Facilities survey preview.AS PART OF LAST MONTH'S "GOING GREEN WHILE Saving Green" special section, University Business teamed with E&I Cooperative Services to conduct a wide-ranging facilities survey. Called "A Study of Facilities & Environmental Considerations: 2006," the survey polled 475 qualifying senior administrators and facilities managers to learn how committed their institutions were to the green philosophy and other issues. The purpose was to gather benchmark data for comparison with annual follow-up studies. The survey was designed by market research firm Martin Akel & Associates and conducted by California-based Wilson Research over a period of several weeks in June. E-mail invitations were sent out with a link to the web-based survey. While the final report is being prepared for distribution at this month's "Campus of the Future: Meeting of the Minds meeting of the minds n. when two parties to an agreement (contract) both have the same understanding of the terms of the agreement. Such mutual comprehension is essential to a valid contract. It is provable by the express provisions of a written contract, without reference to any statements or hidden thoughts outside the writing.," a joint conference of the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers (APPA), the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO NACUBO - National Association of College and University Business Officers), and the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP scup: see porgy.), we're pleased to present a preview of some of the results here. For example, the participants were asked how their institution's emphasis on the use of environmentally responsible approaches changed over the last four years when it came to areas such as recycling, reducing pollution, reusable products, and green building designs. Nearly 64 percent said there was a greater or much greater emphasis on environmentally friendly approaches, while nearly a third of the respondents said there was no real change. When asked to rate their institutions' commitment to green approaches, nearly half the respondents believed there was room for significant improvement. The good news is that the rest believed that a "small amount of improvement" or "no real improvement" was required. Respondents were also asked how likely their institution was to seriously consider LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for future construction/renovation projects. Encouragingly, about 60 percent said that LEED would at least be considered for future projects. With outsourcing taking on increasing importance as a cost-saving strategy at many schools, survey participants were also asked about the extent of outsourcing in their institutions. Not surprisingly, food-service/dining services were outsourced more often than any other service. Interestingly, 12.5 percent of respondents said their institution doesn't outsource any services. The full survey results will be available later this month on the University Business website. RESPONDENTS WERE ASKED HOW THEIR INSTITUTION'S emphasis on the use of environmentally responsible or "green" approaches has changed over the last four years. Base: Total Answering Count: 473 Percent: 100% Much greater emphasis on environmentally-friendly approaches 17.8% Greater emphasis 49.0% No real change 32.6% Less emphasis 0.4% Much less emphasis 0.2% RESPONDENTS WERE ASKED TO RATE THEIR INSTITUTION'S commitment to green approaches. Base: Total Answering Count: 473 Percent: 100% Very committed/responsible (no real improvement required) 11.8% Committed/responsible (small amount of improvement required) 40.4% Somewhat committed/responsible (significant improvement required) 40.4% Not really committed/responsible (very significant improvement required) 7.4% RESPONDENTS WERE ASKED TO CHECK ALL THE FACILITY OPERATION activities their institutions generally outsourced to other organizations. Base: Total Answering Count: 471 Percent: 100% Foodservice/dining services 65.8% Cleaning/maintenance/custodial services 33.3% Groundskeeping services 25.1% Security services 23.1% Laundry services 20.2% Other outsourced facility services 12.7% Do not outsource any service 12.5% Energy monitoring/management 11.0% Residence/dorms/management 5.3% Conference center management 4.0% Note: Table made from bar graph. |
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