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By Tim Cool If you're a pastor, facilities manager, or other church staff, here's what you need to know to start saving money on the operation and maintenance of your facility. The following are facts tied to facilities management, cost of ownership, and cost of operation associated with ministry facilities. What are the direct and indirect costs? How does on-site staffing compare to outsourcing? How much should be allocated for facilities management in a church budget? What kind of capital reserve account should be established? How do life cycle costs impact budgeting? The International Facilities Management Association (IFMA) is the world's largest and most widely recognized international association for professional facility managers. Every year, IFMA produces a research report entitled "Operations and Maintenance Benchmarks." The recent report presented some very interesting statistics. #1: CURRENT REPLACEMENT VALUE (CRV)
According to the IFMA report, the 2008 average CRV Index was 1.55% for all the respondents, which is down from previous years. #2: MAINTENANCE COSTS The IFMA report breaks down this analysis into subsections that allow church staff to do some comparisons.
When looking at operating budgets and the cost to keep facilities functioning at peak performance, one must look at utilities. Two of the report's findings are telling here:
This is an area of facilities management in which there is often the greatest fluctuation and the most turnover in staff/vendors.
 Now it's time to look at the total cost factor.
Green, sustainable and LEED are terms that are becoming commonplace to most people who are associated with the development and maintenance of any facility. The idea behind these movements makes good business sense—not just to take care of the planet God has entrusted to us, but also to reduce operating costs and, in most cases, a great deal of cost. # 7: PEOPLE COST MONEY Plain and simple, a church staff costs money. Some of it is direct costs that one can see, touch and even budget. Others are indirect and, as such, generally cannot be tracked or determined if the person or time being given to a task is effective or efficient. #8: PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE IS LESS EXPENSIVE THAN CORRECTIVE REPAIRS It is the experience of facilities management provider Cool Solutions Group, Charlotte, N.C., that preventive maintenance, when done correctly, can cost less than 50% of the cost of corrective maintenance when calculated over a 3-5 year period of time. CONCLUSIONS:
Tim Cool is president and chief solutions officer (CSO) of Cool Solutions Group, Charlotte, N.C. The company's primary area of service is Facilities Management for ministry facilities. Cool is a member of IFMA, NACBA, NACFM and Elevation Church. He can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), Twitter@TLCool, or on the web at www.coolsolutionsgroup.com. He will also be available at WFX Charlotte, Booth #1205, Oct. 28-30. www.coolsolutionsgroup.com |
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Lutron Offers New Lighting Energy Audit for Facilities
As commercial buildings and churches across the United States continue to age, facility management teams are increasingly faced with issues ranging from inefficient light sources to outdated control strategies. The growing focus on sustainability has prompted many of these teams to re-examine their lighting systems and look for new ways to save energy while lowering operating and maintenance costs. "A 2008 Department of Energy study indicated that lighting uses 38% of the electricity in commercial buildings," says Glen Kruse, director of Lutron¹s Commercial Solutions and Services, "and wasted energy means wasted money." Although replacing older fixtures and lamps is often a quick fix, the Lutron Lighting Energy Audit seeks to go beyond the light sources by providing a complete analysis of lighting control strategies currently in use, opportunities for improvement, and recommendations for cost-effective solutions.
Suggestions may range from installing wireless occupancy sensors to reprogramming existing lighting control systems or updating timeclock schedules. The final result is a customized solution for each facility. To learn more, visit www.lutron.com/LightingAudit. Videx to Present CyberLock Access Control Class at WFX
The CyberLock system will also be displayed in Videx's booth, #1824, on the WFX expo floor. For more information, see www.cyberlock.com or visit www.wfxweb.com.
LightGuard Releases Complimentary Catalog of Facility Emergency Lighting Products LightGuard of Burgaw, N.C., offers a new full-color product catalog that demonstrates the company's continued commitment to providing life safety products to the church market. The catalog details LightGuard's line of emergency lighting and exit signs designed to meet facility life-safety needs.The catalog also contains some of the company's newest architectural white LED solid state luminaries that serve as security and emergency lighting, such as Unity, Grafix and Illusion III. The catalog is divided into 10 sections for easy access to each product grouping. Free catalogs are available at www.lightguard.com. LampRecycling.com Offers Facilities Managers a New Resource
LampRecycling.com also offers additional features that can help facilities better understand and track recycling efforts. Once a user ships out a full EasyPak container, they can login to LampRecycling.com to view recycling reports that give totals of all waste they have recycled. These reports are accessible at any time and serve as a resource for marketing environmental progress to church members and the community. For more information, visit www.LampRecycling.com. 
Should Your Annual Budget Include Replacement Reserves?
From an annual budgeting point of view, several obvious things are occurring while you sip your coffee. And perhaps one thing is happening that's not so obvious. Starting with the obvious, take a moment and look around; lights are probably on; the heating and air conditioning system is humming along; you're sitting in a chair at a desk; and the coffee pot is warm. Annual budgets have operating expenses, and for the few items mentioned above there is the electrical bill and coffee, but also your compensation and insurance. This same budget also has a maintenance leg, which likely includes the service plan for the heating and air conditioning system. Now for the less obvious ... will the heating and air conditioning system last forever; how about the coffee pot, or the lights and furnishings? All of these items have useful lives, and while you have been reading this newsletter, you have used a portion of these lives. Admittedly, these are very small portions, but over the years they add up. Eventually because things wear out, they need to be replaced. But, where does this money come from? If it's a big-ticket item like the heating and air conditioning system or the roof or parking lot repaving, do you cut back on other services? Do you reduce your missionary work? Do you go to the congregation for a special collection or fundraising? There is a better way. That is to include a Replacement Reserve Fund in your annual budget. Developed for community associations over the past several decades, this is a well established practice which is easily adaptable to your church or private school.
A properly prepared Replacement Reserve Study models all of the components in your facility with a replacement cost and remaining life. A Reserve Study then provides an annual budgeting recommendation so that when replacements are needed, the funds are available. Keeping in mind that these documents are specific for community associations, more information on Replacement Reserve Studies can be found at Community Associations Institute, http://www.caionline.org. William I. Scrivens is a reserve specialist at Miller Dodson Associates Inc, capital reserve consultants in Annapolis, Md. For more information on Miller Dodson, visit www.mdareserves.com. 
GE Announces First Phased Array Corrosion Inspection Solution
Part of GE's field-proven phased array family, the Phasor CV/DM reportedly provides extensive inspection coverage with each scan, identifying, measuring and evaluating even the smallest corrosion pit. The Phasor CV/DM has application in the oil and gas process, aerospace, power generation and general engineering sectors.
Special-Lite Announces Availability of New Adjustable Continuous Hinge
The durable Special-Lite hinges are covered by the same 10-year warranty as Special-Lite doors. The hinge is available with standard Class 1 anodized finishes in clear and dark bronze, with optional colors available.
Cozy Products Cut Costs and Promote Safety
Products include Cozy Legs, Toasty Toes, and the Ice-Away Snow Melt mat.
Crestron Mobile Pro iPhone Application Now Available
With Crestron Mobile Pro, users simply tap the screen to select movies, music and TV in any room or adjust volume, light levels and room temperature with a touch. Using the Wi-Fi network locally or the powerful 3G and EDGE networks remotely, total control is at users' fingertips. |
