FROM THE EDITOR

As you’re reading this, I’m in Fort Worth, Texas, at our first NFMT High-Performance Buildings show. Pretty exciting! And actually, this morning, I'm moderating a panel with two industry experts — Jay Black of SL Green and Jasmine Amaso of Jones Lang LaSalle. Our goal for the panel: To define what a high-performance building truly is.

If you’ve been reading this newsletter for any measure of time, you know this is a question we’ve wrangled with quite regularly. But it’s an important question, because several aspects of a high-performance building that may not come immediately to mind or may not be of the highest priority for facility executives are taking on increased importance these days.

One is resilience. Another is the well-being and health of occupants. One need look no further than the state in which our conference is being held to see the importance of resilient buildings amidst climate change related disasters. As another (less terrible) example of how resilience is turning mainstream, this recent piece in The Atlantic describes the new Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The new museum, designed by Renzo Piano, includes a 15,500-pound door — the goal is to keep potential flood waters out and protect the art.

While most facility executives won’t be working in buildings with giant flood doors and priceless works of art, all facility executives are responsible to some degree for the health and well-being of their occupants. How exactly they do this depends on the culture of each organization, but one tool that can help is a new rating system called the WELL Building Standard. This LEED-like rating system helps users tailor buildings to make them as occupant friendly as possible.

As always, I’m interested to hear from you. Which aspects of “high-performance” in high-performance buildings do you see gaining momentum?  

Cheers,

Greg Zimmerman, editor  

HIGH-PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES

Black Is The New Green

SL Green’s Jay Black uses sustainability to differentiate his company’s buildings in the competitive New York City commercial real estate market.
 

IN THE NEWS

NFMT High-Performance Buildings Conference and Expo Debuts Next Month in Fort Worth

Discover the latest strategies and best practices from experts who set the standards for high-performance buildings in the United States at the NFMT High-Performance Buildings Conference and Expo.  This free event, an extension of Building Operating Management's National Facilities Management and Technology (NFMT) show, will take place June 2-3 at the Fort Worth Convention Center.  Registration is free. 

 

HIGH-PERFORMANCE MULTIMEDIA

FMXcellence Winner Videos

These videos showcase the winners of the 2014 Building Operating Management FMXcellence award.