Sustainability within FM

With the way we work changing and the focus on sustainability still prevalent, Facilities Management need to continue to explore ways to ensure a sustainable working environment

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The majority of successful and sustainably run companies have a strong Facilities Management vision and team in place. The core responsibilities of the Facilities Management (FM) team are to ensure essential built environment support to the overall business operations and the wider teams within an organisation.

The high projected growth for the FM industry can be attributed to both the commercial and residential sectors continuing to thrive. There is no doubt that considering COVID19 these numbers may change however; in the current circumstances the FM vision is even more crucial to ensure businesses operate safely and at optimum efficiency.

Sustainability within the workplace continues to top the list of priorities within FM teams as does the necessity to hire facilities management professionals who can implement and drive forward sustainable practices.

Matt Smith, associate head of the School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society (EGIS) at Heriot-Watt University Dubai shares his views on some of the ways by FM can be made sustainable.

Conduct a sustainability analysis and audit

A full sustainability analysis and audit draws on current practices within an organisation and highlights room for improvement and change. These can be benchmarked against similar organisation’s or by comparing via a full year on year comparison of how current sustainable practices could be improved. Studies have shown that such audits can help facilities save up to 20% of their costs on energy and water.