GIS Day is November 19

GIS Day is a grassroots event to celebrate the practice of geographic information systems (GIS) users and to showcase real-world applications of this important technology. This year GIS Day is November 19 and is principally sponsored by the National Geographic Society and other professional organizations and companies.

GBA's Leonard Barnhill and Ben Grover are GIS Specialists.

GIS professionals take complex data to create databases and maps that benefit communities. GIS maps can show land usage, infrastructure location, public utilities, emergency services, road type and pavement condition, tax rate and other parcel information, lot measurements; permits issued, FEMA DFirms and more. GIS is an important asset management tool for governments and businesses.

The history of GIS Day dates back to 1999 and has grown into a worldwide educational event.

World Toilet Day

November 19 marks the 13^th annual World Toilet Day. The non-profit World Toilet Organization (WTO) founded this day to break the silence on the global sanitation crisis. Since 2001, the sanitation and water advocates from 19 countries have hosted a variety of events to get help to people suffering from inadequate sanitary facilities.

WTO achieved an important milestone in 2013 when 122 countries co-sponsored the UN resolution “Sanitary for All.” This United Nations-sponsored initiative raises public awareness of the need for adequate toilets to improve people’s health and save lives. Bettering peoples’ lives through clean and safe sanitation facilities has a huge economic impact. It improves health, fewer days are lost to sickness, and children stay in school longer.

Facts

• Approximately 2.5 billion people, or one in three people, do not have access to safe and private toilet.  
• More people have a cell phone than a toilet.
• Around 500,000 children die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation – that's almost 1,400 children a day.
• Every year, around 60 million children are born into homes without access to sanitation.

Fire Consideration for Critical Facilities

GBA’s fire protection engineer, Dave Lewis, PE, FPE, ARM was recently selected to present at the 7x24 Exchange Midwest Chapter & AFCOM 2014 Fall Conference.  Below is an excerpt from his talk.

Many of our clients fall into the category of critical facilities, i.e. facilities that can’t tolerate disruption to normal business operations.  This includes data centers and telecommunications centers, with key electrical and mechanical systems, designed and built with redundancy and reliability that exceed those found in other types of occupancies.  Preventative maintenance on these systems is critical.  The increased complexity of design and preventative maintenance are necessary to attain peak system performance and align with corporate goals for business continuity.

When developing a plan for business continuity and uptime of a critical facility, it is important to consider a few key items.

• Fire suppression, detection and alarm systems – will the minimum levels of protection required by code support your corporate goals for continuity of operations and appetite for risk?

• Waterbased and/or clean agent suppression systems– How susceptible is your equipment to water damage?

• Early warning smoke detection to supplement standard smoke detection – How vulnerable is your equipment or product to smoke damage?

• The age and complexity of the alarm system as it relates to ongoing maintenance – As the age and/or complexity of your systems increases, has your preventative maintenance increased as well?

 To make matters more challenging, changes in technology have rendered some fire alarm systems “obsolete”, making them harder to maintain and more susceptible to failure resulting in downtime.   These issues can result in a higher frequency and duration of critical fire protection impairment, ultimately leading to catastrophic loss and expense.

Fire protection professionals can assist in evaluating existing systems to determine if performance is consistent with corporate goals and are maintainable.  For new facilities, owners and tenants should consider fire protection systems with other critical building systems to ensure that design align with corporate goals.

To learn more about GBA’s Fire & Life Safety Team and how we can help achieve your corporate goals for business continuity, visit our website.

#1 Boss

Mug found at cafepress.com

It’s time to raise your coffee mug in honor of your Boss. Since 1962 employees in the United States and Canada have set aside October 16 to say ‘thanks’, ‘you’re the best’ and ‘can I have a raise?’ to their bosses. Well maybe the last one can be saved for another day. But this day is meant to honor and thank bosses everywhere for their hard work and dedication, their leadership and their guidance.

So thanks, Boss, for all you do!