WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Building Owners and Managers
Association (BOMA) International announced today that the arrival of January
1, 2000 (Y2K) brought with it no significant problems to the world's office
buildings and embedded building systems.
Two years ago, BOMA's then-secretary/treasurer R. Coffee Colvin testified
before Congress that BOMA's Y2K goal was to lead the industry in "planning and
testing for Y2K compliance, but that we would have the most comprehensive
contingency plan never used." Today, BOMA President Richard D. Baier, managing
director for CB Richard Ellis in Kansas City, Mo., announced that BOMA
achieved its goal, as January 1, 2000 caused no significant problems for the
nation's buildings and building systems. Baier said the association would
continue to be on guard through February 29, 2000, however, since the year
1900 was not a Leap Year.
"We remain cautiously optimistic that our members and tenants will be able
to conduct 'business as usual' on February 29, 2000," Baier said. "BOMA's
members were thoroughly educated and prepared for Y2K, and they acted
professionally to accomplish all the preparations necessary for the century
date change. As a result, we don't foresee the Leap Year causing any
significant problems either."
BOMA International was a leader in the effort to educate the commercial
real estate industry about potential Y2K problems. These educational efforts
included: two instructional books, Meeting the Year 2000 Challenge: A Guide
for Property Professionals and Y2K2: A Contingency Planning and Testing Guide
for Buildings; a series of nationwide seminars on troubleshooting and solving
Y2K problems, and co-hosting the National Y2K Summit on Building Preparedness
with the General Services Administration, the President's Council on Year 2000
Conversion and Buildings magazine. BOMA also commissioned two industry surveys
in 1999 to gauge the state of Y2K upgrades, produced the "21 tips for 21 days"
document to aid professionals in last-minute efforts, and set up a Web site
with Cushman & Wakefield for property professionals experiencing the date
change in earlier time zones to forewarn their colleagues in later time zones
of any potential problems.
Baier also said BOMA's Y2K experience would serve as a template for
developing industry-wide cooperation in addressing challenges.
"Against the serum of cooperative industry research, education, teamwork,
and government-industry partnership, the Y2K bug turned out to be less than a
24-hour flu," Baier said. "I am proud that we developed a successful model to
attack this challenge and I plan to employ this model to address future issues
such as energy efficiency, indoor air quality, building codes and deregulation
of the electric and telecommunications industries."
Founded in 1907, the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA)
International is a dynamic international federation of more than 100 local
associations. The 17,000 members of BOMA International own or manage over 8.5
billion square feet of downtown and suburban commercial properties and
facilities in North America and abroad. The mission of BOMA International is
to advance the performance of commercial real estate through advocacy,
professional competency, standards and research. For more information, visit
the BOMA International Web site at http://www.boma.org.
SOURCE Building Owners and Managers Association International
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.boma.org
CONTACT:
Lori A. Forcey of BOMA International,
202-326-6317 or Lforcey@boma.org
|
