A web site - occupier.org – has been launched by a consortium of organisations "to generate and place in the public domain knowledge of the impact of buildings and workplaces on occupiers' business performance".

So far, contributors to occupier.org include the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions; English Partnerships, NACORE (UK), RICS Research Foundation, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors; and Society of Property Researchers.

The consortium says occupiers need to understand how buildings contribute to the costs and business delivery of the organisation and says they launched occupiers.org due to the lack of literature available providing this information.

In conjunction with the launch of its site, occupiers.org unveiled its first product - an online database of research of the corporate sector, produced by the Facilities Management Graduate Centre at Sheffield Hallam University. This can be accessed on the site.

www.occupier.org

Jessica Jarlvi