesses and facility managers
Joy Burgess Facilities & GroundsA recent survey sponsored by the American Red Cross and FedEx showed that approximately 70 percent of small businesses do not expect to experience a disaster, and half of those surveyed do not have an emergency response plan in place. Surviving any kind disaster requires preparation, but many businesses and facility managers fail to put an emergency plan in place.
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