Welcome to the 8th annual edition of the Building Services Management Buyer’s Guide, a comprehensive listing of products, supplies, equipment and services used by facility maintenance and building services professionals.

Published by OTI Communications, this Guide offers information for service providers looking to improve their sustainable and ‘green’ building practices, while capitalizing on the continued greening and coming recovery of the building industry and economy as a whole.

As you’ll see in the following pages, there are new developments being made in ‘green’ building practices all the time. They’re being mandated in schools by states across the country; a new Green Building Focus conference will be held in our hometown of Birmingham, Ala. at the end of this month; and the Environmental Defense Fund has released a first-of-its-kind map that features the locations of California businesses that stand to benefit from the state’s green and energy efficiency efforts.

The California Green Economy map features more than 2,200 businesses statewide in four categories—energy generation, energy efficiency, green building and transportation—that are likely to grow as California transitions to a low-carbon economy. Many of our readers are poised to take advantage of these green and energy efficiency efforts.

One of the companies listed on the green economy map is ABM Industries, which reported double-digit increases in second quarter net income, despite a modest decline in revenue. Perhaps, a symbol of what it will take to stay profitable in this economy, it wasn’t easy for ABM, which has had a green cleaning program in place for some time now.

“Our growth in net income and adjusted EBITDA reflects the focused actions we have taken to contain costs, preserve cash and maintain or increase operating margins,” said Henrik Slipsager, president and CEO of ABM Industries Inc. “We are proactively working with our clients to help them meet their cost pressures and, at the same time, aggressively managing our own bottom line and credit risk by scaling back or eliminating less profitable contracts.”

While these measures contributed to modestly lower revenues, ABM said it is improving profit margins and serving a healthier, stronger client base. “We also are generating strong operating cash flow and effectively managing our working capital across the business. These actions should continue to leave us well positioned when the U.S. economy rebounds.”

To help our 30,000 subscribers prepare for that rebound, whether it happens in the next three months or six months, we have compiled this Buyer’s Guide as a resource to meet the ‘green building’ information needs of facility managers and contractors in a variety of commercial and institutional settings, offering industry suppliers a unique audience for their products and services.

In these tough economic times, we think it’s information they’ll find useful.

Thanks and good luck.