Guardian Service Industries, Inc.

By  JANE MARGOLIES Mariele Marki lives on the fifth floor of  House 39 , a new rental building on East 39th Street in Manhattan that is awash in indulgent amenities. The apartment building also has a perfectly nice elevator that stops on all 36 floors. But after walking her dog, Ms. Marki, a marketing consultant who is 26, often takes the stairs to her apartment — starting with the sculptural staircase that spirals up the double-height lobby to the second floor, where she can grab a coffee from the lounge before continuing up on the fire stairs. “Every little bit helps keep you a little more fit,” she said.  Hammams and wine cellars top many amenity lists for new developments, but staircases? In upscale buildings that go all out to pamper residents, a feature that requires exertion might seem counterintuitive. But over a century and a half after the modern elevator was invented, many developers, architects and designers are bringing staircases to the fore, to add drama, evoke a

By  Carl Campanile New York’s public building costs are the most expensive in the world partly because taxpayers are subsidizing skyrocketing pension and health care costs for the construction industry, according to a study released on Monday. State and local governments paid double the 17 percent inflation rate to cover “prevailing wage” costs for union construction workers on public works projects from 2007 to 2017, said the report by the Empire Center for Public Policy. A lot of those funds covered fringe benefits, which zoomed even for laborers — the building trades’ lowest- paid workers — from $22.74 to $40.60 an hour. By comparison, wages for those same workers jumped from $34.89 to only $41.50 an hour. In New York, fringe benefit costs now account for 41 percent of prevailing wage compensation, double the 20 percent for all private construction workers, the study said, citing U.S. Labor Department data. “The law effectively provides a taxpayer bailout o

Make the grade energy-efficiency without breaking the bank By  Udi Meirav Does your commercial building deserve an A, B or worse for energy efficiency? By 2020, you won’t have to guess. New York City buildings of at least 25,000 square feet will then be  required to post their energy grades at public entrances. The requirement is a key part of the city’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050. Indeed, buildings account for more than two-thirds of the city’s energy use, and commercial buildings are responsible for 30% of New York’s greenhouse-gas emissions. The regulations pose a dilemma for commercial building owners because, traditionally, achieving higher energy efficiency has required substantial up-front expenditures. This has put them in the difficult position of choosing between saving money and saving the environment. The good news is that new technologies are empowering them to do both—while incurring zero or even negative incremental costs ass

BY KATHARINE SCHWAB Every year, more than  530 million tons of construction and demolition waste  like timber, concrete, and asphalt end up in landfills in the U.S.–about  double the amount of waste picked up by garbage trucks  every year from homes, businesses, and institutions. But what if all of the material used in buildings and other structures could be recycled into a new type of construction material? That’s what the Cleveland-based architecture firm  Redhouse Studio  is trying to do. The firm, led by architect Christopher Maurer, has developed a biological process to turn wood scraps and other kinds of construction waste like sheathing, flooring, and organic insulation into a new, brick-like building material. Maurer wants to use the waste materials from the thousands of homes in Cleveland that have been demolished over the last decade or so as a source to create this new biomaterial. Now, the firm has launched a Kickstarter to transform an old shipping container in

By  Tim Logan Part of the old Boston Globe building is set to get a dramatic upgrade as a swanky food hall and hangout space, the centerpiece of an overhaul of the newspaper’s former headquarters in Dorchester into a hub of creative and tech offices. That’s the vision the development firm Nordblom shared when it filed detailed plans Tuesday to redevelop the massive complex on Morrissey Boulevard. The company wants to repurpose the nearly 700,000-square-foot building as a “multi-tenant innovation park,” aimed at companies that want to be close to the core of the city but don’t want to pay downtown rents. Ultimately, the developer envisions a mix of companies big and small, and thousands of jobs, in a building that has sat empty since the Globe moved downtown last year. Read more here . 

By  TIM HERRERA It’s not just you: Yes, everyone you know really is sick. This year’s flu season is the worst in nearly a decade —  the most intense since 2009’s swine flu pandemic  — and it’s only going to get worse. (If you’re curious why it’s so bad this year,  read this .) There are a few things you can do  to protect yourself from the flu , like washing your hands frequently and disinfecting shared spaces, but sometimes you will catch it despite your best efforts. If you’re among the unlucky millions who will get the flu this year, this is the most important advice: If you’re able to stay home, please stay home. Going into work while you’re sick doesn’t prove anything, and you’re putting your co-workers at risk.  Really — j ust stay home . Phew, glad we got that out of the way. Now for the goods: In collaboration with  Wirecutter , a New York Times company that reviews and recommends products, here are five cheap(ish) things to help you get through flu season. Fac

We are pleased to announce The Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM®), Greater New York Chapter, selected us for their prestigious Industry Partner of the Year! "Thank you for recognizing our passion and commitment to being the best facility provider throughout Greater New York! It is an honor and pleasure to be your Industry Partner of the year!" -- Jeremy Bressler, Vice President, Operations.  (L-R, Jeremy Bressler, Lyn Bressler, Matthew Bressler)  ABOUT Guardian  Established in 1918, Guardian Service Industries is a 4th generation family owned Janitorial, Security, Pest Control and Engineering & Operations staffing corporation. We provide a comprehensive range of essential facility management services to over 1,000 clients across various sectors, inclusive of commercial and government buildings, residential communities, schools, industrial facilities, transportation hubs and retail outlets throughout the Northeast and New England. ABOUT IREM The Insti