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Monday 10th October 2011
13 October 2011
Winner: EC Harris
Scooping the Consultant of the Year award, EC Harris LLP impressed the judges with a comprehensive presentation, which emphasised a whole lifecycle approach
Despite a highly competitive field, EC Harris emerged as the winner in the Consultant of the Year category at the BIFM Awards 2011.
As a built asset consultancy, EC Harris advises clients on their facilities needs. The company boasts an impressive roster of clients, including McDonalds, the University of Oxford, Orange and the Woolwich financial services group.
The judges were impressed with EC Harris’ ability to demonstrate its commitment to getting the most out of clients’ built assets, working with them to develop and execute strategies that optimise the construction, operation and use of those assets.
In order to optimise the operation of built assets, the company consider the whole lifecycle in order to determine value. ‘Asset lifecycle management’ takes into account the age, condition and use of the building, measuring usage to collect data from day-to-day operational running.
‘Construction lifecycle planning’, is informed by the data gathered from the assets in use and combined with external benchmarks, allowing for design and construction with maintenance in mind.
This data is used to inform decisions on the planning and creation of new assets, which creates a ‘virtuous circle’ where assets are specified on the basis of well-defined need. “You’ve got to have reliable data,” says Ed Baldwin, partner at EC Harris. “We’ve moved into an evidence-based era when facilities management considerations do influence design.”
A world of experience
Due to the organisation’s global presence, best practice data is available for a wide range of projects. At HSBC in Hong Kong, EC Harris was responsible for design and delivery of outsourced FM services and project management of 371,612 square metres (four million square feet) of office space.
Other responsibilities in the project included six major buildings, 14 offices and the iconic HQ building, plus stewardship of 8,000 banking staff including managing the residences for 250 senior banking staff and their families.
Over the course of the project, EC Harris maintained critical systems availability at 99.9 per cent, implemented innovative technological solutions – for example, seawater cooling, adiabatic chillers and installation of ‘sun-scoops’ to provide natural light to 12 floors of atrium floors – and overall, produced savings of up to 20 per cent on maintenance and cleaning services.
By using a whole-life approach, the company analyses the financial benefits of alternative design and maintenance to ensure the most cost-effective solution for its clients. “We’re aiming for a granular understanding of the assets,” confirms Baldwin. “We can get real-time information across a whole range of metrics, which is a powerful position from which to make decisions.”
EC Harris recognises that space management is at the forefront of many estate optimisation strategies. Also, it sees that effective space management can unlock the potential for greater energy savings, in line with legislation and wider corporate social responsibility goals.
Working with its clients to seek best value in procurement was one of the keystones of EC Harris’ winning entry.
Using a graphical model, the company aims to ensure full visibility of activities across the supply chain and across the full source-to-pay cycle. This model requires close-cooperation between the client in-house procurement team and EC Harris’ own dedicated FM agent team.
But with continued rumblings in the world economy, EC Harris is always keen to stress the extent to which it can deliver value to its clients. Through an integrated approach to technical services, it delivered several major benefits to one of the world’s largest hotel operators. By reprogramming its local operations team staff recruitment programme to align with the hotel’s construction programme, the client saved $500,000. When an early design review identified inconsistencies in the MEP services design, $1.5 million was saved.
EC Harris can lay claim to impressive sustainability credentials. The company has ISO14001 certification and is in the process of rolling out smart metering across its clients’ estates, meaning that energy usage can be monitored remotely.
Drawing on data captured from the estate, EC Harris can use this knowledge to inform decisions on future procurement – both refurbishment and new build – and harnesses the skills associated with best practise in Asset Lifecycle Management and Construction Lifecycle Planning to ensure sustainability in practice.
Winner: EC Harris
Scooping the Consultant of the Year award, EC Harris LLP impressed the judges with a comprehensive presentation, which emphasised a whole lifecycle approach
Despite a highly competitive field, EC Harris emerged as the winner in the Consultant of the Year category at the BIFM Awards 2011.
As a built asset consultancy, EC Harris advises clients on their facilities needs. The company boasts an impressive roster of clients, including McDonalds, the University of Oxford, Orange and the Woolwich financial services group.
The judges were impressed with EC Harris’ ability to demonstrate its commitment to getting the most out of clients’ built assets, working with them to develop and execute strategies that optimise the construction, operation and use of those assets.
In order to optimise the operation of built assets, the company consider the whole lifecycle in order to determine value. ‘Asset lifecycle management’ takes into account the age, condition and use of the building, measuring usage to collect data from day-to-day operational running.
‘Construction lifecycle planning’, is informed by the data gathered from the assets in use and combined with external benchmarks, allowing for design and construction with maintenance in mind.
This data is used to inform decisions on the planning and creation of new assets, which creates a ‘virtuous circle’ where assets are specified on the basis of well-defined need. “You’ve got to have reliable data,” says Ed Baldwin, partner at EC Harris. “We’ve moved into an evidence-based era when facilities management considerations do influence design.”
A world of experience
Due to the organisation’s global presence, best practice data is available for a wide range of projects. At HSBC in Hong Kong, EC Harris was responsible for design and delivery of outsourced FM services and project management of 371,612 square metres (four million square feet) of office space.
Other responsibilities in the project included six major buildings, 14 offices and the iconic HQ building, plus stewardship of 8,000 banking staff including managing the residences for 250 senior banking staff and their families.
Over the course of the project, EC Harris maintained critical systems availability at 99.9 per cent, implemented innovative technological solutions – for example, seawater cooling, adiabatic chillers and installation of ‘sun-scoops’ to provide natural light to 12 floors of atrium floors – and overall, produced savings of up to 20 per cent on maintenance and cleaning services.
By using a whole-life approach, the company analyses the financial benefits of alternative design and maintenance to ensure the most cost-effective solution for its clients. “We’re aiming for a granular understanding of the assets,” confirms Baldwin. “We can get real-time information across a whole range of metrics, which is a powerful position from which to make decisions.”
EC Harris recognises that space management is at the forefront of many estate optimisation strategies. Also, it sees that effective space management can unlock the potential for greater energy savings, in line with legislation and wider corporate social responsibility goals.
Working with its clients to seek best value in procurement was one of the keystones of EC Harris’ winning entry.
Using a graphical model, the company aims to ensure full visibility of activities across the supply chain and across the full source-to-pay cycle. This model requires close-cooperation between the client in-house procurement team and EC Harris’ own dedicated FM agent team.
But with continued rumblings in the world economy, EC Harris is always keen to stress the extent to which it can deliver value to its clients. Through an integrated approach to technical services, it delivered several major benefits to one of the world’s largest hotel operators. By reprogramming its local operations team staff recruitment programme to align with the hotel’s construction programme, the client saved $500,000. When an early design review identified inconsistencies in the MEP services design, $1.5 million was saved.
EC Harris can lay claim to impressive sustainability credentials. The company has ISO14001 certification and is in the process of rolling out smart metering across its clients’ estates, meaning that energy usage can be monitored remotely.
Drawing on data captured from the estate, EC Harris can use this knowledge to inform decisions on future procurement – both refurbishment and new build – and harnesses the skills associated with best practise in Asset Lifecycle Management and Construction Lifecycle Planning to ensure sustainability in practice.