Facilities Management

Get an overview of the principle duties of a facility manager. Learn the practical applications that will help you understand the business aspects of facilities management. Gain an understanding of the diverse responsibilities and decision-making processes from building infrastructure to fleet services. Acquire the insight needed to meet budget restraints while improving productivity, efficiency, and employee quality of life issues. Guest speakers and classroom workshops help you master these skills. A field trip to the UC Irvine Central Plant highlights the course.

Master the successful applications of facilities design including defining the requirements of a project, developing design strategies, implementing corporate philosophies and methodologies, and understanding the Project Development Process. Gain the knowledge that will help you increase your confidence as a project leader and assure the success of your future projects. Whether you are managing multiple, small departmental relocations or anticipating a large project, these professional skills will assure you of greater success.

Facilities managers manage both facilities operations and personnel. Gain practical knowledge that can be used on the job to enhance your leadership skills and improve productivity. Explore topics that include: a supervisor's role within an organization, verbal and written communication skills, problem-solving techniques, managing a budget, strategic planning, ethics, and team development. If you supervise or manage within a facilities management organization or in an environment where technical, professional, or trades people are working, this course is for you.

Gain practical knowledge on heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration systems as applied to building comfort systems. Enhance your knowledge of all aspects of HVAC-R systems. Explore topics that include: thermodynamics, psychrometrics, forced air and hydronic heating systems, LEED certification levels, and current issues regarding building sustainability. Facilities managers, building engineers, and maintenance and service mechanics will find this course of interest. A tour of the Central Plant at UC Irvine is conducted to inspect different refrigeration systems.

Financial management skills are a must have in a facilities management career in our current economic environment. This course will not only guide you through the basic terminologies and tools, it will enhance all the talents you currently bring while educating you thoroughly to perform financial analysis with a facility management twist. You will reap the benefits of being able to comprehend and perform financial analysis through practical experience with real life financial analysis scenarios. Acquire the skills that can help you reason, process, develop and present both an operating and capital budget along with analysis to help you sell your projects, such as: Payback, Life-Cycle Costing, Return on Investment (ROI), Return on Assets (ROA), Net Present Value (NPV), and Present Value (PV). You will also explore alternative financial analysis strategies to assist in establishing cost effective practices.

Learn how to read and understand construction documents for use in planning, and residential and commercial development. Understand orthographic projection and plan development; common drafting practices, dimensioning, typical symbols and abbreviations. Examine different types of plans such as floor plans, foundation plans, elevations, section details and schedule sheets. Mastering the symbolic language of these contract documents will help you to clarify work assignments.

Learn to use building codes to design safe and accessible environments and to create drawings that meet minimum plan checks requirements. Participants complete in-class exercises addressing ADA requirements, exiting requirements, occupancy groups, construction types, energy conservation as required by Title 24, and minimum standards for fire-retardant materials. Other topics covered include the evaluation of real estate principles using basic code analysis, and the validation of finance budgets using estimates.

Facility Management (FM) professionals often deal with real estate considerations to maximize value for their organization. Increase your knowledge of the various roles and responsibilities of the facility manager in fulfilling these needs through lectures, readings, team assignments/case studies, and discussions with guest speakers involved in facilities management. Enhance your understanding of special considerations for site selection, utilities, entitlements, finances, and working with real estate brokers to meet organizational goals.

All-hazards disaster planning and preparedness is the foundation for a coordinated, timely and well-executed disaster response that applies to a broad range of events. Get an overview of emergency management with a focus on the roles of local, county, state, and federal government; non-profit agencies; and the business community. Gain an understanding of the key principles of emergency management within the framework of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Enhance your knowledge of risk and threat assessments, preparing emergency plans, managing response, and developing and implementing recovery plans. Learn about the regulations and standards that govern emergency management, such as SEMS, NIMS, and NFPA 1600. The principles of emergency management are reinforced with lessons learned from real-life events, and guest experts augment the learning experience.

Gain an understanding of the concepts necessary for an organization to address in preparing for a natural or man-made catastrophic emergency event (fire, terrorist act, hazardous material spill, internal sabotage, etc.). Explore the practical steps necessary to develop and test a plan to assure continuity of business operations. Learn about business continuity planning professional practice subject areas including: risk evaluation and control, business impact analysis, developing and implementing business continuity plans, awareness and training programs, and exercising and maintaining business continuity plans.

Protecting indoor air quality is critical in occupational safety and health, and facilities design and management. Learn about the threats to healthy indoor air in homes, offices, schools, and buildings. Gain an understanding of the risks of chemical and biological attacks on air systems in buildings. Learn to develop plans to protect people in a building from airborne agents released by terrorists. Enhance your knowledge of the sources of pollutants, "sick building syndrome," factors affecting the effectiveness of ventilation systems, regulatory requirements, and program development.

Gain an understanding of how organizations are taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on employees, customers, communities, and the environment. Learn how to manage interdisciplinary relationships within an organization to develop and implement workplace programs that encompass initiatives supporting corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainability, and green initiatives. Learn a practical approach to applying CSR and sustainability principles, and presenting data to decision makers for maximum impact. Enhance your knowledge of topics that include: elements of CSR and sustainability programs; organizational impact and risk factors; voluntary and regulatory initiatives; certification and special interest systems; environmental impact analysis; and methods and resources to solve problems.

Fire protection is a field that requires a broad spectrum of knowledge across multi-discipline principles. Gain an understanding of fire protection principles and their impact on industrial and commercial facilities to save lives and protect property. Enhance your knowledge of fire protection requirements for various types of commercial and industrial facilities. Learn how to evaluate fire hazards, conduct arson investigations, and recommend improvements to maximize life safety and minimize property loss.

Gain an understanding of the safety engineering techniques and practical skills essential to safety professionals. Learn about topics including: biological stresses, hazard and exposure control, toxicology, property exposure and control, radiation, ventilation, life safety aspects of fire, hearing conservation, machine guarding, system safety, and environmental health. The workshop setting of this course features a combination of lectures and open discussion, giving you the opportunity to clearly understand all material. Reading assignments and testing in class will also help you prepare for the Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and the Occupational Health and Safety Technologist examinations.

Increase your knowledge of the basic principles of data communications. This course provides a comprehensive overview of the following topics: analog and digital transmission, voice, video and data processing, open systems interconnect (OSI) model, client-server architectures, bridges and routers, local area and wide area networks, and modern state-of-the-art technologies. An introduction to Ethernet, TCP/IP, other high-speed protocols, broadband communications, and wireless communications is also presented. Participants actively learn through case studies that provide "real-world" scenarios of modern data communication systems.