Facility management enables the effective operation and upkeep of the buildings and serves as a tool for regular, sustainable improvements.
In this article, we will discuss facility management’s role in achieving building performance standards and sustainability goals.
Responsibilities of A Facility Manager
Depending on the facility and the company in charge, a facilities manager’s responsibilities may vary. However, managers are expected to be in charge of several common building procedures.
These include anything from facility upkeep and security to the daily management of operations and strategic planning. In addition to guaranteeing inhabitants’ health and safety.
Typically, facilities managers are expected to oversee a range of services, including but not limited to
- Setting up and organizing routine upkeep and building repairs.
- Dealing with legal or contractual issues (with clients and outside vendors).
- Offering clients the proper amenities and equipment.
- Complying with the regulations on health and safety.
- Utilizing space management to make sure that residents are content and secure.
- Ensuring the safety of the area.
Ensuring residents are content and making the most of their built environment is a fundamental responsibility of facilities management.
After all, the main goal is to maintain a facility in the greatest functioning condition possible to generate revenue.
This can be done by effectively managing spaces, including designing layouts, maintaining the cleanliness of shared areas, and supplying the appropriate furniture or equipment.
Importance of Facility Management in Building Performance And Sustainability
Professionals in facilities management can reduce the negative effects that existing buildings have on the environment and improve employee well-being while doing it in a way that rewards the investment financially.
Natural Light
An example of one of many “no-cost” activities that are part of sound, sustainable FM practices is harnessing the power of natural light.
Achieving the ideal balance between natural daylight and artificial lighting systems may directly affect employees’ health and general happiness, which is one of the key factors determining an organization’s performance.
Building-Specific Green Policies
The introduction of building-specific green policies and frameworks can compel the site team to guarantee the delivery of services with a high level of sustainability for both hard and soft services.
The benefits of green policies can be observed in the usage of biodegradable products, the removal of plastic, the recycling of garbage, and other ways.
Environmentally conscious organizations and people make sure their facilities will be functional in the future.
Technology Utilization
Did you know that during a building’s life, three to four times as much money will be spent on maintenance and operations as on the building’s initial construction?
Technology offers a better way of not only swiftly determining the problems of assets but also enhancing preventative and predictive maintenance techniques, which helps to increase the value of important assets in new buildings.
Technology utilization in FM can significantly advance sustainability goals that go beyond the commonly used implemented procedures.
Solutions that will last for a long time frequently have labour-intensive methods and time and financial concerns. In light of this, technology can have a big impact.
The Role of Technology and Data Management in Facility Management
The advantages of employing mobile technology to access the information that the facilities management team has gathered on your company’s structures and physical assets are immeasurable.
Facility managers are equipped with data-gathering technologies in many ways, including managing work process flows, monitoring physical assets, and monitoring building facilities.
Facilities managers can communicate, work together, and handle duties more effectively thanks to mobile technology.
Below are the top 3 advantages of mobile technology for facility managers are addressed in this article.
Data and Insights On-Demand
Facilities managers may be more flexible thanks to mobile technology, which increases the effectiveness and productivity of teams.
Using secure logins, employees may access data in real-time from anywhere at any time. Employees can now upload, update, and see data from anywhere.
Teams can work together on projects and swiftly communicate information. Facilities managers can easily keep track of assets, modify data, and guarantee that team members have more authority over them.
Employee convenience is increased when facility data is accessible on computers, tablets, and mobile devices.
Limitless Adaptability
Your staff must be equipped to respond to the dynamic corporate environment and maintain the corresponding infrastructure because the business and technology sectors are continually developing and evolving.
Your team has access to mobile asset management with the correct technology, which helps firms adapt and keep up with a continuously changing industry effortlessly.
Enhanced Communication
Your facilities management strategy can be substantially enhanced by implementing mobile data collection tools, which will also help your staff interact more effectively.
Your staff members may effortlessly execute chores like scheduling repairs via mobile apps, sharing reports and memos, and other similar activities.
Managers can even issue directives and view data instantly through facilities management software.
Additionally, diverse team members are given the ability to effectively work and cooperate on documents and reports in an interactive way.
Collaboration between facility management and building stakeholders in achieving sustainability standards
The benefits of digitalization and data-driven insights in accelerating progress on costs, reliability, runtime, and emissions reduction cannot be overemphasized.
Globally, there is a lot of emphasis on this. For example, the Biden Administration issued the first-ever Federal Building Performance Standard in December 2022, requiring all federal government agencies to achieve net zero emissions in all of their facilities by 2045 and to remove on-site emissions in 30% of their building area by 2030.
For buildings owned, leased, or used by federal agencies, the US federal government established the Federal Building Performance Standard (FBPS), a set of energy efficiency regulations.
To minimize energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy expenses, the FBPS’s goal is to ensure that federal buildings are planned, built, and operated energy-efficiently.
The FBPS is regularly updated to reflect changes in technology and construction practices and is created to be consistent with current federal, state, and municipal energy rules and requirements.
Although it isn’t taken as seriously in Nigeria yet, it will be at some point. It is therefore important to utilise digitalization and data-driven insights now. Furthermore, more than carbon emission, there are other benefits to businesses and facility managers, including:
Cost Savings
Facility managers can find and remove inefficiencies, decrease waste, and minimize total operational costs by using digital technologies and data analytics.
Increased Dependability
Automating repetitive procedures using digital technology lowers the chance of human error and raises the general dependability of facility operations.
Increased Runtime
Facility managers may optimize equipment consumption, lower downtime, and lengthen the lifespan of assets by using advanced analytics and real-time monitoring.
Emissions Reduction
Facility managers can put plans into place to lessen their carbon footprint and meet sustainability objectives by keeping an eye on energy use and waste output.
Digitalization and data-driven insights provide several advantages that aid in raising the effectiveness, dependability, and sustainability of facility management operations for building performance standards.
Roles of Facility Management in Building Performance
The technical performance of a building’s structural elements and the calibre of the amenities it offers together determine how well it performs as a physical asset.
Building functionality, a building’s amenities, and how well a building supports activities inside it should all be considered when evaluating a building’s performance.
Rating the effectiveness of a building’s qualities is often how its performance is assessed.
Buildings can be maintained properly for a lifetime when handled by a professional facility management company. However, facilities managers and directors are significantly handicapped if they don’t comprehend modern technologies.
Buildings and operations efficiency suffer when they rely on conventional methods of managing information like spreadsheets, paper plans, or just plain memory.
The overall objective of the integrated facility management team is to operate efficiently and without wasting resources, time, or energy.
They labour to maintain the HVAC system, the exterior, important plumbing components, and more in excellent working order.
The facilities teams enter the picture to contribute value throughout a building’s existence.