Sustainability is the new buzzword. Even those sceptical about global warming do not argue about practices designed to make sensible use of the earth's limited and dwindling resources. Sustainability is no longer considered innovative or progressive. It has become the way of life, and not adapting to it is bound to cause severe socio-economic backlashes.
The question of sustainability takes centre-stage when it comes to facilities management services. With thousands of commercial and residential buildings being outsourced to IFM services, great care is needed to ensure that all the processes and procedures support sustainability.
So, what is the connection between sustainability and facility managers? The facility manager shoulders the huge responsibility of implementing sustainable facility management practises. It is an indispensable duty that facility managers find challenging because of the limited capital budgets. Since they hold the key to this enormous kingdom, facility managers need to focus on long-term sustainability solutions.
Facility managers cannot achieve high-performance facilities without systematic management. A high-performance facility is expected to have the following characteristics:
Implementing sustainable solutions might seem like a challenge and is often perceived as a daunting task that comes with additional expenses, more human resources, and training to handle the operational changes.
In reality, just a few simple changes can make a world of difference. This blog is aimed at unlocking some secrets for facility managers to improve and implement sustainable measures in their facilities.
Without understanding the key aspects of a facility's performance, all efforts to implement the strategies will turn out to be fruitless. A couple of well-planned audits will help facility managers assess where precious resources are being wasted. It will throw light on special equipment or processes that are guzzling resources more than necessary. The data collected from the audits will be handy to make well-informed decisions regarding the processes.
Cleaning and maintenance are not possible without a slew of cleaning supplies. Facility managers can opt for cleaning products that do not contain volatile organic compounds, phosphorus, nitrogen, and alkylphenol ethoxylates. Apart from boosting overall sustainability, these eco-friendly cleaning products effectively reduce the number of toxins released into the environment.
Many old establishments lack the design or the internal infrastructure to use energy efficiently and rescue carbon footprints. When facility managers are entrusted with such buildings, the only sensible solution is to update the facility to become more environment-friendly. Some of the best practices you can adopt to improve energy efficiency are:
Recycling is the mantra to implement sustainability. Facility managers can adopt practices to recycle the facility's wastewater, industrial batteries, large equipment, refrigerants and fluorescent lights.
This sustainable policy that aims to reduce a facility's contribution to the landfills to zero or close to zero is achieved by implementing the three Rs- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. The policy is effective in enforcing sustainable practices that focus on sending lesser waste to landfills.
Non-compliance to eco-friendly rules set by the government is a sure-fire way to invite legal trouble.
The best way to make sustainability success is to implement it amongst the workforce, for it is they who utilise many of the resources. Facility managers can initiate new ideas, such as:
For organisations to become truly sustainable, these practices must be followed sincerely and regularly reviewed for optimum effectiveness. Sustainable activities must be implemented in such a way that they match set specifications and expectations.
When businesses go green, it has a remarkable impact on their revenue and reputation. The benefits are innumerable, long-standing, and worth all the effort.
UDS is India's leading facilities management company. Our IFM services have a no-compromise policy when it comes to sustainable practices. We follow every rule and law of sustainability, and we implement sustainable solutions with innovative methods. Call our team on 91 91769 00010 for more guidance.
