For the last six years, I have had numerous conversations with both commercial real estate owners and managers. When I ask them how many work orders they perform on a monthly basis, they can quickly recite a number, either from a spreadsheet or some rudimentary system used to track those reactive service requests. When I ask about their preventive maintenance, however, I get a completely different response.

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Green is everywhere, and not just because it’s springtime. Taking advantage of renewed environmental consciousness generated by high fuel prices and global warming fears, organizations of all stripes are turning their products, their services, and their images Green. Some are truly environmentally conscious initiatives and should be applauded; others are Brown with a Green marketing wrapper. Beware the latter.

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As the economy plummets, the shift of power from landlord to the tenant is almost audible. Like Ross Perot’s “great sucking sound,” the leverage shift from landlord to tenant landed with a tremendous thud in 2008 and will continue to roll downhill throughout 2009 and 2010. As companies go out of business, reduce staff, and look to reduce costs wherever possible, attractive sublease availability has become more prevalent and is beginning to compete with the general market ― forcing rentable rates down and threatening building-based cash flows. What to do about it?

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There is the sentiment in the commercial real estate market that customer service falls somewhere well down the line after location, price, and amenities as primary factors for attracting and retaining tenants. And while those are undeniably important, they remain somewhat out of the control of property managers – the one thing within your absolute control is customer service, and in these uncertain times, doing everything you can to service and keep your existing tenants happy is the most important work you can do.

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Technology provides an increasingly positive and influential impact on patient healthcare and the overall healthcare environment. There is tremendous activity in the healthcare technology marketplace, on both the clinical and environmental sides, and it’s not slowing up as it gets older. Take for example the healthcare information marketplace.

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During the recent real estate market boom, when revenues from rent were at an all time high and portfolio values were skyrocketing, property managers sought out facilities operations management systems because of their revenue generating capacity – better facility operations meant premium rents and fewer vacancies. Today the real estate market has changed and businesses who have already implemented enterprise-level facilities operations management systems are now discovering the benefits they produce during the down-side of a boom.