CoreNet calls on owners to be prepared.

Citing the feared outbreak of Avian Flu in the United States as an example, disaster planning experts and corporate real estate executives at the CoreNet Global Summit in Philadelphia this week urged companies to be prepared for catastrophes as a best practice.

At a panel entitled, "Hurricanes, Fires and Blackouts--Oh My! Best Practices in Disaster Planning," industry leaders cited best practices instituted before recent natural calamities and urged commercial property owners and tenants to establish processes in order to mitigate human and economic losses, and to respond effectively in the midst of a natural or manmade disaster.

Executives at Jones Lang LaSalle and American Financial Realty Trust put in place detailed plans to prevent widespread destruction to facilities in harm's way. In preparation for the 2005 hurricane season,

Jones Lang LaSalle's International Director Bruce Ficke convinced its client, American Financial Realty Trust (AFRT) to "be a little more prepared," for the storm season to come.

It wasn't a hard sell. With over 1100 buildings in the Southeast region AFRT's Chris Lindberg determined that "something will hit us somewhere," and deployed a Jones Lang LaSalle web-based tool called "4Sight" to help protect AFRT's considerable bank assets in the region.

The proprietary software product helped AFRT with planning, safety, compliance and preparation for what became Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and helped stem what would have been much more severe property losses from those storms.

Ficke and Lindberg urged other property owners and tenants to adopt disaster plans for their businesses, communicate openly and clearly up and down the decision chain, lock in fuel vendors, practice disaster plans frequently and consider the human factor when disaster strikes.

Ian Marlow, president of Gale Global Facilities, which prepares clients for being, "in the eye of a storm," also has recommendations for businesses with critical systems. Marlow recommends redundant communication systems including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), satellite phones and simple "phone trees," to easily locate geographically displaced colleagues during disasters.

With the possibility of an Avian flu pandemic spreading in the US, Ficke urged businesses to begin planning for the possibility of large numbers of employees working at home for two weeks at a time. He said to ensure that, "there is enough technology to enable work, that access to the building is restricted and that surfaces are sanitized," to prevent the flu from spreading as much as possible.

CoreNet Global members manage US $1.2 trillion in worldwide corporate assets consisting of owned and leased office, industrial and other space.