Notorious for their shoestring budgets, public schools have learned how to make every element of their space function in more ways than one. Here are 10 tips for making your design budget stretch twice as far.
- By Pam Maynard, James Woolum
- 10/01/12
The 112th Congress faces several very critical issues when it returns for the lame duck session. From the perspective of most people, it must address several of these issues. Of the utmost importance is addressing sequestration and the pending fiscal clif
- By Fritz Edelstein
- 10/01/12
During difficult budget times, it is easy to make your first reductions to support services. Not only is that the wrong approach, it can be devastating in the long run. While we have not been able to invest much in major maintenance over the last few year
- By Dennis J. Randolph
- 10/01/12
Before installing access control hardware, ensure that your proposed products are acceptable for the applicable use group and that all code requirements are met. Doors with access control must not obstruct egress routes or negatively impact fire barriers.
- By Richard Clutter, Charles Tyler, Richard Miller
- 10/01/12
Going green is not the first thought that generally comes to mind in thinking about trends in school restroom fixtures and design. However, it turns out that ecological and budgetary concerns are now being mutually explored. Better sanitation, increased e
- By Thomas G. Dolan
- 10/01/12
States need more college graduates for in-state employers, and public colleges and universities need more public funding. Evaluating these two problems side by side has led governors and state education officials to implement a 30-year-old idea called per
- By Michael Fickes
- 09/01/12
he times they are a-changin'– six words from a Bob Dylan song seem to wrap up the past decade of procurement. In the beginning, an IFB (invitation for bid) or RFP (request for proposal) was created for everything that our schools needed. We toiled o
Sustainable procurement work has never been more exciting. New data, science, and processes are coming together with years of on-the-ground experience to create a new paradigm. A higher education pilot project is laying the groundwork for a sustainable pr
School districts can improve student performance by reducing overcrowding, building new facilities and bringing in higher qualified teachers. Any one of the three techniques will work. Used together, the results can be spectacular in elementary schools an
- By Michael Fickes
- 09/01/12
Purchasing printers and copiers can be a really daunting task. Buyers can find the entire process in obtaining the peripherals to be a challenge. Plus, how does a university, which is already working with limited funds, acquire the print technology it nee
PBK recently completed the new classroom building and conference center at Collin College's Preston Ridge Campus. "If I could use one word to describe the Preston Ridge project, it's 'flexibility,'" says Whittingstall.
- By Cliff Whittingstall
- 08/01/12
It is easy for college faculty to glide into a comfort level posture where "change" becomes a bad word. Therefore, it becomes incumbent upon the dean to continuously challenge faculty to become actively involved in reviewing and revising existin
- By Dr. Alfred S. Posamentier
- 08/01/12
The U.S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Program recently released a report noting that new building products and technologies are both here and on the horizon that can only give school administrators hope for future reduced energy consumptio
Responding to the repeated failure of reauthorization proposals, the Obama administration instituted the waiver program in February of this year. In addition to the 33 states and the District of Columbia that already hold waivers, four additional states h
- By Michael Fickes
- 08/01/12
From the delivery person to the volunteer parent, people visit school facilities every day. Often, regular visitors become familiar to school staff, faculty, even students. But with increased security, familiarity is no longer an acceptable method of mana
- By April Dalton-Noblitt
- 08/01/12
College residence halls, classrooms, offices, and other similar areas are especially vulnerable to bed bug infestations due to the pest's hitchhiking nature. Whether brought to campus by a student returning from a trip or a staff member who may have
- By Missy Henriksen
- 08/01/12
Day cleaning can be cost effective and practical in any cleaning environment. As long as you have dedication, a manageable cleaning standard with training and support from upper management, it can be easy as one, two, three.
- By Bill Blumenthal
- 08/01/12
Smartphones and tablets are in use from kindergarten to college campuses. What's important about integrating these devices into the classroom includes not only the infrastructure to support wireless access, but also the support and information availa
- By Christine Beitenhaus, Robbie K. Melton
- 08/01/12
Can handy campus cards get any better? Indeed, they can. They're being upgraded from smart cards to contactless smart cards, where they can be "read" when held near an electronic reader. "Bye-bye" magnetic stripes, "hello