Hodges Chris - Sustainable facility management : the facility managers guide to optimizing building performance

Since this book was over two years in the making, a multitude of changes have taken place in the world of design and construction of green buildings and in facility management. Although there are still some gaps between the two worlds, the gap is closing as building owners and property managers realize that there is a different skill set involved between the design and construction phase of a building and its operational phase.

More and more facility managers are participating in the design and construction of the buildings that they will eventually operate. Technologies such as building information modeling (BIM) offer ways to bridge the gap between the design and construction phase and the operation of buildings by making much more information available than existed in the past. We are starting to see requirements to operate buildings in accordance with maintenance codes (although operations and maintenance has long been in existence in the codes world). We are also seeing the emergence of consensus standards in facility management. Groups such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) are gathering consensus for world-wide acceptance of standards in facility management practice.

We are also starting to see the emergence of the importance of a properly educated workforce in facility management. Initiatives such as the Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act of the U.S. Federal Government have emphasized the need for new and advanced skills to meet the demand of technologically advanced building systems, energy and water conservation technologies, and management of the work environment in a safe and healthy manner. This has also highlighted the need to manage our buildings in a more strategic manner recognizing the need for a strategic approach to facility management; better planning, more emphasis on the financial aspects of our facility strategies, more robust operational systems, adoption of best practices, and education and networking ability of the facility management workforce.

The facility management workforce is better versed in finance, communication, technology, leadership and strategy development then in any time in the past. Business acumen is emphasized over operational and technical know-how. Communication and reporting skills are invaluable in facility management. The use of performance management tools such as the Balanced Scorecard are becoming second nature in facility management.

Perhaps the most significant trend that effects facility management is the growing need for transparency in reporting our Corporate Social Responsibility and commitment to the Triple Bottom Line . Since facilities can account for a large portion of an organizations energy use , carbon footprint , and waste production, the facility manager is in a unique position to drive the organizations CSR reporting efforts. Programs such as the Global Reporting Initiative and the Carbon Disclosure Project drive organizations to look internally at what they do, and to look up and down the supply chain for their effect on people and the environment, and cost of doing business in a more transparent world. The facility manager has long been in the position of being measured. Those that have embraced measurement and transparency are becoming the leaders in their organizations and in the facility management field. This convergence of the world view of the Triple Bottom Line of business and the more conventional world of facility management has brought us to a new perspective on how we manage and operate facilities sustainable facility management .

As the authors of this book, we have no illusions that we have captured everything that sustainable facility management involves. We also realize that changes in the facility management field will continue at a pace that far outpaces our ability to capture it in words. We only hope that we will be able to continue to bring the subject of sustainable facility management to light in future editions of this book.

Whether you key-in on specific topics, or you partake of the writings in this book in their totality, our hope is that there are at least a few things that get you thinking differently about facility management. We hope that you value the information included in this book and look at it as a resource for improving how you manage facilities.

Read in good health!

Chris Hodges and Mark Sekula