Revitalizing Aging Buildings: Best Practices and Policies for Higher Education Facilities
Higher education facilities play a crucial role in shaping the future of our society. They provide students a platform to learn, grow, and build their careers. However, maintaining these facilities can take time and effort, particularly regarding aging buildings.
Aging buildings pose many problems for higher education facilities, including safety concerns, limited functionality, and increased maintenance costs. This blog post will discuss best practices and policies for maintaining and upgrading aging buildings in higher education facilities and how technology can support these efforts.
Understanding the Problem
Aging buildings are a common problem in higher education facilities. These buildings often have outdated systems and designs that make them less functional, unsafe, and expensive to maintain. Additionally, the cost of replacing these buildings can be prohibitively high.
Facility managers in higher education facilities face a unique set of challenges in maintaining aging buildings. For example, they must balance the need to maintain these buildings using limited resources, including budget and staff. They must also prioritize which buildings to renovate first based on factors such as safety concerns, functionality, and the cost of maintenance.
Policies for Addressing Aging Buildings
Maintaining and upgrading aging buildings requires a comprehensive approach considering various factors. Here are some best practices and policies for addressing aging buildings in higher education facilities:
Develop a Long-Term Plan
Developing a long-term plan for building maintenance and renovation can help higher education facilities prioritize which buildings to renovate first and allocate resources more effectively. A long-term plan should consider building age, functionality, and maintenance costs.
Prioritize Safety Concerns
Safety should be the top priority when maintaining and upgrading aging buildings. Facilities should conduct regular inspections to identify safety concerns and prioritize those renovations first.
Implement Sustainable Upgrades
Sustainable upgrades benefit the environment and can lead to long-term cost savings for higher education facilities. These upgrades could include things like energy-efficient lighting and HVAC systems.
Engage Stakeholders
Building renovation projects should involve input from various stakeholders, including students, faculty, and staff. This helps ensure that renovations meet the needs of the people who use the building.
Leveraging Technology for Facility Capital Planning
Technology plays a significant role in maintaining and upgrading aging buildings in higher education facilities. Intellis Labs offers software solutions to help facilities plan and budget for building renovations. These solutions help facilities prioritize renovations, allocate resources more effectively, and track maintenance costs over time.
Conclusion
Maintaining and upgrading aging buildings is essential for higher education facilities to continue providing students, faculty, and staff with a safe and functional learning environment. By implementing best practices and policies for building maintenance and renovation and leveraging technology, facilities can more effectively address the challenges posed by aging buildings.
Talk to us Directly
If you'd like to learn more about how Intellis can improve your facility with capital planning software, please contact us to schedule a demo today.
