Tradeline's industry reports are a must-read resource for those involved in facilities planning and management. Reports include management case studies, current and in-depth project profiles, and editorials on the latest facilities management issues.
Latest Reports
Employing Asset Management and Capital Planning Software to Address Space Utilization, Budget Constraints, and Maintenance
The University of Kansas Medical Center faced a dilemma: how to support its growing research programs and faculty needs amid budget restrictions, aging buildings, and a backlog of deferred maintenance, all in the shadow of a decision by the university’s governing board that it would no longer fund new construction. Tasked instead with renovating existing facilities, KU Medical Center (KUMC) partnered with a facilities asset management company to assess and compile data on the condition of all infrastructure components, including everything from the air handling units, chillers, and boilers to the carpet and sprinkler system.
Creating a Home for a New Blended Engineering and Medicine Program
Texas A&M University has created an integrated Engineering Medicine (EnMed) program designed to train medical school students who possess degrees in engineering, computer science, physics, and/or related career experience, to identify and solve significant healthcare problems. These physicianeers graduate in four years with both medical doctor (MD) and a unique master of engineering (M.Eng.) degree that is focused on the design and implementation of medical technologies. To fulfill this mission, Texas A&M has renovated and modernized a former bank office building into the 144,000-sf EnMed Tower, equipped with large reconfigurable learning studios, simulation spaces, flexible classrooms, multidisciplinary labs, maker spaces, and virtual anatomy labs that leverage virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies. The school will graduate it first class of physicianeers on May 20.
Flexible Design for Higher Education Science and Engineering Facilities
New teaching facilities for science and engineering stress flexibility and interdisciplinarity, but how much flexibility is appropriate? Michael Lauber, principal at Ellenzweig in Boston, cites three recent university-level projects at Michigan State University, University of Maine, and Rice University to demonstrate how to achieve varying levels of flexibility with lab infrastructure and casework, and how the floorplan can enable occupants to easily adapt their space to ever-changing pedagogical goals in multiple STEM disciplines.
Analyzing STEM Space Requirements in a Large University System
The North Carolina State Legislature often receives requests from its representatives for funding to construct new academic buildings at the state universities in their districts. Lately, it’s been all about STEM facilities. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) jobs are predicted to increase faster than other kinds of positions in the 2020s, so some requests represent a legitimate response to the need for STEM graduates. But which universities truly need more space? To help them allocate funding sensibly, the University of North Carolina System Office commissioned a statewide study, using an innovative methodology balancing current utilization, building conditions, and future space needs.
Unity Hall, Worcester Polytechnic Institute -- Project Profile
Unity Hall, Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s new five-story, 100,000-sf academic and research building, brings together faculty from robotics, data science, bioinformatics, and computational biology. Highlights of the $80 million building, which opened in January 2022, are the flexibility of the lab spaces, the varied and numerous collaboration zones and spaces, and the standardized size of faculty offices.