Building & Facilities Operations

In a recent sample, 83% of Building Engines clients considered tenant responsiveness a market differentiator. How does your responsiveness stack up to that of your peers and industry top performers? Take the Building Engines Service Responsiveness Benchmark Survey and receive a compilation report aggregating responses and identifying Best Practices you may want to consider.

This 5 minute survey will provide comparative analytics to help you answer and understand:

• How your performance compares with other property owners and managers
• Where your perception of the value of responsiveness relates to others
• If response time standards should be set and included in the lease SLAs
• Real data on performance standards you may want to adopt

This month marks the ten year anniversary of Building Engines’ first contract for sale. Since our first software license was signed in 2001, Building Engines has been revving its engines and building as a company. After a decade of successful partnerships, we must thank our loyal clients, driven team and savvy partners for their invaluable support. We look forward to continuing our growth path of expanded product development, services, and relationships!

Here is a look back at Building Engines’ Early History:

• January 2001 - Company Founded by Davd S. Osborn and John S. Childs under the name Requestcom, Inc.
• October 2001 – Work Order Manager Module launched
• November 2001 – First client: Meredith & Grew
• November 2001 - Visitor Access Manager Module launched
• March 2003 – First portfolio-wide client : Albert B. Ashforth, Inc.
• August 2004 – Company name changed to Building Engines, Inc.
• December 2004 – Preventive Maintenance Module launched
• January 2005 – First Healthcare Client: Golden Living (formerly Beverly Enterprises)

Here’s to many more milestones in the next decade!

Q: Why do technological things never work?

A: Because there’s “no logic” in it!

Buhdum Che! OK, so bad joke, and an even worse perspective to adopt when it comes to property and tenant management. Technolgoical tools have been essential in the drive for efficiency and business process re-engineering in property management companies. Owners and operators today face more management demands than ever, and are often asked to accomplish more with fewer resources.

The best management firms have responded by accelerating their adoption of information collection and reporting tools through Software as a Service (SaaS) technologies. These SaaSy companies typically see improved service levels, tenant retention, asset protection and risk management, but there are also some less advertised perks:

Differentiation for Your Company

Top companies see the effective use of technology as a way to create differentiation despite operating in a tenant-perceived sea of sameness. Ultimately, they see it making them more profitable.

No Reliance on In-House Techies

At the same time, technology advances have made sophisticated technologies accessible to property and tenant management organizations of all sizes. The Software as a Service business and technology model has eliminated the need for in-house technology staff to acquire, deploy and maintain online information and operation systems.

Get Lost, Costs!

The SaaS model has dramatically lowered both initial costs and total application costs. Applications are easily aligned to each organization’s workflow, or introduce and reinforce industry best-practices. Software with intuitive interface design can remove user barriers and the need for intensive training.

Read here for The Keys to Enterprise Level Software Acceptance!

The Einstein Principle:

Accomplish More By Doing Less

Einstein’s theory of relativity was born from a work ethic principled on narrowing one’s focus (for him this unfortunately left out distractions like hygiene, social decorum and his wife). Property owners and managers should take a page from his book (no, not The Evolution of Physics). They should re-engineer their processes to allow them to focus their attention on select meaningful and productive pursuits.

Today, even the best property managers and owners likely aren’t developing one of the greatest achievements of the past century, but they are being more selective with with their endeavors. OK, so they don’t want to spend their time juggling, but what to do with the other balls?

The most successful organizations select a technology partner to provide the critical information, systems, and support competencies that are not central to a property management organization. Enabling technologies help companies accomplish more with fewer resources, improve service levels, attract and retain tenants, manage assets more effectively, and lower business and financial risk.

The adoption of information collection and reporting tools allows managers the time to apply their skill and experience to more meaningful tenant interactions, decision making, outreach, and brand management. Just don’t pull an Einstein and forget to wear socks.

When it comes to building a customer base, I like to follow that universally hated scout song (and bite the bullet of it being in my head all day): Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other’s gold.

Obnoxiously sticky as the tune may be, the simple lesson of valuing both old and new partners bears weight. Maybe the message isn’t profound, but our appreciation for the lifeblood of our company is.

The past month, Building Engines has welcomed a number of progressive real estate owners, managers, and service companies to its service. Ranging across commercial office, medical office, retail, and industrial and mixed use, our ever expanding customer base is a nice complement to the “old gold” we have formed deep relationships with. We hope their decision to join us in a property & tenant management service partnership, is the last one they will have to make.

Here is a look into some of our most recent clients, a sliver of silver:

Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust

Toronto, Canada

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Samuels & Associate

Boston, MA

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Commercial Properties Realty Trust

Baton Rouge, LA

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GBA AssociatesGBA Associates LP

Falls Church, VA

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Simpson Commercial Real Estate Services

Alexandria, VA

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Cross Street Partners

Baltimore, MD

We all had to “fall back” this past weekend (unless you’re one of the lucky ones in Hawaii), but we don’t need to fall back on our old lighting habits. With the end of Daylight Savings Time, comes the end of low electricity bills. Short days mean a long ways to go for your facility’s lighting.

This concept is nothing new. Benjamin Franklin presciently grappled with the idea that day time = money in his essay “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light.” As the face of the $100 bill, Ben Franklin knew how to be green and had money covered.

Today, roughly a third of your utility billing goes towards lighting. How can you conserve energy? Here are a few tips:

Lighten Up!

Use lighter colors on walls and ceilings to maximize the reflection and effect of light sources. Painted walls, along with fabrics and perforated metal, should be strategically placed to offset direct sunlight. Glare distracts site occupants and is the #1 obstructor of daylighting systems.

Here Comes the Sun

Use a lighting system that compliments and supplements natural lighting for energy use cuts, increased worker productivity, and happy tenants. Make sure you are fully utilizing skylights, clerestory windows, conventional glazing, reflective materials, and light pipes.

LED It Shine

Daylight is the most efficient lighting, but after that there’s a variety of light sources each with varying levels of efficiency, color quality, and service life.

Light-Emitting Diodes, LEDs, are a newer light source that can save 50-90% in energy costs. Combined with a reflector upgrade or retrofit, the glare associated with LEDs and the number of fixtures required can be reduced. Tax credits and power company rebates are another advantage of LEDs over fluorescent lighting.

For those who are set on fluorescent, replace T12 lighting systems with energy-efficient T8 lighting and electronic ballasts.

For security and parking lot lighting, high pressure sodium fixtures have the advantage over metal halide, mercury vapor, fluorescent, and incandescent fixtures.

Gain Control

Use lighting controls to adjust electric lights at appropriate times. Use automatic controls that sense ambient daylight to ensure that electric lighting is minimized during strong daylight.

Dimmer switches in stairwells, copy rooms, restrooms, and perimeter lighting fixtures  can trim energy use. For exterior lighting and some interior lighting, time clocks or photoelectric cells can be installed.

Are you seeing the light yet?

Read more on energy management through lighting improvements at Energy Star.

Want to learn more about the greening of existing buildings? Register for a free Webinar, LEED EBOM: 101!

Register Now!

Maybe you’re better than others. Do you know it and how can you show it? Maybe you’ve some catch-up to do in key operational areas. Do you know where and how you should improve?

Get off the bench and get on the benchmarking track! Being a competitive player in CRE demands a comparative analysis of your performance to both that of your peers and best practices in the field. Luckily, we’ve the equipment to start your warm up!

There’s an easy way to measure and benchmark your operational performance. We’ve created a short benchmark survey  that allows for property management professionals to assess their performance across several operational areas and receive immediate feedback based on their responses. Take ten minutes to complete the Operational Assessment Survey and instantly receive a personalized Benchmark Report.

More importantly, you will gain a better understanding of your property’s processes compared to real estate operational best practices. Where do you shine, and where do you need some polishing?

Benchmark the state of your operations for:

1. Tenant Service & Satisfaction
2. Maintenance & Assets
3. Risk Management & Exposure to Liability
4. Online Real Estate Operations

Start the Operations Assessment Survey!

Like the topic? You may also be interested in:

• ON MANAGEMENT: Where Do We Go to Find Best Practices?
• ON MANAGEMENT: 10 Steps to Simple Benchmarking
• Keeping Some Metrics up your Sleeve: 5 Questions you Should Ask
  

Property managers must be echo-friendly if they hope to survive in the rental market. According to a recent GlobeSt.com article (whose inspiration and information derives from a panel at the RealShare Apartments Conference in LA), the youngest generation of renters are posed to set standards in the market.

Echo-boomers, the 20 and 30-something children of Baby Boomers, are entering the rental housing market and making demands. Demand making is generally seen as characteristic of this demographic, who is largely known for their technological savvy (and/or dependence) and sense of entitlement. Also known as Generation Y, Generation Next, and Millennials, Echo-boomers are predominantly renters and “nimble” – they are swift to relocate if their demands are not being met.

What does this mean for standards in property management? To satisfy and retain members of Generation Y Stay Here and Generation Next Apartment: requests must be quickly acknowledged, service all online, and technology support fully functional. Building owners and managers should expect fewer walk-ins and phone calls, and more communication with this segment via their preferred methods: laptops, tablets, and smart phones.

According to GlobeSt.com, the trend of conducting business online with these tenants is only increasing, and in many cases resulting in outsourcing for technical-support functions. Essentially, unless property managers want more turnovers than a bakery, they need to watch the boom and cater to this generation.

Tenant Request: Polly Wants a Cracker

One of the latest clients to incorporate Building Engines into their daily routine is the Mesker Park Zoo, located in Evansville, Indiana. Typically when people think of Building Engines, they think of assembling car parts. And then they think of a commercial property management tool. This is because amateur auto mechanics are very prevalent. And the majority of our clients utilize our standard setup, which breaks accounts down by building, employees, and occupying tenant companies. This setup allows for all of a property’s components to fit neatly into the application.

This setup was not going to fit the zoo’s needs as easily. We needed to pony up and figure out a way to meet the zoo’s objectives, while remaining within the confines of the application’s capabilities and proving that we didn’t have a tiger by the tail. This is where we were able to get creative.

After talking more than turkey with the zoo’s Operations Managers and internally discussing available options, we configured the application to not only oversee the buildings, but also the components that didn’t automatically fit neatly into one area or another. Essentially, we sectioned the account into logical areas, including the exhibits, the surrounding regions, and any transportation services that were located within them. This gave the park’s operations team an easy way to track all work orders and preventative maintenance in logical format.

Overall, we have been proud as a peacock with the results. Our work with the Mesker Park Zoo has given us a successful template for additional zoo clients, as well as valuable insight into their daily operations. This insight is what fuels the unexpected enhancements that all of our clients can benefit from, and enables us to separate the sheep from the goats!

Before you can answer the question, “How is my property performing?” you need to ask a few questions. An understanding of property performance is rooted in operational data that is documented, visible, and accessible. However, collecting and managing this data can often feel like searching for the Holy Grail, and wholly fail.

To satisfy and attract investors and tenants, develop easily consumed data around the areas of operations you should have insight into. But first, figure out what those areas are.

Here are the 5 questions about operational metrics you should ask:

Besides the obvious and easy to identify occupancy and retention/renewal numbers, how do you understand underlying indicators such as Tenant satisfaction?

This may encompass accessing and assessing information around your property’s:

• Management team
• Services performed
• Quality of the environment
• Amenities
• History of tenant activities and interactions

How do you assess and understand whether your management team is properly managing operational risk?

Assess your property’s level of:

• Planning and documentation processes for access to information from any location
• Information organization to ensure the ability to defend in the event of a legal matter
• Active certificates of insurance for all tenants and service providers
• Compliance with all life safety requirements (code compliance, inspections, documentation, etc.)
• Reduced insurance costs through a pro-active risk management program

How well is my asset and the equipment being maintained?

Your operational data should reveal that:

• Maintenance is documented
• Access to that information is easily available
• Capital planning is associated with maintenance activities
• The long-term capital effects of deferred maintenance are known
  
• There is NNN tenant compliance with maintenance requirements
• There is a noticeable reduction in energy costs with increased scheduled/preventative maintenance
• The amount of work performed by on-staff personal vs. outsourced service providers is documented
  

How do I receive information on the operational performance of my property?

Ensure that there is:

• Consistency and a standard format
• Frequency of information
• Enough information at a high level to clearly show the data that matters
  

How is one property comparatively performing in key areas?

Analyze how a property is performing in comparison to:

• Other properties in the management portfolio
• Other like-properties using a similar system
• Internally set targets of performance, including ownership target objectives
• Accepted industry standards

To hear an owner and investor’s perspective on the Metrics That Matter, sign up for a free webinar!

Date: Tuesday, October 25th, 12:00pm – 1:00pm EST

Register Now!