APPA Library

"sustainable facilities vs. Sustainable Facilities"
Author: Folsom, Kevin,
Published In: Facilities Manager
Date: May/June 2008

Being environmentally responsible is a hot topic and critical issue. Many in the scientific community estimate we are slowly destroying the Earth's climate and landscape as we know it today. However, not all scientists agree with this theory, as a significant number of people have been environmentally responsible for a long time, recognizing early that it is simply the right thing to do. As a result, there are a growing number of sustainable solutions--products, techniques, and services--and many are more affordable too. With so many affordable energy-saving products today, this movement is being called the "fifth fuel" (i.e., energy companies incentivizing customer energy efficiency upgrades with cash to avoid adding generating plants). The article describes the "50-year facility design" model and its 12, 25, and 38th year sub-cycles as a perfect opportunity to earmark facilities for sustainable renewal in a way that is both manageable from a budget perspective and predictable. (Contains 2 figures and 3 notes.)

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