As a society, we have become more vigilant since September 11. Security now has greater significance in our personal and professional lives. As we deal with worries about our personal safety, the commercial real estate industry is also addressing these growing security concerns. And as demand for building security rises, many companies are doing their part to make buildings safer.

Building owners and property managers are faced with a question that is becoming more and more difficult: How can we ensure the safety of our tenants? The answer, of course, is that one can never be completely prepared. But we can be certain that appropriate measures are taken to ensure that buildings, the places in which so many of us spend much of our time, are as safe as they can possibly be.

Keeping the Wrong People Out

Priorities have changed with regard to heightened terrorist threats, but some things remain the same. Property owners still have to watch out for burglars and other intruders who threaten the safety of tenants.

Jean Morrissette, founder and president of Orlando, Florida-based Morrissette Electric, Inc., reports a significant increase in demand for security systems in Central Florida buildings. One reason demand has risen is because security systems have become more affordable. The cost of security has decreased due to the fact that more manufacturers have entered the marketplace. Advances in technology have also added to the increase in demand for security.

Morrissette receives a lot of requests from owners for security installations in new construction projects. The company does install security systems in already existing buildings, but it is typically much more expensive than installations during the construction phase. "We haven1t quite seen the demand for [post-construction installation] that we had anticipated after September 11, but we are seeing more demand on the new construction side of it," Morrissette says. He adds that many of the requests are for keypad entry and card access systems to monitor people coming into buildings.

Bill Ryman of Atlanta-based EDI, Ltd. Consulting Engineers says that in addition to installing technology features, many managers of multi-tenant facilities have done a much better job of securing marginal entry points. These are areas such as shipping and receiving that, in the past, may or may not have been guarded by a security person.

"In many buildings there is now staff in those areas 24/7," says Ryman, adding that building managers are also doing a more thorough job when it comes to the cleaning staff and other vendors that come into the facility. "In the past, doing background checks and issuing security badges were typically left up to the cleaning or security company. Now building managers are doing these things themselves."

Another element to factor in is that security professionals are now getting more financial support from decision-makers. As security becomes more important, people are making room in their budgets to make necessary changes.

EDI evaluates buildings and suites to see how secure they are and make recommendations as to how to make them more secure. "Access control is very popular now. You see more and more companies using access control and even requiring their employees to wear badges," Ryman notes.

Ryman also stresses the importance of maintaining perimeter-area lighting. EDI recommends that light bulbs be checked daily and replaced every few years.

"Another thing we' recommending more and more is checking driver' licenses in buildings with visitor sign-in programs," adds Ryman. "Most people are used to it. And usually, if people don1t have [identification] and they don1t have a good reason, they shouldn1t be there."

Building Security and Evacuation Planning

In order to help security professionals, property managers and other individuals gain a better understanding of potential security threats and possible solutions, Atlanta-based Barton Protective Services has written and developed a comprehensive eSeminar on Building Security and Evacuation Planning. The eSeminar, which addresses key security elements faced by property managers, is being offered through the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International.

Building security has gained a significantly higher level of importance among tenants looking for office space. Barton Protective Services, an international contract security company, understood the need to create an in-depth training program that identified increased risks since September 11. This eSeminar is a result of expert knowledge from Barton Protective Services, BOMA and others.

The program is divided into 10 learning modules averaging 15 to 20 minutes each. Using full motion video, audio and graphics, users are engaged in activities that teach how to determine a specific property' threat profile, assess a property' strengths and weaknesses, and identify threats and manage them before they become a reality. A workbook, direct e-mail access to the presenter, online tests, a full-time technical support center and a certificate of completion are included in the program, which is also sponsored by ADT Security Services, Inc. and Wheelock Inc.

High-Tech Integration

One idea on the horizon is how high-tech integration can make buildings more secure and energy-efficient. Leading technologists from all building-control disciplines gathered at an Intelligent and Integrated Buildings Council meeting this summer to discuss how to make their technologies work together to achieve the enhanced security, energy management and general operations improvements increasingly required of today' buildings.

"If you integrate all of the components in a building together -- security system, elevators, heating and air conditioning units -- then you have the ability to control a building in several ways," says Bob Williams, chairman of the Intelligent and Integrated Buildings Council, which is part of the Continential Automated Buildings Association. Williams is also vice president for commercial property of Invensys Energy Management, a unit of London-based Invensys. Invensys is an international production, technology and energy management group.

"Not only do you keep the wrong people out, but in an emergency, you know where people are in a building because the security system is linked to the access systems. And if you know where people are, you can actually go get them directly," Williams explains. The security system would also be linked to the elevators, so when people enter the building they only go to the floors to which they are allowed to go.

A costly investment, but a necessary one according to Williams. "It' expensive, but it has to be done," he says. "Because if you have a building that' 80 percent full, and your next door neighbor has a building that is 75 percent full, you' going after each other' tenants. And the building that can market itself as the safer, more efficient building is the one that' going to attract most of the tenants."

"We have to find ways to make these enhancements and improvements in an environment where profits continue to increase," Williams continues. One way to cut costs is to save energy. One of the council' main goals is to increase the efficiency of managing buildings with regard to saving energy. For instance, activity in certain parts of a building can be monitored so that lights are turned on or off according to when the area is being used.

"The integrated technology gives [property managers] the information, real-time, to know how the building is being utilized at any given moment so they can control what kinds of services they' providing to that building at any given moment -- whether it' air conditioning, lighting or security access systems," says Williams. "But they can only know that if all the systems and subsystems are communicating with each other."


©2002 France Publications, Inc. Duplication or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization from France Publications, Inc. For information on reprints of this article contact Barbara Sherer at (630) 554-6054.