Grounds work is getting harder to staff—and the riskiest areas (steep slopes, roadside embankments, fire-abatement hillsides) are often the toughest to maintain safely. In Episode 22, Josh and Nic sit down with Neil Simons of RC Mowers to unpack how remote-controlled “extreme slope” mowers and full-size commercial autonomous mowers are reshaping the way facilities and contractors tackle dangerous terrain, heat exposure, and relentless labor shortages.

You’ll hear where each approach fits (remote control for high-risk areas vs. autonomy as a true “labor multiplier” for wide-open spaces), what adoption really takes when teams are used to doing things the old way, and why having an internal champion can make or break implementation. Neil also digs into the practical side—gas-powered runtime, maintenance expectations compared to traditional zero turns, and the operational data these machines can surface (hours, acres, productivity) to help facilities teams plan smarter. Plus, a forward-looking conversation on where autonomy is headed next in grounds and outdoor maintenance.

Food service is more than menus and meal counts—it’s a massive, fast-moving operation that lives and dies by the facilities behind it. In this episode, Josh and Nic sit down with Thomas Arganda, Director of Child Nutrition for a large California district, to unpack what “asset management” really looks like when you’re responsible for hundreds of kitchens, thousands of moving parts, and the daily reality of serving meals at scale. From the murky line between food service equipment and facilities-owned infrastructure to the strict rules around child nutrition funding, Thomas shares how districts navigate upgrades like power, ventilation, and kitchen renovations without derailing budgets (or audits).

The conversation also dives into the promise—and pitfalls—of smart kitchen technology, what temperature monitoring can reveal after hours, and how older buildings and undersized kitchens complicate the push toward fresh, scratch-style cooking under universal meals. Along the way, Thomas makes the case for continuous training, life-cycle thinking, and better cross-department communication—because in the built reality, the long-term cost is often decided the day a project gets approved.

What does a truly useful facility condition assessment actually look like? In this episode, Josh and Nic sit down with John Hajduk, VP of Support Services at Geisinger Health System, to dig into a topic that trips up both owners and service providers alike: the right level of granularity in an FCA, and what to actually do with that data once you have it. With 26 years of experience spanning both the client and service provider sides — including energy engineering, capital planning, and healthcare facilities — John brings a perspective that's been shaped by doing the work, not just theorizing about it.

The conversation covers why static PDF reports are costing organizations more than they realize, how to build cross-functional teams that actually produce reliable assessment data, and the critical (and often overlooked) connection between capitalization policy and assessment scope. John also gets into scenario planning for capital funding, the balancing act between mission-critical replacements and energy efficiency investments, and why the cheapest option upfront is rarely the cheapest option over the life of an asset. Whether you're an owner trying to gain ground on your obsolescence curve or a service provider looking to deliver more value, this one's packed with practical takeaways from someone who's lived it on both sides.

HVAC touches every corner of facilities management, and in this episode of Facilities Unfiltered, Josh and Nic sit down with Richard Boothman (Sales Director at Modine) to get practical about what actually matters in the field—sizing, fuel choices, and the maintenance realities that can make or break comfort, reliability, and budgets. Richard brings nearly five decades of HVAC experience (and Modine’s 100-year legacy in unit heaters) to unpack why “bigger isn’t safer,” what really happens when equipment is under- or oversized, and how to think about redundancy and airflow instead of guessing BTUs.

They also dig into the shifting landscape of gas, electric, and hydronic solutions—from where heat pumps shine (and where they struggle), to why hybrid approaches are gaining traction as rates and rebates change. Along the way, Richard clears up the common “condensing unit vs. heat pump” confusion, shares unglamorous but high-impact preventive maintenance lessons (filters, coils, flues, and the infamous wall of shame), and offers a smarter way to think about forecasting equipment life—especially in harsh environments like car washes, greenhouses, and chemical spaces where separated combustion can be a game-changer.

What's the number one thing every facility manager should know? Josh and Nic went digging — through AI, Google, articles, job postings — and the answer was so obvious it actually caught them off guard. It wasn't PM strategy. It wasn't finding the right CMMS. It was asset inventory: know what you have and where it is. Sounds simple, right? And yet only 25–35% of FM job postings even mention it as a responsibility.

In this off-the-cuff (and timely) Episode 18, they unpack why that gap exists, why most of us skip step one (hands raised), and what happens when we do. Along the way, they explore how scale changes the approach (most FMs manage under a million square feet), where institutional knowledge helps — and where it fails — and how hidden assets can quietly become safety, budget, and reliability problems.

Fire life safety can feel like a “set it and forget it” line item—until a panel dies, an inspector interprets code to the letter, or a proprietary system leaves you stuck on fire watch with no fast (or cheap) options. In this episode, Josh and Nic sit down with Mike Stratman of Firetrol to unpack the real-world risks and recurring oversights that trip up facilities teams, and why these systems—though a tiny slice of your building—can decide whether you’re allowed to operate at all.

They dig into the messy reality of code compliance across jurisdictions, how education and hands-on training can turn fear into confidence, and what it looks like to partner with a service-first provider when staffing shortages make “in-house everything” harder than ever. Along the way, the conversation zooms out to the future—AI, the labor cliff, and why the trades may be poised for a comeback—before closing with a hard-earned lesson every FM can use: know what you have, plan before it fails, and don’t wait for an emergency to discover you’re locked into a system you can’t service.

We've all been there: the 2 a.m. call, the overheating server room, the frantic scramble to save the day. In facility management, being the hero feels good — but what if that hero complex is actually holding your facility back? In this episode, Josh and Nic tackle the uncomfortable truth about reactive maintenance culture and the "cycle of abuse" that keeps facility teams trapped in firefighting mode instead of strategic planning.

From the technician who ripped out asset tags to protect his job security, to the office-bound manager proving his worth through capital funding wins, this conversation unpacks the tension between perceived value and actual value in facilities work. The guys explore how organizations inadvertently train their teams to see emergency response as their only worth — and why that mindset costs everyone: late nights, burned weekends, and facilities that never quite get ahead of the next crisis.

Facilities teams everywhere are approaching “the staffing cliff", and it’s not just about hiring more people. In Episode 15, Josh and Nic unpack why staffing shortages, turnover, and an aging workforce are colliding with the reality that most professionals don’t choose facilities as a career path—they stumble into it.

With too few accredited FM degree programs and long hiring cycles for leadership roles, the gap isn’t closing anytime soon, which raises a tougher question: what can leaders do right now? The conversation dives into pragmatic strategies facilities leaders can use to stabilize operations and make the case for support—without sounding like “another squeaky wheel.”

From in-house vs. outsourced models (and when service providers become the “easy button”) to the hidden cost of institutional knowledge living only in people’s heads, Josh and Nic explore how process, metrics, and the right tools can help teams onboard faster, retain talent, and tell a clearer story to CFOs and boards. If you’re trying to do more with less—and prove what it really takes to run the built environment—this episode is for you.

Six years after COVID was declared a national emergency, Josh Lowe and Nic Guedenet look back on how the pandemic reshaped facilities management—overnight. From the split reality of “essential worker” life versus remote work improvisation, they unpack what it felt like to keep buildings safe and operational while guidance, supply chains, and expectations shifted almost daily.

This reflection digs into the real FM lessons that stuck (and the ones that faded): the scramble for cleaning products, the rise of “cleaning theater,” and the rapid push to upgrade HVAC performance—sometimes with unintended consequences like overtaxed equipment, burned-out motors, and growing deferred maintenance.

They also talk candidly about the human side: burnout, retention, leadership support (or lack of it), and how hybrid work has permanently changed building loads, energy strategies, and the need for better data. If you manage—or simply occupy—buildings, this episode offers a grounded take on what COVID revealed about preparedness, trust, and knowing what you’re responsible for.

In the finale of our AI Across the Lifecycle series, Josh and Nic sit down with AkitaBox product expert Dan Cooper to cut through the noise around “AI-enabled” facility management software.

With AI suddenly everywhere—from IFMA show floors to CMMS feature lists—the team unpacks a crucial reality: not all AI is created equal, and a bolt-on chatbot that summarizes work orders is a very different animal than AI that’s trained for facilities and built directly into your workflows.

You’ll hear what “trained” vs. “untrained” AI really means in practice, why most FM data sets degrade the moment they’re delivered, and how AI-native systems can help close the gap by writing data, flagging missing fields, and focusing teams on the few changes that actually matter.

They also share a simple set of questions owners should ask any vendor claiming AI capabilities—plus a look at the bigger prize: moving from stale point-in-time assessments to “living data” and predictive signals that can trigger diagnostics before failures happen.