Health & Safety

  • restroom condition, Tork, Bradley Company
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    Restroom quality shapes visitors’ perception of a facility, surveys show

    Visitors' restroom opinions carry over to their opinions of a company's goods and services, according to a Bradley Co. survey.

    By • July 13, 2026
  • Legionella test, Hydrosense, Rankin, Carnegie Hill, Yorkville, 2026 legionnaires' outbreak
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    Andrew Burton / Staff via Getty Images
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    Latest NYC Legionella outbreak puts focus on building water systems

    Taking a two-test approach can reduce the risk of missing a bacteria buildup in pipes and elsewhere, says a testing specialist.  

    By • July 10, 2026
  • Construction workers gather on the street of a city.
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    Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
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    Top floors of destabilized NYC building likely crooked, engineer says

    “I suspect the floor above dropped when those main columns buckled and buckled the studs,” Joe DiPompeo, president of New Jersey civil engineering firm Structural Workshop, told Construction Dive.

    By Zachary Phillips • July 9, 2026
  • A security camera outside a K-12 school.
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    To speed school incident response, companies merge dispatch platform, AI camera tech

    An integration between Centegix and Volt is intended to close a gap between detection and getting responders on site, the companies say.  

    By • July 9, 2026
  • A view of a hand holding a device that measures harmful dust particles and PM2.5 (particulate matter) in the air in front of an elevator inside a building.
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    Mechanically ventilated spaces reduce wildfire smoke concentration: research

    An Oregon State University study found that mechanically ventilated spaces were better than window AC and mini-splits at lowering indoor particulate matter concentrations. 

    By • July 7, 2026
  • data centers, data center cooling, building systems
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    Johnson Controls’ Metasys 16.0 update aims to reduce downtime, ease compliance

    The building automation system includes new features to help speed up cybersecurity upgrades, monitor regulatory requirements and meet energy performance standards.

    By • July 6, 2026
  • Display for the ASHRAE Annual Conference
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    Joe Burns/Facilities Dive
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    Resilience the focus of incoming ASHRAE president

    Climate and infrastructure challenges mean facilities professionals must work together to improve building performance, Colliers Project's Sarah Maston said at the organization’s conference. 

    By • June 30, 2026
  • A skyline shot of a city during the day with a river in the foreground.
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    ASHRAE to tackle data centers, thermal systems at annual conference

    The engineering society’s annual meeting, starting this weekend in Austin, Texas, will have programs on managing energy costs and integrating energy storage projects, among others.

    By • June 26, 2026
  • building automation
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    New Honeywell tool ‘purges’ CO as part of fire safety improvements

    The tool removes carbon monoxide and adds fresh air to reduce harmful levels in affected areas when an alarm is triggered, the company says.   

    By • June 25, 2026
  • A view of the back of a yellow school bus parked on the street.
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    Clu via Getty Images
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    Free air, energy and water monitoring tools awarded to 14 school districts

    Smart building company Attune worked with nonprofits to give selected school districts access to its tools and integration support through a program it launched this year.

    By • June 24, 2026
  • Paul Kueker, Ernest Vogliano, Jr., Morgan & Morgan, duty of care liability
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    Alexandre Fagundes via Getty Images
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    Madison Square Garden falling death was second in three years

    Proptech executive Paul Kueker died June 20 after a 150-foot fall at the New York arena during a concert.

    By • June 24, 2026
  • Aerial view of the partly collapsed Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, surrounded by other buildings.
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    Joe Raedle via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Periodic inspections alone can no longer keep aging buildings safe

    On the five-year anniversary of the Surfside condominium building collapse, a building safety specialist highlights the importance of structural monitoring systems.

    By Greg Batista • June 24, 2026
  • office ventilation, IAQ, HVAC, spring HVAC restart
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    Opinion

    How cycling HVAC systems to cooling creates IAQ risks

    When outdoor humidity rises faster than a building’s systems can compensate, seasonal transitions drive humidity fluctuations that building envelopes and HVAC systems weren’t always designed to handle. 

    By Steve Willis • June 17, 2026
  • A contractor on a big roof looking over a cloudy sky
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    Nations Roof via AI image generator 

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    Sponsored by Nations Roof

    Storm season is no longer a seasonal risk for facility teams

    How facility leaders can reduce roofing risk before severe weather disrupts operations.

    June 15, 2026
  • Pentagon Shield, June 11 Pentagon lockdown, anthrax, airborne contaminants, IAQ
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    Anna Moneymaker / Staff via Getty Images
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    Building system sensors triggered Pentagon shutdown

    ‘Pentagon Shield,’ deployed after 9/11, identifies airborne threats and isolates at-risk areas. A false alarm caused Thursday’s shutdown, a military spokesperson said.

    By • June 12, 2026
  • A hacker in data center server room.
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    Cyberattackers are walking into physical facilities: FBI

    One group is sending people posing as contractors or IT support to gain access to servers, steal files and demand ransom — sometimes within an hour, FBI and Google reports show.

    By • June 10, 2026
  • Tall Dallas buildings against a blue sky.
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    Dallas apartment owners, operator, others sued over deadly explosion

    On the day of the explosion, a drilling contractor conducting geotechnical work and related rigging nicked a gas line while digging as part of a plan to link the property with another on the opposite side of the block. 

    By Julie Strupp • June 9, 2026
  • Claroty, Team82, Trane, Vertiv, threat research, data center systems
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    Vulnerabilities discovered in Trane, Vertiv data center products

    The companies are addressing the risks with updates, according to Team82 of cybersecurity company Claroty, which found and shared the vulnerabilities with the companies.  

    By • Updated June 10, 2026
  • Fraunhofer Institute, Heat pump retrofits
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    Why OSHA compliance isn’t enough to mitigate safety liability

    The agency’s general duty clause means facilities can be responsible for mitigation even in the absence of a safety requirement, according to an OSHA specialist.

    By • Updated June 4, 2026
  • energy storage fires, data center fires, Texas A&M fire research
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    Novel solutions needed to stem data center fires: study

    AI-based fault prediction is one way data centers can curb problems as their operations grow more complicated, researchers from three U.S. universities said.

    By Brian Martucci • June 2, 2026
  • Hornbake v Blanche, NRA, guns in post offices, originalist legal theory, building security
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    Advocates sue to allow guns in post offices in latest push against bans

    The lawsuit is one of several this year that seeks to narrow the scope of gun bans in public or public-facing private buildings.

    By • Updated May 28, 2026
  • CCIA, New York, Concealed Carry Improvement Act, vampire rule, Christian v James, SAF
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    MollyNZ via Getty Images
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    Court ends NY ‘vampire rule’ that made gun bans in public-facing private property the default

    Property owners can still ban guns under the federal appeals court ruling by using signage or other communications. The court upheld a part of the state law prohibiting guns in parks and other ‘sensitive’ public places.

    By • May 21, 2026
  • AB 2975, California hospitals, automated weapons screening
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    Mandatory automated weapons screening coming to California hospitals

    Automated detection equipment will be required for main public entrances and the entrances to emergency and labor and delivery departments under AB 2975, which takes effect next year. 

    By • May 20, 2026
  • Students are seen from behind as they walk through a weapons detection system outside a school building.
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    Joe Raedle via Getty Images
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    Is the push for tighter school security at odds with student well-being?

    As staffing shortages and resource limitations push districts to harden their security systems, schools should be mindful of the harm these systems can pose, says a researcher at the Learning Policy Institute.

    By • May 13, 2026
  • EY Forensic & Integrity Pulse survey, merging of cybersecurity and physical security, operational technology risk
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    More money is going to physical security, but it’s often CISOs that oversee it: EY

    Organizations should centralize physical security and cybersecurity so both are adequately prepared for, the consulting firm says in a survey report.

    By • May 13, 2026