FM Report 186 - Thursday 30th November 2006

30 November 2006

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Data centre power use under pressure
More than 1,000 IT and FM delegates at the Data Center Dynamics conference in London this week were told that their energy hungry data centres must be managed more efficiently to save costs and meet increasingly demanding environmental standards. Speaker after speaker described how the drive for energy efficiency is moving ahead on all fronts from chip design through to chiller operation. HP used the event to launch its HP Dynamic Smart Cooling collaborative initiative that is designed to deliver up to 45% savings in cooling energy costs.
www.datacenterdynamics.com and www.hp.com/go/powerandcooling

'Partnering' standard launched
The BSI and PSL (Partnership Sourcing) launched PAS 11000 on Collaborative Business Relationships at the House of Lords last week. It provides an eight-stage approach to maintaining successful business-to-business collaborations or 'partnering.'. The FM sector is a leader in partnering and PAS 11000 has drawn on that experience to develop good practice principles for organisations of any size and in any sector. Commenting on the launch, Mike Low, Director of BSI said, "Working in partnership between businesses has long been recognised as one of the most effective ways of achieving profitable growth and bringing new products to market. PAS 11000 provides a common route map that sets the standard for organisations worldwide."
www.bsi-global.com

BSA press awards
PFM finished its 20th anniversary year with a special long-life Award for "20 years of first class service to the FM industry". The award was presented at the Business Services Association's annual dinner held last week. PFM was also highly commended in two other categories - Best General Business Services publication won by FMX and Best Electronic Publication won, for the fourth time, by i-fm.net. Government Opportunities won the Best Specialist Publication for its public sector coverage.
www.pfmmagazine.co.uk

MBA scholarship worth £5,000
The College of Estate Management and RICS have agreed to jointly award a scholarship worth £5,000 to an applicant enrolling on the MBA in Construction and Real Estate awarded by the University of Reading. The scholarship, which is worth half the full course fee, is open to qualified and eligible candidates who want to join the programme in March 2007.
www.cem.ac.uk

BRE sets up Irish connection
BRE and the University of Limerick (UL) and Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) have launched BRE Ireland to establish a new, independent, authoritative Irish body that will set the standard for sustainability, innovation and enterprise in Irish construction. Guy Hammersley, Chairman of BRE Ireland said, "We plan to provide a range of services to the hugely prolific Irish construction industry that have become so important as the industry strives to build and refurbish in a more sustainable way." BRE Ireland will be operational from January 2007 based at the Enterprise Acceleration Centre, Limerick Institute of Technology.
www.bre.co.uk

Carillion secures claims management contract with Norwich Union
As part of a three year £360m contract with Norwich Union to provide Claims Management services, Carillion will be setting up six regional customer centres in the South-east, South-west, the Midlands, Yorkshire, the North-west and Scotland. Carillion has worked with Norwich Union for the last six years providing claims management services but in this new contract the use of web-portal technology will provide Norwich Union with up-to-date contract information.
www.carillionplc.com

Construction should halve waste to landfill
The Strategic Forum for Construction and WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) are calling on the construction industry to reduce its materials waste to landfill by 50% by 2012. Construction in the UK consumes 400m tonnes of materials each year and generates 100m tonnes of waste of which 30m tonnes goes to landfill.
www.wrap.org.uk

Growing trend towards integration of RE and FM
A survey of delegates at the CoreNet Global UK Annual Summit held in London recently into integration of FM and real estate services revealed that 38% of clients were already demanding integrated services and 53% of end users said they would be interested in an integrated single package. Some 63% of delegates said that entrenched cultures and attitudes were the main impediment to further integration.
www.corenetglobal.org.uk

City not 'switched on' to turning off lights
A midnight survey of buildings in the City of London undertaken by Global Action Plan found that businesses were wasting £17m and producing 200,000 tonnes of CO2 per year by leaving lights on in empty offices. The survey, which did not include Canary Wharf and Docklands, shows that the Square Mile is not switched on to the problems outlined in the recent Stern Report which warned of the economic consequences of climate change.
www.globalactionplan.org.uk

Energy assessors qualification to be developed
Asset Skills is working with DCLG and awarding bodies to develop a suitable qualification for Energy Assessors that will be needed to implement the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and issue Energy Performance Certificates. This qualification will be available from February 2007.
www.energy-assessors.org.uk

Rentokil buys into retail cleaning
Rentokil Initial UK Cleaning and Facility Services has acquired Insitu Cleaning Company to strengthen its position in the retail market. Insitu has developed cleaning contracts in England and Wales focussed on large-scale shopping centres and the leisure sector. Insitu's MD, Chris Reay and the management team will continue in the business.
www.rentokil-initial.com

New standards for lightning protection
The BSI has published new guidance on lightning protection. BS EN 62305 Parts 1-4 replaces BS6651:1999 from August 2008. As well as general guidance, it offers specific advice on risk management, physical damage to structures and life hazards, and protecting electrical and electronic systems within structures.
www.bsi-global.com/lightning

Scotland wins early launch of SIA's Approved Contractor Scheme
In response to requests from security companies operating in Scotland, the Security Industry Authority is to launch its Approved Contractor Scheme in Scotland two months early, from 6 April 2007 (rather than 1 June 2007).
www.the-sia.org.uk