WHAT’S NEW?
PREPARING FOR WINTER WITH
‘RESILIENT’ PROPERTIES In recent years there has been significant damage to many properties as a result of harsh and persistent wintry weather. Flooding has been high up on the agenda with a national flood resilience review having been commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs earlier in the year.
Any actions resulting from this review are yet to be seen, but why wait when properties can become more resilient to the effects of adverse weather conditions right now.
Where properties are likely to be flooded it may be prudent to install sprayed or injected polyurethane for wall insulation to increase the property’s resilience. If the house is exposed to flood waters, the cavity or solid wall insulation, will not be damaged and will not need removal or replacement.
TOMORROW’S MENT ’S TODAY
Graham Perry, Business Unit Director of iSite, explains how a lack of understanding, and to some extent a fear, of Building Information Modelling (BIM) of is holding back facilities management teams from exploiting the true potential of data.
BIM is a process that collates all data relating to the physical and functional characteristics of a property into one central, electronic database. Primarily used in the construction phase of a building, it enables design and engineering teams to make much more informed decisions as the transparency of
10 | TOMORROW’S FM
The application of polyurethane helps to prevent water tracking through the wall and damaging the structure, wall ties and internal finishes. Closed-cell materials retain their integrity and have low moisture take-up.
Polyurethane foam also provides a superior performing insulant, which helps to bond the inner and outer leaves to provide strength to the structure. Air leakage through the cavity can be reduced to zero. In severe or coastal exposure zones more conventional cavity insulation materials may not be an option as the exposure ratings may make them unsuitable.
data is improved, therefore making it easier to manage and interpret.
However, the benefits of BIM should not be confined to the construction sector. With the increased standardisation of data across the facilities management industry there is an opportunity for FM teams to operate more strategically through BIM, which will help to deliver efficiency and cost savings in the process.
With data formats such as COBie and ISO becoming increasingly common, the standardisation of information is happening at pace and collating all of this data into one place has huge potential, particularly for those teams managing large estates.
Many FM teams are unnerved by the unknown, and see BIM as a more complicated method of managing their asset lifecycle and replacement cycles. However, that’s not the case. BIM and Big Data analytics should instead be seen as a method of smarter working – a way of helping FM teams to have more of an impact
Roofs can be particularly vulnerable to wind, rain and stormy conditions. To strengthen and help weatherproof the structure, polyurethane foam can be sprayed to the underside of tiles. The material is used for the dual purpose of insulation and stabilisation, for instance in cases where the nails have degraded over time. Air leakage through the roof covering can be reduced down to zero with in-situ applied polyurethane.
Where polyurethane foam insulation is applied to an existing roof this is subject to a site survey as the roof needs to be structurally sound prior to installation.
There is a twenty-five year insurance warranty, which BUFCA installer members can offer for domestic injected polyurethane cavity wall insulation projects. The warranty offers reassurance to customers and becomes effective if there is a fault with the installation and the installer has ceased to trade or cannot honour the guarantee.
www.bufca.co.uk
on their businesses, be it through reducing costs, or making processes more efficient.
A key example of this is the management of assets across a property estate. By collating information such as utilisation, maintenance and energy use into one central location, and comparing this with information about the wider estate – for example how old a building is, and when it is due for refurbishment – FM teams can gain a better understanding of the properties and assets they manage. This knowledge can then inform important decisions, such as when and how an asset is repaired or replaced, or when and if a property is refurbished.
The key thing for FM teams to remember is that BIM, or Big Data analytics more widely, doesn’t need to be out of reach. It is about using the right technology to implement a step-by-step process that ultimately reviews a property, looks at the assets within it and draws insights that can empower a business.
twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58