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Preventative Maintenance

Preventive Maintenance: Preparing Your Building for Winter Starts in the Summer

on September 16, 2021 | By Sam Shapiro
Although it's tough to think of cold weather while basking in the summer sun, winter is coming. For sections of the country that experience particularly intense winters, especially in Chicago and New York, seasonally planned maintenance is required to combat dangerous road conditions, frozen pipes and falling icicles. In a commercial building, being unprepared for the winter can cause major issues. Equipment can be damaged, resulting in expensive repairs or replacement, and this can impact air quality and climate control, making occupants uncomfortable.
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HVAC Maintenance

The Effects of Wildfires on Commercial IAQ and HVAC Systems

on September 9, 2021 | By Sam Shapiro
During a wildfire, commercial buildings face significant drawbacks from poor indoor air quality (IAQ) caused by smoke, which can cause damage to property and equipment, and health issues for occupants. During these events, a building’s best asset is its HVAC system. Not only does it keep the inside air cool, but it also provides clean air through the reuse of indoor air. Keeping your HVAC system functioning optimally requires preparation before and maintenance following the wildfire.
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Janitorial

4 Ways to Reduce Janitorial Service Costs

on September 2, 2021 | By Sam Shapiro
Reducing janitorial services costs requires more than simply skimming a spreadsheet and looking to replace a cleaning product with a lower-priced item. Instead, it takes a careful analysis of current janitorial operations, to discover missed opportunities and potential efficiencies. In this blog post, we provide four ways to reduce janitorial services costs for your commercial building through supplementing automated cleaning, committing to established budgets, implementing workload management software and partnering with a facility management partner.  
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Facility Management

Demand Response Lessons Learned from a Chief Engineer

on August 26, 2021 | By The Able Services Team
In the thick of summer, high temperatures can be unpleasant for more than just the commuters waiting outside for a train or bus. Heat waves can create a significant amount of stress to power grid systems, potentially forcing blackouts and brownouts or maxing out HVAC loads. Demand response is a collective effort on the part of utilities companies, a third-party energy monitoring organization, and facility management to relieve stress on the electrical grid system when the grid approaches 5-7 percent full capacity.
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Technology

Spotlight - Boston Life Sciences Plant Superintendent, Mike McGonagle

on August 17, 2021 | By The Able Services Team
Mike McGonagle is the Plant Superintendent at a multi-tenant life science research facility located in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area. He is responsible for overseeing all building operations and maintenance being performed at the site. Read our Q&A to learn more about his important role supporting a state-of-the-art lab and research facility.
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Engineering

Facilities Management 101: How to Give Your Tech Campus a Hospitality Focus

on August 12, 2021 | By Sam Shapiro
A tech campus functions at its best when there are zero interruptions to daily operations. Besides ensuring that the equipment works optimally, employee workflow is expected to be seamless. 
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Technology

3 Advantages of Integrating a CMMS for Your Facility

on August 5, 2021 | By Dennis Giblin
Imagine going into a busy Saturday with enough errands to last the entire day. What’s the first thing you’re likely to bring with you? Probably the list of tasks, and maybe even a schedule of the times by which you need to have each of them completed. 
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Engineering

3 Tips for Avoiding HVAC Failure During Summertime

on July 29, 2021 | By Sam Shapiro
When summer arrives, staying comfortable takes more than simply setting the office thermostat to “cool.” In fact, maintaining temperatures in commercial buildings requires months of preparation and ongoing maintenance, which demand a lot from HVAC systems and maintenance staff. High heat can age some of the most important components of the system, such as the coils, pumps and chiller condensers, and degradation can occur rapidly, sometimes in as little as a three month span.  For building owners and property management, maintaining ideal indoor environments for lease paying tenants is a critical area of focus. When leasing an office space, tenants prioritize a problem-free environment provided by, among other factors, optimal HVAC conditions.
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Culture

Integrity & Respect with Charo Flores

on July 26, 2021 | By Able Services
Since 1979, Senior District Manager, Charo Flores has made an impact in Orange County California's janitorial industry. 
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Engineering

Commercial Building Water Sustainability: Benefits of Gray Water

on July 22, 2021 | By Sam Shapiro
Sustainability practices in commercial buildings are becoming increasingly important as officials implement new sustainability legislation. The Climate Mobilization Act is in full force in New York, the California Water Plan addresses water conservation with proactive responses, and green initiatives are popping up all over the U.S.  With water shortages expected in 40 states by 2024, it is critical that more sustainable practices related to water usage becomes a standardized practice across the commercial real estate industry. Research in the Journal of Environmental Engineering recommends commercial buildings adopt more diversified and reusable water portfolios because they tend to use a significant amount of domestic, or potable, water for irrigation systems. Not only is this unsustainable, but the expenses accrued are no longer necessary with the ability to reuse gray water. technology.
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