A facilities manager’s guide to reopening and occupying buildings safely

(PART TWO)

This e-book was written by Peter S. Kimmel, Publisher of FMLink. Its goal is to help building and facilities managers get their buildings back to the “new normal” occupancy and functioning safely for their occupants. It is written in four parts that are being published simultaneously; each links to the others. If you prefer to read a PDF, you may download the e-book here. Footnotes are at the end of each part; a full bibliography is available in the PDF.

• PART ONE: Introduction
• PART TWO: Strategies for getting the building from mostly vacant to populated (Below)
  • Phase One: The strategy for now, before the facility is reoccupied
  • Phase Two: The transition strategy, as the building reopens and is repopulated
  • Phase Three: The strategy for the future, once the building is fully operational
• PART THREE: Detailed considerations for key aspects of the facility and plan
• PART FOUR: Resource Guide

PART TWO: Strategies for getting the building from mostly vacant to populated

Three strategies must be developed by facilities managers to protect their buildings from the coronavirus: the first should be started right away as it focuses on what needs to be done before the building is occupied. The second is as the building is getting occupied; and the third is as the building nears its new normal. All should be incorporated as a part of the strategic facilities plan. In PART THREE, we delve into detail for some of the concepts.

The strategies apply to all facilities, although some may not be as important for small facilities. For specialized facility types, such as hospitals, healthcare, educational facilities, manufacturing plants, etc., there likely will be additional factors. These specialty types of facilities are beyond the scope of this guide, but the basics described here should still apply. In many cases, the specialty types of facilities have their own professional associations, which have further information; more can be found on the web.

Also, many local governments have issued additional guidelines. As a rule, they should not conflict with any of the advice in this guide, but you may need to supplement the advice by what they are requiring.

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Phase One: The strategy for now, before the facility is reoccupied

If the building is closed now, the strategy you develop must identify the steps to reopen the building; complete as many of the steps below as you can before the building reopens, and then the remainder as soon as possible thereafter. If your building is already partially or fully open, be sure the steps identified below have been completed before you go on to the Phase Two strategy (all may not apply to your facility).

Each grouping below for Phase One contains multiple concepts and tasks that should be considered and evaluated:

Assemble recovery team

• According to NIOSH (the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), “A qualified workplace coordinator should  be identified http://[1]who will be responsible for COVID-19 assessment and control planning.”[1] This person is not necessarily within the facilities group, but often will be either there or in the health group. This individual, who must be easily identified and reachable by all workers in the facility, must be aware of all federal regulations relating to the pandemic, including guidelines put out by the CDC and OSHA.
• Put a facilities team together to address all steps identified below, putting them into an action list. The team should have the ability to access not only staff within the facilities group, but also management, vendors and contractors, landlords (if any), and the organization’s employees (in the event of a necessary communications mailing).
• A member of the team should have access to external information sources (including the workplace coordinator) to enable the ability to stay on top of new news that is disseminated. Prepare a list of all contacts and their contact information.
• Once an action list has been developed, determine whether any budget modifications will need to be requested, and if so, get that ball rolling.
• If you are in a multi-tenant building, coordinate with other tenants so your plans and theirs have overlap where necessary, especially with the common elements that you share, including building entrances.

Modify building systems while the building has reduced occupancy (temporary)

• If part of the building is not in use, you may want to close off or adjust the setback temperatures for portions of the building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, which should save a bit from your utility bill (just be sure you check with management to confirm that these spaces will be unoccupied and confirm which hours occupants may be in the building; also be sure the different temperatures will not harm any equipment). Before feeling too good about potential savings, beware that you likely will need to spend some savings on the supplies and modifications identified below. This task will need to be adjusted during each major change in occupancy.
• Be sure your security system and emergency systems (generators, fire detection and sprinkler devices, etc.) are operational by frequently checking them and conducting essential maintenance. This task will need to be adjusted during each major change in occupancy.
• Be sure you have additional air filters on hand, as they will need to be changed more frequently. Filters should have adequate MERV ratings (minimum of MERV 13 and ideally HEPA filters rated for MERV 16 (if they will work with your system). Increasing the percentage of fresh air intake is recommended as well. If the building has fewer occupants, it is okay to change the setbacks, but you probably don’t want to decrease the volume of air being pumped into the workspaces.

Conduct maintenance required before building is occupied

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has published a guidance document for facilities recovering from building closures[2]. It points out that maintaining indoor environmental conditions is of primary importance, as building systems were not designed to operate under heat loads without occupants and running at abnormal temperatures and humidity levels. Otherwise, there is a risk of mold in occupied spaces and the HVAC systems. Building water systems have similar issues if they do not have water running through them. Cooling towers also need to be operated.

• Identify what must be mai  ntained now, so that equipment and water supply do not deteriorate. Care must be taken to ensure that equipment and pipes remain lubricated and free from mold, dust, and contaminants.
• If it hasn’t been used in a while, the plumbing system may need to be flushed—see the CDC guidelines for preventing Legionella and mold[3] in PART FOUR: Resources. Determine what testing needs to be done. Sloan, a manufacturer of plumbing systems, published a guide on how to clean out pipes[4] to remove contaminants.
• While the facility is in standby mode, does an exterminating company need to be brought in? Do plants and grounds need maintenance or watering?
• BOMA, CDC, ISSA, OSHA, Cushman & Wakefield, and Eden have particularly good checklists for what maintenance specifically needs to be done (see PART FOUR – Resources).

Conduct cleaning required before building is occupied

• Identify what must be cleaned and sanitized now, before the building is reoccupied (both regular and deep cleaning). See PART THREE of this guide for more on Cleaning.

Obtain cleaning and sanitizing supplies

• Order cleaning and sanitizing supplies now that will be needed to get your facilities modified to accommodate the new rules that you expect the facility to have. Because these are difficult to procure, do not delay this order.
• Don’t forget about decals or tape for social distancing, hand sanitizers, extra cleaner for wiping critical areas such as tables in the cafeteria, wipes, and more. A good list of what types of products to get may be found on the CDC website (see PART FOUR: Resources for more, especially CDC, ISSA and OSHA).

Modify floor layouts

• Analyze your floor layout to determine whether you will need to keep some workstations vacant so social distancing can be maintained, or whether you want to consider different types of workstations, or just rearrange the ones you have. Develop revised floor plans as needed. If hallways and aisles are narrow, you may want to consider requiring one-way traffic in them or widening them.
• Identify high-touch areas where touching can be reduced or eliminated, such as door handles, light switches, elevator buttons, railings, etc. If touching can’t be helped, provide sanitary wipes or liquid hand sanitizer for these areas. Some of the high-touch areas can be replaced by motion or weight sensors, which can be procured now. See the detailed section in PART THREE for more on Floor Layouts and Circulation.

Procure videoconferencing equipment, sensors

• Besides the sensors mentioned above, additional communication and other electronic/smart devices can enable more teleconferencing and less travel. Increase videoconferencing capabilities and make more use of electronic whiteboards (which can be transmitted through wireless) and ensure that no markers or pointing devices are shared (people should bring their own). Sensors can be used to monitor traffic in the offices so that when there are more than a certain number at one time, an FM will be notified. Some communication devices will be needed for work-at-home staff now; more will be needed in the facility when it reopens; and more should there be a second wave of the coronavirus, as many predict.

Plan for changes to security and facility access points

• Guidelines will be required for admitting visitors and staff to the buildings. Determine if any additional IDs, temperature checks, or immediate past-travel history will be required. Consider facial recognition devices and try to make entry more of a touchless experience.
• Develop procedures for shipping and receiving goods out from and into the facility.
• Determine whether you need stanchions to control queues at access points, such as security stations, reception, and elevators and escalators.

Develop special rules and guidelines

• Strategies for minimizing the spread of the virus should result in the development of rules and guidelines for workers coming back to work; this must be done in sync with guidelines being put out by various government entities.
  • The strategies should address social distancing; when to allow visitors and how many at a time; how to conduct meetings and which types of meetings are to be considered non-essential; rules on how many people may be in a meeting room at a time; what types of travel should be eliminated; when and how to notify others when someone may have virus symptoms as well as what should be done with the individual, etc. Consider policies not to admit visitors during the times staff arrives, to reduce congestion at checkpoints.
  • Special rules may need to be developed for all aspects of use of elevators and escalators. Most of these are based on social-distancing requirements and will cover the queuing to get onto them as well as how many people may be on an elevator at the same time. Floor decals and stickers may be required.
  • Determine which amenities will need to be closed or have special occupancy guidelines (e.g., meeting rooms, fitness centers, cafeterias, break rooms, and lunch areas). For cafeterias, consider requiring the use of paper bags for placing diners’ masks so no mask touches the table; bags would be provided by the facility.
  • Hang up appropriate signage by each space that is closed or has a limited capacity.
  • Communicate all new rules and guidelines to staff in the facility.
• Will employees and visitors need to have their temperatures checked or require a special ID to gain entrance to the building? If so, there will be space requirements that must be considered, as well as a place to queue. Keep in mind that thermal scanners are the fastest way to have temperatures checked; to speed up the process in the building, some companies are leaning toward allowing some employees to take their temperatures at home, enter them into a database, and then be allowed to pass through security without having to take their temperatures again.
• All building employees should be trained to recognize symptoms of the virus and report both themselves and others if they suspect someone may be infected (see the Table in PART ONE that identifies the symptoms).

Communicate the facilities plan for the virus to all building staff

• Develop a communications plan, starting now, to let workers know what the facilities management group is doing, so that:
  • They are informed as to what the facilities group is doing, and they get the message that the company cares about its employees; be sure to communicate that there are action elements for both the organization and the staff to do—without both participating, the recovery will take longer. It is good for the organization to send out frequent reminders of good habits to the staff.
  • They will see how the “rules of behavior” will be modified, at least for a while, so they can be better prepared.
  • They will have confidence in the facilities group and in their safety.
• Consider a weekly newsletter to keep building employees apprised of what is being done about the virus and share interesting statistics about it. Include information about which areas seem to have congestion problems (if you are tracking that), ideas about reports of some staff not being as careful as they should, ideas about how to make things work better (as learned from others in the building, perhaps through a suggestion box). Consider Q&A and ideas sections from employees.

Develop a transportation plan for the workers

• Depending on where your building is located, you may want to consider how employees will get to your facility, especially if public transportation may be involved.
  • Public transportation brings safety and social-distancing issues, putting your employees at possible risk.
  • You then must consider various alternatives, of which each has ramifications; for example, private vehicles need a place to park, leasing office or coworking spaces in satellite areas close to where employees live, and encouraging more work at home. All of these require advance planning.

Determine how to phase the reopening of the facility

• Develop a phasing plan for re-opening the building, including any amenities. This should include whether the facilities group will need time to modify and prepare the building for occupancy, and if so, coordination with top management and the health group (if one exists) to come up with the timing for the FM group to prepare the building in relation to when it will open.
• The plan should identify which staff will be returning to the facility and when. Also, determine how any new rules will need to be communicated to them and who will do that.
• The plan should identify when all amenities will open and whether there will be occupancy restrictions imposed on them (cafeteria, fitness center, daycare, etc.).

Prepare for a second round of the coronavirus

• As Phase One winds down, evaluate what worked best and what needs to be done differently should there be a need to work remotely again. It is important to be prepared if there is another round of the pandemic. If the organization is prepared, it will be more likely to operate as smoothly as possible, having learned from past experiences. As a part of the evaluation, don’t forget to survey others outside of the facilities group to see what they would have wanted done differently. Also, determine what could have been done differently in the home and satellite environments to make them more productive, including the telecommunications equipment, computer hardware and software, security, etc.
• Allow that there may be a need for a quick evacuation or shutdown of the facility soon after Phase Two starts; for example, there may be some cases of the virus discovered in one section of the facility. If this were to happen, you must have a procedure in place for a quick shut-down. Identify what must happen to trigger that as well as which individuals need to be involved in that decision.

Develop an evaluation plan for Phase Two

• Develop a very structured plan to evaluate the strategies put into place once the building starts to be occupied in Phase Two. These evaluations will become the basis of any strategy modifications as you go. The evaluations may comprise surveys, solicitation of comments from staff and management, and collection of data to determine how space and amenities are being used, as well as safety and health feedback. This plan should continue well into the final occupancy phase (Phase Three).

Stay ahead of the workload curve

• Take advantage of any extra time you may have available to catch up and get ahead. This is necessary as once your building re-opens, you likely will have a greater workload that you typically have had—you will be dealing not only with all the changes in modus operandi caused by the virus, but will likely have work to catch up on while the building was closed. To help you get a bit ahead of the curve, we have identified three types of tasks that you can do now:
  • Most of us have a list of tasks to do “on a rainy day”—this could be one of those times. One of these tasks that most can do remotely is to analyze your departmental data, such as work order processing efficiency, benchmarking to compare your building to those of others that are similar (including within your own company if it has multiple buildings), efficiency of space utilization (although this may be changing due to social distancing), etc.
  • The chances are high that when workers return to the office, there will be new statistics to track about the modified workspace due to the new guidelines and rules. Examples include space utilization rates, number of vacant desks, number of meetings / attendees, number working at home, number of workers for each shift, energy costs, etc. You should start identifying and preparing these reports, and determine how you will be collecting the data.
  • Many also have a list of tasks to do once they get back to their facilities. Some can be done remotely at this time, such as preparing memos to send, reviewing bids for work, etc. This would be a good time to get these started, so you’ll be able to catch up on other tasks once you get back to work.

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Phase Two: The transition strategy, as the building reopens and is repopulated

Once the building is partially opened, the strategy remains similar. Before proceeding with the tasks below, make sure that each of the Phase One items has been addressed.

It is likely that guidelines from the CDC and other organizations controlling the relaxation of rules leading people back to work will not be removed all at once. Rather, it likely will happen gradually. For example, only certain types of workers may be allowed back initially, such as those essential to the organization (this is different from essential workers such as first responders and the like), or those least at-risk to have the virus or be affected by it. Workers and visitors may need to wear masks for a while. Workers considered at-risk may not be allowed back in Phase Two. Regardless of how staff-phasing is accomplished, the facilities manager must be prepared and respond accordingly. Some Phase One tasks will need to be adjusted, and then, as more workers (and visitors) start entering the building, re-adjustment may be required. The facilities team will need to schedule regular meetings to reassess these adjustments and determine when they should be done.

Phase Two is primarily a re-assessment phase. Many determinations and decisions were made during Phase One. Now they need be evaluated and adjusted. The whole time, the facilities manager must be thinking about two situations:

• What needs to be done to help the building get to the new normal, in terms of occupancy (i.e., Phase Three)?
• What have I learned, so if we need to lock down the facility again, workers will be as productive as possible, whether working from home or from satellite offices?

Building equipment

• As the facility populates, all building equipment should be getting back to normal operations.

Cleaning

• The building should be getting back to its normal cleaning schedule, except that initially, the facilities manager must determine which areas may need a particularly deep cleaning and special sanitizers. Apply guidance from the CDC and professional cleaning associations. Some areas may need to stay on a deep-cleaning schedule for a while longer.

Phasing of reopening

• If not done already, plan when different sections of the building should be re-opened, including to public areas and shared areas, including the cafeteria and other amenities such as the fitness center and daycare facility. Will rules governing use and spacing need to be developed, including rules for social distancing, and marking distances with tape at places where people may congregate?
• Re-assess phasing and plans for the future that were developed in the Phase One strategy and modify them accordingly.

Communications and videoconferencing

• Re-assess which communication devices may need to be modified or added.

Rules and guidelines

• Re-assess the rules for workers and visitors, including social distancing, how and where meetings are conducted, where visitors may meet and whether visitors must wear protection, travel, and more.

Budget evaluation

• Determine whether additional equipment, furnishings, or supplies will be required, and be sure they are included in the budget.

Communication updates

• Keep communicating to all staff throughout the process, until the building is fully staffed.
• Re-assess the weekly newsletter updates, and see how they need to be modified.

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Phase Three: The strategy for the future, once the building is fully operational

“Fully operational” does not mean getting back to the occupancy pre-coronavirus, as it is likely that social distancing guidelines will still be in place to a certain extent. Thus, in this guide, we’ll call “fully operational” the “new normal” for our facility. In Phase Three, we define what will be different than before, and what we can expect.

While none of us can say for sure what will be different in the way we work, all facilities professionals should be thinking about how the work environment will change, and then prepare for these changes. This is not a one-and-done task—rather, as we go through the transitions described by the second strategy above, we should frequently reassess each of the possible changes below. The process is an iterative one. Then, when we identify something new, we will add to our list of differences. More will be said about many of these changes through this guide, especially in PART THREE, where we go into some of the most important details.

Shared workspaces and working from home

• Determine if and how teleworking should expand its role.
• Determine if and how hoteling and sharing of desks should expand their roles.
• Many people have been teleworking during this pandemic, and we see that it can work for more people than before. With that said, there likely will still be a need to come into the office, but how frequently and for how long?
• Each of these points will have a major impact on the future of the workplace’s design for your facility.

Social distancing and space utilization

• Will social distancing continue?
• Should workstations become larger, have either a barrier around them, or have at least six feet of separation between them?
• Or will space costs dictate otherwise, and with the (hopefully) unlikely occurrence of another such pandemic a few years down the road, will such social distancing become overkill in the long term?
• The totally open space with multiple people working on long benches may start phasing out a bit, even though these are very efficient from a space utilization perspective. See PART THREE for more on office layouts and workstation trends. Calculate what all this means in terms of total space required for your facilities.

Cleaning and disinfecting

• How will the frequencies of cleaning various portions of the workplace be changed? Will workers be there in shifts? How does this impact daytime cleaning?
• What types of cleaning products should be used?
• What kind of janitorial staff and contractor training should be required?
• Will there be more hand disinfectant dispensers and wipes placed around the workplace, and how will they be incorporated into the overall design?
• The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has published a guidance document for workplace cleaning[5] in non-healthcare workplaces. They also have published resources focused on specific building types such as restaurants and fitness centers—these may be of value to facilities managers whose buildings contain cafeterias and gyms. Among their recommendations:
  • Use only HEPA filtered vacuum cleaners, to avoid aerosolizing respirable dust that may contain infectious pathogens.
  • For deep carpet cleaning, use hot water injections that continually deliver water above 140ºF (60ºC). Be sure to use EPA-registered disinfectants approved for porous or upholstered fabrics, and not to do this during normal work hours.
  • Use of foggers is generally discouraged and should not be a substitute for applying disinfectant directly onto a surface. The EPA does not recommend fogging[6] to control COVID-19.

Working in shifts

• Will one solution to the social distancing be that people will work more in shifts, so there will be fewer people in the office at any one time?
• Will each shift have staggered start times to further decrease the opportunities for congestion at building checkpoints?
• How will these options impact space requirements?
• How will they impact the cleaning schedules?
• What about the electric bills for lighting and HVAC? Might they go up if utilities are kept on for longer?
• Will maintenance staff need to be present for more time, perhaps meaning the need for more staff?

Teleconferencing and travel, including in own facility

• What about travel to conferences or other office locations? Will this be cut back, meaning people will be in the office for more days?
• Will there be more teleconferencing to reduce travel?
• If so, will additional teleconferencing facilities need to be added to many buildings?
• Will there be more technology added to the office space, which in turn will create more of a need for electrical and internet access?
• Will long-term limits to the number of people in a conference room be established (as they are for many during the pandemic)? If so, will there be a need for more but smaller meeting and conference rooms?

Need for temporary space

• Will there be more of a need for very short-term, temporary space? This may enable workers to maintain their social distances should a large project require many people to be working at the same time.

Long-term space inventory–owned, leased, coworking, teleworking

• Most real estate and law firms are projecting that the coronavirus will negatively impact the ability of businesses to operate in their leased spaces:
  • Arnold & Porter[7], a leading law firm, says that governments are requiring closures of certain types of buildings, and that some landlords are doing it voluntarily. In an owned building, the owner has more control of what is kept open in the building. In a leased building, there may not be many remedies for the tenants, as most leases state that rent payments are a legal obligation when the building is closed by forces beyond the landlord’s control.
  • Law firm Baker Donelson[8] states that force majeure provisions in commercial leases allow postponement or suspension of the performance of certain landlord duties.
  • JLL[9], a real estate services company, has seen leasing volumes having slowed, and most tenants are preferring to renew rather than move to different space.
• Will coworking space (sharing space with other organizations) work for your organization? Determine for which situations that will work best, and what the requirements will be. Identify possible locations, both near to the main company facility and where employees live.
• For which types of employees will teleworking be most appropriate?

The home office—special considerations

• For those who work at home, how will the workplace accommodate their needs for furniture?
• Will there be more types of furnishings and accessories to address home office needs, especially to address ergonomic and storage requirements?
• And then there will be the long-time questions of who pays for it, what conditions should apply for one to be eligible, who is legally responsible for what, who maintains the furnishings, what happens to the furnishings when the employee leaves the company, and what arrangements are made for phone, internet, and teleconferencing.
• There is much more about the home office in PART THREE.

Evaluation (ongoing)

• Phases One and Two included much information about evaluating all aspects of the changes being made to accommodate the workers and visitors in the “new facility,” brought on by the pandemic and its impact on workers, the building, and its furnishings and equipment. That evaluation must continue for the foreseeable future, with considerable data collected and put into reports for the facilities manager to analyze. Analyses should be scheduled at regular monthly intervals, looking not only at raw data, but at trends. That is the only way that one can evaluate:
  • Whether the changes made are appropriate.
  • If additional changes are needed.

Round Two of the coronavirus

• All prior evaluation notes and survey results from Phases One and Two should be collated and analyzed.
• Based on the above analysis, a formal plan should be developed should a second round of the pandemic take hold. If it does, one can assume that there will be more quarantining. And if there is, every organization should be prepared to swiftly move into appropriate action for its workers to work remotely. Each worker should have a good solution to immediately work from his or her home by having the appropriate:
  • Computer hardware and software
  • Telecom equipment
  • Videoconferencing access
  • Ergonomic furnishings
  • Ancillary equipment

Part 1  |  Part 3  |  Part 4  |  Go to top ↑

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[1] NIOSH (CDC)

Communities, Schools, Workplaces, & Events. (2020). Retrieved 9 May 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/meat-poultry-processing-workers-employers.html

[2] AIHA

AIHA. (2020). Recovering From COVID-19: Building Closures – Guidance Document [Ebook]. Retrieved from https://aiha-assets.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/AIHA/resources/Public-Resources/RecoveringFromCOVID-19BuildingClosures_GuidanceDocument.FINAL.pdf

[3] CDC

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). (2020). Retrieved 9 May 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/building-water-system.html

[4] SLOAN

Sloan Building Commissioning Guide | Sloan. (2020). Retrieved 9 May 2020, from https://www.sloan.com/resources/education/white-papers/sloan-building-commissioning-guide

[5] AIHA

AIHA. (2020). Workplace Cleaning for COVID-19 – Guidance-Document [Ebook]. Retrieved from https://aiha-assets.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/AIHA/resources/Guidance-Documents/Workplace-Cleaning-for-COVID-19-Guidance-Document_FINAL.pdf

[6] EPA

Can I use fumigation or wide-area spraying to help control COVID-19? | US EPA. (2020). Retrieved 9 May 2020, from https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/can-i-use-fumigation-or-wide-area-spraying-help-control-covid-19

[7] ARNOLD & PORTER

Arnold & Porter: Perkins, J (2020). The Impact of Cononavirus on Existing Commercial Leases. Retrieved 9 May 2020, from https://www.arnoldporter.com/en/perspectives/publications/2020/03/the-impact-of-coronavirus-on-existing

[8] BAKER DONELSON

Baker Donelson. (2020). Coronavirus: Impact on Office, Retail and Industrial Leases. Retrieved 9 May 2020, from https://www.bakerdonelson.com/coronavirus-impact-on-office-retail-and-industrial-leases

[9] JLL

JLL. (2020). COVID-19 Global Real Estate Implications. Retrieved 9 May 2020, from https://www.us.jll.com/en/trends-and-insights/research/covid-19-global-real-estate-implications

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To download the book, please click here.

To contact Peter Kimmel, the author, please email peterk@fmlink.com.

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About the author

Peter Kimmel, AIA, IFMA Fellow, a former facilities manager, is the founding publisher of FMLink, the information-based online magazine for facilities managers (https://fmlink.com). He also is a Principal of FM BENCHMARKING, the online benchmarking service for facilities managers (http://fmbenchmarking.com).

Prior to founding FMLink in 1995, Peter was president of his own FM consulting firm for more than ten years, focusing on helping FMs automate their facility operations and develop strategic facility plans.  Before that, he managed facilities in the Federal government and in the private sector for over ten years, including the development of federal policies and programs.

Peter speaks at a variety of conferences, and his writings have been published in most FM magazines. He is a six-time winner of the International Facility Management Association’s (IFMA’s) Distinguished Author Award (most recently in 2020 for this e-book); besides this 2020 award, he is particularly proud of his 2014 e-book on benchmarking, which was commissioned by the IFMA Foundation. He also was the founding President of IFMA’s Capital Chapter. IFMA has honored Peter with its award for Distinguished Service, and in 1997, he was named an IFMA Fellow.

Peter is a registered architect and holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of California.

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