If you are not considering demountable walls, you should be

Demountable Walls have been around for a very long time, but many Facility Managers and Owners still consider them cost prohibitive. Based on the record sales of these walls recently from various manufacturers, I believe this theory is beginning to change. So many times in the past people have only evaluated them based on their ability to be reconfigured. What often gets overlooked is the following additional benefits:

1)Reconfiguration Demolition- The cost of demolition of drywall and disposal.

2)Carpet matching-Demountable walls are installed on top of carpet-no patching required

3)Employee's Health and Lost productivity-Demountable walls are often reconfigured in 1 day with little to no disruption or dust.

4)Depreciation-Demountable walls are considered furniture and can be depreciated significantly faster than drywall and in 2012 can be depreciated in only 1 year.

5)Disposing of Drywall-The amount of drywall that is dumped in landfills is becoming a staggering number and needs to stop-Demountable walls are very recyclable.

6)Real Estate considerations-A space that has demountable walls is significantly more attractive to prospective clients than drywall. Also, the walls can be taken to a new space by a client and reused.

7)Construction Time-The construction process of drywall includes many trades, is very messy, and takes weeks to complete holding up other parts of the project. Demountable walls arrive on site virtually finished and can be installed in a fraction of the time.

Please let us use our simple budget estimator to help you and your facility be smarter for the future.

Smart Phones

I recently watched a show on the History Channel about the 101 greatest inventions of all time. Number 1 on that list was the smart phone. The smart phone combines several of the other items from the list of greatest inventions: the phone, an MP3 player, a camera, a video recorder, a GPS, e-mail, and the internet. (I'm sure you're phone has other functions, but you get the point) In a nut shell, I'm sure we can all agree that the smart phone has revolutinized our lives. The world is at our fingertips and, at the same time, we are always available to the world. Fast forward a week and I find myself having lunch, alone, in a cafe, checking e-mails (on my smart phone, no less) between sales appointments. As I sit there it occurs to me that I've uncovered the single greatest attribute of the smart phone; the ability to disconnect and shut out the world. That's right, the piece of technology I use to always be in contact with the world allows me to bury my head in an e-mail and avoid communicating with anyone else around me. I looked around the cafe and found further evidence to support my claim in 3 other people eating by themselves and never looking up from their smart phones. I couldn't help but laugh. What a great world we live in. My smartphone makes it no longer uncomfortable to eat, alone, in a resturant. I can walk down the street listening to my I-tunes never have to acknowledge anyone I pass. I can pretend to be on the phone and avoid that pesky co-worker who always wants to actually answer the question, "How are you?". The possibilities are endless. The smart phone really is the greatest invention of all time.

Depreciation Stimulus Act extended

Good news for you smart business people who realize the many government programs that are trying to assist you while stimulating the economy. One of the best ever for small to medium size businesses is the Section 179 Act. I highly recommend you google it or ask your accountant how it can impact your business, but basically it allows you to buy or lease furniture or equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and write in all off in the same year, and not have it drag out over the standard depreciation rules. This act was expected to end in 2011, but was extended through the 2012 tax year. And as stated above, this does include leases. This act can be a big profit builder for the bottom line, so again, please contact a tax professional for the particular benefits for your business. And give us a call at Environments That Work, we would be glad to assist you with other cost savings ideas to build that bottom line.