See “Stone-cold FM solutions; security and safety; EV charging infrastructure; cyber securing BCS are among the session videos from NFMT 2023” for the seven sessions FMLink posted in May.

The following NFMT sessions are available to FMLink readers.

Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act – Ten Years Later

 

Don’t Let ADA Fall Through the Cracks

 

Re-boot Your Facility Management Team

 

Funding Your Energy Project with New Tax Incentives Related to the Inflation Reduction Act

 

Sustainability In Roofing

 

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The Justice Department inspected three buildings on 14th Street N.W., in Washington, DC, to see if people with disabilities could enter the businesses renting space there. Two of the buildings had steps at the entrances, and one did not have enough space at the entrance for wheelchair users to open the door and go in on their own.

The building owners agreed to hire an architect to check their 19 buildings in Washington, DC; Maryland and Virginia to make sure the buildings can be used by people with disabilities. The owners agreed to fix any problems by the end of next year. Possible fixes are adding a ramp where there are steps or putting in an automatic door opener when there is not enough space for wheelchair users. Fixing the buildings is an important step toward providing people with mobility disabilities an equal opportunity to shop and dine at the stores and restaurants inside, says DOJ.

The ADA requires stores and restaurants located in new buildings to make sure the spaces their customers use in those buildings are useable by people with disabilities, such as those who use wheelchairs. If a business is located in an older building, the business must make sure barriers to people with disabilities are removed when it is easy to do. And if a business makes changes to a building, those changed areas must be made useable as much as possible. These rules also apply to the companies that own the buildings that they rent to businesses like stores and restaurants.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division remarked:

Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 to stop discrimination against people with disabilities caused by the way a building is designed, built, or changed. Today’s agreement calls attention to the obligations of building owners to ensure that the space they rent to a store or restaurant follows the rules of the ADA. We welcome the owners’ cooperation with us in today’s agreement to make their buildings more usable for people with disabilities.

This matter was handled by the Disability Rights Section of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. The Justice Department plays a central role in advancing the nation’s goal of equal opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities.

For more details about the ADA compliance issues found at the first three buildings, the specific agreements/requirements, and the names of the 19 building owners, all managed by companies that are managed by J.C. Reger Interests Inc., doing business as JCR Companies, see the Settlement Agreement.

For more information on the Americans with Disabilities Act, visit the ADA website.

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The Dallas Independent School District sits in the heart of a large, diverse and dynamic region with a population of 6.5 million people in the 12 counties of North Central Texas. The district is the second-largest public school district in the State of Texas and the 14th-largest district in the United States.

With these vast numbers, Dallas Independent School District has taken effective steps to implement Evac+Chair’s innovative stairway evacuation chairs to ensure safe and simple evacuation in any emergency situation, supporting persons not able to evacuate independently, whether needing to ascend or descend a staircase, to reach an ultimate point of safety.

The 300H model now has dual-position seating to provide optimal comfort and safety. The lightweight chair features one-person operation, with head, chest and thigh restraints, photoluminescent signage, and locking rear wheels.

Mark Roberts, vice president of EVAC CHAIR North America, stated:

We are proud of our relationship with The Dallas Independent School District. Evac+Chair is the leading provider of evacuation chairs to schools, colleges and universities. In the event of [sic] anyone, whether students, staff or visitors, requires to be evacuated, we have the right solution in the Evac+Chair, which exceeds ADA/NFPA fire safety guidelines.

Evac+Chair over the last 40 years has been the choice for safe evacuation for thousands of schools and colleges including Yale University, Harvard University and other high-profile organizations such as Apple, Disney and the NBA. The chair can be a vital component of facilities’ preparations for emergencies of all kinds.

Developed in New York City in 1982 and used to evacuate the World Trade Center after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Evac+Chair is touted as the industry standard for lightweight, portable education evacuation chairs. Today the company sells to large and small venues, corporate entities and residential buildings, as well as globally to hotels, hospitals, office buildings, schools, assisted living facilities, residential and commercial high-rise buildings.

Evac+Chair can be utilized in any multistory building so that any tenant or occupant who needs help for any reason can get down the stairs in a safe manner. The design of the evacuation chair for stairs features a narrow profile that allows any occupant and other building occupants to ascend or descend staircases during an emergency without interference. Its unique design is also said to allow first responders to assist anyone else with mobility impairments with relative ease.

For more information on the company’s Evacuation Chairs or specifically the 300H Evac+Chair model, visit the Evac+Chair Web site.

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The 2017 standard is an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) American National Standard and was developed through a consensus-based process that brings together all the stakeholders, including disability-rights groups, code officials, product manufacturers, design professionals, and facilities owners and managers.

The ICC A117.1 standard helps achieve uniformity in the technical design criteria in building codes that allow a person with a physical disability — such as the inability to walk, blindness or deafness — to independently get to, enter and use a facility. The standard is intended for adoption by government agencies and organizations to use in updating local building codes.

ICC Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims, CBO, stated:

ICC staff worked tirelessly to shepherd the 2017 version of the accessibility standard through the approval process. We’re pleased to present this updated standard, which takes into account the latest technology, such as powered wheelchairs and electric vehicles.

This updated edition of the standard continues to meet or exceed provisions with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Guidelines and the Fair Housing Design Guidelines. The standard includes:

• For new buildings and additions, enhanced dimensions for clear floor space, turning space, and accessible routes for new buildings and additions;
• Provisions incorporating many of the latest public right-of-way criteria for curb cuts, blended transitions, detectable warnings, diagonal parking and street parking;
• New provisions to improve safety for accessible routes through parking lots, and to address accessibility at electric vehicle charging stations;
• New provisions to facilitate the charging of powered wheelchairs in areas such as accessible hotel rooms and wheelchair seating in assembly spaces;
• New provisions for water bottle filling stations, and spaces for sign language interpreter stations and video booths; and
• A new section addressing classroom acoustics to reduce the intrusion of noises from outside the classroom and improve room acoustics.

To learn more about the new ICC A117.1-2017 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities standard, visit the ICC Web site.

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The study was undertaken to provide accurate information to architects, engineers, and builders, who prior to this study only had marketing claims of manufacturers to guide them. Facilities managers can also use the study to help them make sure their existing or planned wheelchair ramps meet ADA requirements.

Standards used in the study were those in the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design which, as of March 2012, are required compliance specifications for Title II and Title III construction. Barrier removal products, such as wheelchair ramps, have specific requirements for the front edges, grades and slopes of transition in order to provide equal access to public accommodations for people with disabilities, explains Sotter Engineering.

John Sotter of Sotter Engineering stated:

We measured the slope and vertical change in level on seven different ramps. Five of them had acceptable vertical change measurements, but only two of them had acceptable slope (which may not be steeper than 1:12).

The two wheelchair ramps that met both standards were a SafePath Products model and a Pride Mobility Products model.

Sotter further explained:

Although the government established the ADA requirements, they have not established an agency to police compliance. It is up to individual project managers to be certain that products they use meet the standards.

With advancement of electronic measuring devices, there is likely to be increased scrutiny placed on both manufacturers and the building industry to guarantee that products comply with standards, advises Sotter.

Full results of the study can be attained on the Ramp Study 2017 page on the SafePath Web site.

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IREM, an international affiliate of the National Association of Realtors that has served both the multifamily and commercial sectors since 1933, is a member of a national coalition urging congress to reform the ADA to include a “notice and cure” provision. This provision would allow a business owner the opportunity to rectify a violation within a reasonable amount of time before being threatened with a costly lawsuit or a demand letter for a monetary settlement.

The organization says that H.R. 620 is a common-sense bill that will strengthen the ADA and will provide IREM members a reasonable time period to make necessary corrections and updates to their properties to ensure they are fully accessible to everyone — and IREM strongly supports it.

Michael Lanning, CPM, 2017 IREM president and senior vice president, Cushman & Wakefield, AMO, stated:

IREM and its members commit to a high level of ethical standards, and, therefore, we strongly support the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and its compliance. We also enthusiastically support the ADA Education and Reform Act and the “notice and cure” provision, as it protects our members from becoming targets of “drive-by” lawsuits and demand letters that can be very costly with no due recourse. This bill does not weaken the ADA; it strengthens and restores its original goal of providing accessibility to all people.

On January 25th, IREM sent Rep. Poe and the cosponsors a letter thanking them for their support of this important reform. For more information about IREM and its 2017 Public Policy Priorities (click on link after first paragraph), visit the IREM Web site.

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The second film with the highest number of votes, Timeless Innovation, received 40,701 votes. This film, submitted by Minji Kim, Seth F. Johnson, and Shawn Griffin, looks at the importance of General James Oglethorpe’s original design of Savannah, GA, and how it is blending with modern elements. Savannah is considered the first planned city in the United States and largely retains the original town plan Oglethorpe developed.

The film with the third highest number of votes, Renewal: The Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility, was submitted by Brandon Brown. This film received 11,062 votes and focuses on the largest commingled recycling facility in the USA. The Sims Municipal Recycling facility, designed by Selldorf Architects, not only employs sustainable design concepts but serves as an educational facility to groups interested in learning more about how recycling works.

The remaining list of the top ten voted-on films:

4. Scale – In Austin, TX, affordability and accessibility are an essential component to a thriving entrepreneurial environment. By rethinking the office typology to better accommodate a start-up friendly landscape, architects are stimulating innovation.

5. A Home – Tells the story of how an ambitious project transformed the lives of the residents of East Harlem, by creating Harlem RBI, a multi-purpose building that includes Harlem RBI’s offices, DREAM Charter School, a new community center, 89 affordable housing units, and a beautiful public park.

6. HOME – The Dr. Davis Senior Center in the Bayview neighborhood outside of San Francisco provides housing for low-income seniors, but more importantly provides a thriving community for its residents.

7. Precipitating Change – By integrating an air-to-water technology called ‘Skysource’, up to 300 gallons of water can be produced per day. The water is offered free to the public in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, as well as to Community Healing Gardens.

8. Urban Frontier House – High Plains Architects had a vision to create a comfortable, affordable, and low-maintenance house that just happens to be almost entirely self-sustaining.

9. Intervention Whispers – Renovation of a series of adjacent modest historic structures in downtown San Antonio has had a large cultural community impact. Architects discuss their process and challenges where interior historical documentation is minimal in this adaptive reuse.

10. ALBIZIA – An invasive tree specimen in the state of Hawaii that has caused damage to the both the built and natural environment is now being repurposed as a building material to address housing for the homeless.

Juried competition winners

Following the Grand Prize winner ARCH 335: Rebuilding Medcamps, on accessibility for those with disabilities mentioned above, the Second Prize in the juried competition went to 20×10, a film about a radical approach to creating a community for the chronically homeless in Austin, Texas, and submitted by filmmakers Patrick Higgins and Kurt Hanley. It looks at how a micro-home design provides spaces for homeless individuals to personalize and establish roots.

Third Prize in the juried competition went to Build Back Better, filmed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and submitted by OPN Architects and filmmaker Sam Fathallah, which captures the Cedar Rapids community’s recovery process after the destructive flood that swept through the town in June 2008. Civic leaders turned to OPN Architects to help with the analysis of the flooded spaces and to conduct a city-wide public participation process to rebuild.

For more information about the I Look Up program or the I Look Up Film Challenge, videos of the three juried competition winners, or videos of all the film submissions, visit the I Look Up Web site.

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Commenting on the expanded requirements, BCA’s Chief Executive Officer Dr. John Keung said:

For a future-ready built environment we need to prepare for tomorrow even as we build today. Singapore’s demographics will change in the next few generations, so these requirements will compel us — including the industry — to plan ahead on how our living environment can meet the needs of all Singaporeans. This is not just about improving the accessibility of our buildings but also concerns the employability, social mobility and convenience of everyone.

Under the new requirements, owners of existing buildings undergoing additions and alterations (A&A) works must provide basic accessibility to their premises, i.e., by making the building entrance barrier-free and one toilet accessible to a wheelchair user (see Table 1). The new requirements will apply to commercial and institutional buildings that are frequently visited by members of the public, such as offices, schools, universities, community clubs, shopping centers, markets and food centers.

For example, when an existing ten-story commercial building, without an accessible building entrance or an accessible toilet, undergoes A&A works on its ninth and tenth stories, there is currently no requirement to provide barrier-free accessibility beyond the works at these two floors. Under the new requirements, the owner must provide an accessible building entrance and one accessible toilet in addition to the current requirements that the ninth and tenth stories must be accessible.

        Table 1: Minimum requirements for existing buildings undergoing A&A works

Accessibility Fund

To encourage more owners of existing buildings to incorporate barrier-free upgrades as part of the A&A works, BCA will extend the S$40-million Accessibility Fund for a further five years, i.e., from FY2017 to FY2021, expand its scope, and enhance its eligibility criteria to benefit more building owners. The Fund will cover accessibility features for the visually and hearing impaired and allow up to two applications per building or development.

Dr. John Keung added:

With these improvements to the Accessibility Fund, our objective is to encourage owners to plan gradual improvements to their buildings’ accessibility that are in line with their maintenance and A&A cycles. We hope that the expanded eligibility criteria will also bring earlier applicants of the Fund back to upgrade their buildings with additional features and enjoy the same incentive that is available to new applicants. We hope that the Fund and the additional requirements will put us one step closer to fulfilling our goal of having 70% of commercial and institutional buildings in Singapore barrier-free by 2030.

Events during Universal Design Week facilitate sharing among experts, industry and voluntary welfare organizations on inclusive design in the built environment. It is part of BCA’s efforts since 2008 to promote universal design in Singapore.

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Key findings of the RICS/YouGov SME Diversity Survey, June 2016, include:

• 45% of senior decision-makers at British SMEs would describe their workplace as “difficult” for disabled persons.
• 18% said disabled persons were not supported in their workplace.
• Over 30% said disabled access was a key barrier to increasing diversity.
• 20% agreed that SMEs cannot afford to invest in diversity.

A lack of appropriate access was viewed as the primary barrier to increasing diversity (31%) among SME decision-makers, followed by the lack of availability of diverse candidates (19%). One in 10 also noted the lack of diversity in business role models. While 48% agreed with the statement that “some industries are not suitable for disabled people,” a third felt that there were no barriers to increasing diversity in their workplace.

Founder of Disabled People in Construction and Senior Quantity Surveyor at Beard Construction Kevin Millin, who has been disabled for the last 10 years, commented:

While I’ve been fortunate to work for a supporting and accommodating company, I’m acutely aware of the challenges people with disabilities face in the workplace. Of course, there are the practical challenges, but the message that people with disabilities can prosper within the construction and property industry needs to be louder to change attitudes. Small but significant changes must be made if we want to better utilize this largely untapped talent pool.

Additionally, almost a quarter of respondents (23%) said that a pay gap still exists between men and women in SMEs, while 20% agreed that SMEs cannot afford to invest in diversity, with a similar number (19%) agreeing that providing flexible working arrangements can prove costly.

Lucile Kamar, RICS equalities manager, concluded:

Having a diverse workforce is vital for future-proofing the property and construction industry. We have to ensure that our profession is relevant and fit for the future, and one of the ways to ensure this is to make the workplace as accessible as possible so that we can reach out to and retain a diverse talent pool. The results of this survey show that there is still much to do in terms of breaking down barriers, altering perceptions, and addressing the lack of support in some workplaces for those with disabilities.

For more related information, visit the RICS Diversity and Inclusion Web page.

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WK41917, New Practice for Computing Pathway Roughness Index from Longitudinal Profile Measurements, describes a method to collect and analyze data from a sidewalk to determine its roughness. Roughness can make sidewalks uncomfortable and risky for wheelchair users and others such as parents pushing strollers, postal carriers pushing three-wheeled carts, and people using wheeled walkers, points out ASTM.

According to ASTM member Jonathan Pearlman, the proposed standard will be useful in several ways. “For businesses, the standard could increase the number of customers who are wheelchair users,” says Pearlman, chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board and co-founder of Pathway Accessibility Solutions Inc., as well as an assistant professor in the rehabilitation science and technology department of the University of Pittsburgh.

“The standard and related data collection tools will help establish a new service that engineering firms can offer to municipalities and transportation agencies that manage sidewalks and crosswalks,” notes Pearlman.  “For architects and contractors, the proposed standard will help guide design-build approaches for safe and accessible routes.”

Pearlman also foresees that, in the future, the standard could be referenced in guidelines for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

WK41917, New Practice for Computing Pathway Roughness Index from Longitudinal Profile Measurements is available from the ASTM Web site.

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