Firstly, it is sensible to look at measures that will reduce energy without increasing costs.

A good example is with space heating. By setting the thermostat one degree lower for an eight hour period saves about one percent of the heating bill. For common parts, like stairways, considering reducing by five degrees so that they are still warmer than the outside, but not so warm as to encourage occupiers to stop and chat in the corridors. If the thermostat allows for different temperatures at different times of the day, set the night time periods to be cooler than those in the day time. If there are areas of a building that are not occupied ensure that heating and lighting is turned off in these areas.

A second way to save energy is to ensure proper and regular servicing of plant and machinery. Whilst maintenance visits are a cost, they are essential for good management and should help ensure a longer life for the parts and a more efficient use of energy whilst they are in operation.

Thirdly when obsolete equipment reaches the end of its operational life, replace it with new energy efficient alternatives. A simple example is that of light bulbs and fittings that will through the normal course of events wear out. Having a maintenance plan that replaces these as they fail, with new energy saving alternatives should satisfy the need to control expenditure whilst providing energy savings for the longer term. Depending on the cost of the electrician or engineer who carries out this work there may be cost benefits in replacing a number of fittings at the same time, particularly if there is a call out premium to be paid. However this work is carried out, if there are a large number of fittings involved make sure a good record is kept of which ones are new and when they were replaced. This can help support the decision to change and to monitor the cost savings achieved.

With small planned changes it is therefore possible to start to introduce energy savings to a property or real estate portfolio without large one off expenditures, although the oportunity to make larger scale environmental improvements should be taken when undertaking larger projects or any office refurbishment programme.

For some parents the idea of introducing the concept of death and dying through a pet is also attractive, so the choice of pet must be one that is likely to live for a shorter periods than others.

Pets that live a short while

The first category is pets who can be expected to live for a short number of years. The first pets for many children are usually those that do not need constant attention, such as a goldfish. Surprisingly  goldfish if properly cared for and looked after will live for many, many years, but those kept in a smaller tank indoors probably have a lifespan of two to five years. Other short lived pets include small rodents such as mice and rats that will live for one to two years and hamsters that can be expected to live for three to five years.

Mouse 1-3 years
Hamster: 3-5  years

Pets that live into double figures

Longer lived pets obviously require a significant commitment in terms of caring for them and will often also mean a stronger emotional bond is developed with them. These generally include the mainstream pets such as rabbits, cats and dogs, smaller caged birds and some of the more exotic pets such as geckos and chinchillas.

Gecko 6-10 years
Rabbit: 8 – 12 years
Chinchilla: 12 – 15 years
Cat: 12 – 15 years
Dog (dependent on species) 10-15 years
Budgies, Finches and Canaries 15 years

Pets that live longer than you

Finally there are those animas that can live for a large portion of a humans life and in some cases may outlive you. A cockatiel may live for twenty years, a horse twenty to thirty-five years, a cockatoo as long as fifty years and a tortoise fifty to a hundred years (and possibly even longer).

Whenever you consider getting a pet, for you or your child, you should carefully consider all the implications, including how long the pet will need to be cared for. These life spans are average guides and the actual age your pet may live to will depend on genetics, environment, how well they are cared for and illness they may encounter.

Cockatiels – 20 years
Horse 20 – 35 years
Cockatoos 65 years
Tortoise 50 – 100 years (or longer)

 If all of these seem too much of a commitment then perhaps you should consider the good old frogspawn, that will grow into a tadpole and then hop away as a fully grown frog in the span of a few months.

Eating and dieting choices are of course a matter of personal preference and different people will find that different diets work better for them than other diets do. Whichever plan you subscribe to the key processes in loosing weight are eating sensibly, drinking enough water and exercising. If you burn more calories than you consume then you will loose weight.

You may have heard talk of the need to have a fast metabolism in order to burn calories faster and it is true that a fast metabolism will continue  to burn calories after you have finished exercising, but in reality the more you exercise the faster your metabolism becomes. This means exercising not only burns calories once, but by increasing your metabolic rate, will help burn calories even when you stop exercising.

But although many people find sticking to diets difficult, they find exercising even more so. If you are someone who feels this way, then walking could be the answer. Unlike gym membership or other sports, walking requires no special equipment (other than a comfortable pair of shoes) and has no costs associated with it. It is also easy to increase the levels of walking slowly and gradually at a rate you feel comfortable with.

In a medical study it was found that the average number of steps taken by people who were overweight was between 1,500 and 2,000 steps less a day than those who maintained a healthy weight. That means you could be as little as only about fifteen minutes of walking a day away from a path to a healthy weight!

If you feel you could benefit from walking further, the first thing to do is work out how many steps you currently walk a day. A simple pedometer can be purchased very cheaply and will tell you how many steps you walk. By monitoring this over a week you can establish your current average daily steps. By working to increase this daily count each week you should be able to gradually increase your daily step total and find it easier to loose weight.

You can also get simple apps for your iPhone other mobile phones that will monitor your step counts and a digital pedometer for the Nintendo DS that will track your daily steps and encourage you to walk more.

For other weight loss resources you might try drinking water to help weight loss and information on how your mobile phone and other technology can help.

So what ironing board covers are available and which should you choose?

Many decisions will probably revolve around the look and the pattern of the cover and whilst this is a valid selection criteria (you will be looking at it for many hours in the months to come) and maybe more important if you do not have room to store your ironing board out of sight, the pattern is not going to impact on the efficiency of the ironing board.

The cost should not really be a consideration either, as the most expensive cover is only slightly more than a more basic cover. What you do need to ensure is that the cover you choose will properly fit your ironing board. If you think that all ironing boards are about the same size you would be surprised as they come in different lengths and different widths. Although most covers will be adjustable with a draw string to pull the cover tight around the ironing board, or with an elasticated edge to hold the cover in place, if your cover is too small it will not fit at all and if it is too large there may be so much fabric left over that you can not hold the surface tight, resulting in ridges and ruffles on your ironing board; not the ideal situation to create crease free clothes.

As with many consumer items, technology also plays it’s part with ironing board covers. The simplest cover you can get will be a cotton only cover, but silicon covers are also now produced which help reflect the heat from the iron back into the clothes, creating an easier ironing surface. In addition to the outer material, many ironing board covers also come with foam backing which provide a smoother surface to iron on. The smoother the surface, the easier and quicker it should be to iron your clothes and the better the end result.

 How often should a hamster cage be cleaned out depends on how dirty they get, but you do need to ensure that stale food and droppings are removed regularly. A full clean of the hamster cage once a week is recommended.

You should never really have to bathe your hamster. Washing them is not good for their fur as the water removes the natural oils from the fur, which can make them unwell. Chinchilla sand can help keep the coat in good condition, but there may be times when you feel you have to wash your hamster. These should only be in exceptional circumstances, for example if there is something on the fur that may be toxic of harmful to your hamster if ingested (as they lick the fur to clean it).

If there is a substance that needs to be removed from the fur you should consider if it is possible to cut it away, or brush it out. If this is not possible or the substance is something like paint or something very sticky and you feel forced to wet your hamster then do so very carefully with a small amount of warm water, keeping it away from the nose, mouth ears and eyes. When clean, dry your hamster very gently with a towel and if possible with a hair drier on a low setting held far away from the hamster. Make sure your hamster is completely dry before returning it to its cage so that the bedding does not stick to the fur.

One thing to consider is that if there is a bad smell coming from your hamster it may be because it is sick and in this case you should take your pet to the vet to be checked over.

If you regularly clean and disinfect your hamster cage and remove droppings and old food as recommended above, you should easily maintain a clean, healthy and sweet smelling home for you and your hamster.

Has the time therefore come to reintroduce children to the joys of more traditional toys, games and activities? If you believe this is the case you will probably be surprised at how easily children take to making entertainment for themselves, with less technological intervention.

When your youngster discovers that there is a whole world waiting for them to discover in a pile of sand or earth or that they can create anything from monsters, aliens or farm yard animals from cardboard tubes and sticky tape you will be encouraging not only hand eye coordination skills but developing imaginary play techniques and helping to encourage creativity. Whilst messy and requiring a level of adult supervision, craft activities like painting, drawing and cutting and sticking can be as diverting as any other play activity and provide a level of satisfaction and achievement for children.

Simple games that can be played with a pen and piece of paper, such as battleships, tic-tac-toe (or noughts and crosses) and hangman can entertain as well as encourage interaction on a human level and can be made as easy or difficult as required to your child’s level of understanding.

Other classic board games such as snakes and ladders or chess for older children will help develop mental and numerical skills as well as developing a sense of fair play and the ability to both win and loose games with a good grace.

Traditional games need not be boring and in many cases provide more enjoyment because of the engagement required by both children and adults.

Camera Lens

If you are going to use your camera phone as your main digital camera the best advice is to make sure that the lens is of a good quality as two phones with the same resolution will not necessarily take the same quality pictures. For example Nokia N Series has improved optical elements when compared to other Nokia mobiles.

Flash

A good flash can help improve your photographs, even when there is good natural light. Most camera phones have the option to force the flash to fire, overriding the built in settings and this can help illuminate your picture. Conversely if you are getting a white glare from the flash use the setting to turn it off for that photograph. Many camera phones also have a built in red eye removal feature for taking pictures of people.

Auto Focus

Make sure the auto focus feature is turned on and that you use face recognition if your camera phone supports it and you are taking photos of people. Many camera phones will have an extended digital zoom feature which in reality dos not improve the picture and can cause wobble and distortion. If possible turn this feature off. You may not be able to zoom in quite as close to the subject but the picture you take should be clearer.

Specialist Settings

Although it is perfectly possible to point and shoot to take a picture, your camera phone may have built in presets for example a night mode. It is worth spending a little time exploring the menu and using these settings where they are available as the camera should be then optimised for the picture you are taking.

Make use of other built in features

Many camera phones have features that enable you to take a panoramic shot by combining a number of different photographs, or to take several shots in quick succession to capture fast moving images. It is a good idea to try these out in advance of needing them so you do not miss the perfect picture when the time comes to take it.

Nokia N Series Camera Phones have the best cameras in the Nokia range, with the Nokia N8 being amongst the best.

Indeed a survey should be the first step in any plan to manage asbestos in a non domestic building before work such as an office refurbishment starts (and this will include common parts of residential properties, such as stairwells). Whilst it may be necessary to test certain samples, there should also be a presumption that asbestos is present in any material can not be tested that may contain asbestos.

Where asbestos is identified it either needs to be removed or made safe. If it is in good condition and does not need to be disturbed then the latter course of action is often preferred as being the safest. If is to be removed this should be undertaken by a trained and competent contractor and disposed of properly.

Any contractor working within the property should be given a copy of the asbestos survey so that they can make sure that work they do is not going to disturb any remaining asbestos or if they are working in an affected area, suitable steps are taken to remove the asbestos containing materials before they start work.

The third requirement is to prepare an Asbestos Management Plan to monitor the remaining asbestos in the property. This should relate back to the asbestos survey and include a routine of regular monitoring and inspections of remaining asbestos to ensure that it remains in good condition. This plan should also be regularly monitored and updated as required.

 

This article is an overview of the requirements in the UK relating to asbestos in non domestic buildings. Each building is different and will require a specific approach. In addition, construction work may require other consents including Building Regulations approvals or monitoring by a CDM Co-ordinator.

Before arranging for moving companies to look at your project and price the move, I would recommend that you work out how you would like the move to be organised – which departments may be able to start packing first, when you can switch off phones and computers and if your staff are going to pack or if this is a service you want the relocation company to provide.

Once you have a good idea about how you would arrange the move yourself, you can ask the relocation companies to tell you how they will go about it. Whilst the relocation companies should be the experts in the move process, only by understanding what needs to be done can you ensure the companies are providing what you need. It may be that after you have spoken to several companies that your original ideas need changing and most likely you incorporate a number of suggestions you get from speaking with different removers.

Even if you do not have a plan of attack for the move these questions are ones the relocation companies should answer for you:

Please set out the order in which the move will be handled?

This should cover when IT will be packed and moved, when files and filing crates will be relocated and when furniture will be moved to the new location. If space is tight (at either one end of the move or the other), have they allowed for a holding area to give sufficient swing space.

How many staff will you have and how do you see them split?

This is important for comparing the various quotes you will get. Company A may quote half the price of Company B, but if they are also allowing half the porters to pack and carry, you should expect the job to take at least twice as long. If something goes wrong over the move weekend, then you may rapidly run out of time with too few moving staff, but conversely you do not want to pay for too many people.

Will you appoint a relocation manager to oversee the move and be present for the move?

Normally you would expect a working move foreman to be appointed. For moves where there will be teams working both at your new and old office, you need two foremen. For large moves you may want a relocation manager so that they have the job of co-ordinating the move teams, rather than leave it to the job foreman to manage.

What time will you start on site each day and what time will you work till?

This is important so that you know when access is required to the buildings and to monitor progress throughout the move. Most companies should price to complete the job so that the staff will leave early on the final day, once you are happy.

What arrangements will you make to protect the buildings?

Moving heavy crates takes a lot of skill and whilst generally move companies are very good at not marking walls and furniture, accidents do happen. Whilst insurance will probably pick up the cost of some of these, prevention is preferable than having your new office walls marked before you have moved in, particularly if recently redecorated as part of an office fitout. Ensure the move company allows to protect lifts, entrances and corridor areas with temporary timber or foam boards. Consider dust sheets and mats on the floors if the weather is going to be wet, to help protect your carpets.

A Sustainability Policy is a written statement that outlines the company’s objectives and commitments towards targets and performance improvements in the area of sustainability.

It is important because unless a company knows what it wants to achieve and has an idea of how that will happen, it is unlikely to be able to make improvements.

There are a number of elements to a Sustainability Policy, including:

General sustainability aims and objectives

An agreement that the policy is actively supported by management and will by implemented by staff

A way of communicating sustainability targets and objectives to employees, customers and suppliers.

Ultimately the Sustainability Policy should become a central part of the business strategy.

A Sustainability Policy specific to each building is also important because every property will be different and will have different challenges and opportunities. It is unrealistic to expect a one size fits all policy to be appropriate although this does not mean it is necessary to reinvent a policy for each property. Instead your property manager should look at what elements are common across all properties and what specific items can be adopted and configured to suit specific properties.

One target for a property may be to work towards a carbon neutral building but for some properties this may not be achievable, or not at a sensible cost, which will be particularly likely for older buildings. Where this is not possible an alternative is to assess the current carbon footprint attributable to a property and set targets to reduce this.

Other things to consider include are the environmental impact of the day to day running of a property and in particular energy efficiency (how can changes be made to improve energy efficiency) and the types of energy that is used.

There are a number of reasons why developing Sustainability Policies makes sense both for good business and good property management reasons but as legal requirements increase these will become even more important. One final benefit should be as a marketing tool for empty properties. Use your Sustainability Policies to set your property apart from other less environmentally focused properties, particularly when marketing to green aware tenants and it starts to make real business sense. This could be a particular benefit in the area of serviced offices, or buildings where active management  is possible