From droughts in Africa, to wild fires in California and floods in the UK, every part of the world is now being disrupted by extreme weather events fuelled by climate change. How can Facilities Managers help turn the tide and save the world from itself?
Sustainable FM is about controlling supply chains, energy use and asset management to help companies achieve a carbon neutral or even ‘net positive’ impact on the environment.
The aim is to maximise energy efficiency in buildings while maintaining, reusing and recycling assets to extend life-span and reduce carbon footprints.
Many sustainability goals are being missed by organisations without the oversight tools to optimise their approach:
The EU and UK are intensifying regulations to penalise polluting companies and meet international climate obligations. In the EU, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will take effect in 2026, requiring companies to pay carbon taxes on imported goods.
The UK has recently eliminated the cap on penalties for environmental offences, allowing for unlimited fines proportionate to company size and the nature of the violation.
Some businesses already have smart building technology and digitally driven sustainable practices in place. They’re using IoT-enabled equipment and even AI to track, model, and control asset condition and energy consumption in their companies.
Others are much less advanced in their building and equipment management.
But these businesses still need effective digital data and controls to minimise their environmental impact and improve operational efficiency.
With flexible, cloud-based facilities management software, companies without smart building infrastructure in place can establish the sustainability framework to make this happen.
More control and visibility over the supply chain is vital for making environmentally sound decisions and proving compliance with regulations. The right CAFM helps manage record-keeping for different suppliers to meet standards like ISO 14001:2015:
A great CAFM helps you use parts ordering software to:
Digital asset registers give Facilities Managers detailed oversight of equipment performance to support their sustainability efforts. This allows them to:
Access to data trends through digital asset management tools can help identify inefficiently performing assets.
A great CAFM ensure engineers have the notifications and data to:
Pave the way for more joined-up and energy-efficient management of your facilities.
Gary Bark at Optimised Buildings points out that although cutting-edge technology (solar panelling and predictive analytics) is a key part of the drive towards net zero we need to start looking at low-hanging fruit first.
Too many businesses are ignoring opportuinities for improved energy management that tighter processes and procedures can offer:
With more integration between BMS (Business Management Systems) and CAFM systems businesses can:
Badly organised maintenance schedules can contribute to the unnecessary carbon footprint of a company who are spread out over multiple sites.
Choosing the right CAFM system can help you plan the movement of engineers and contractors more logically, reducing the amount of time they need to spend on the road.
In the hospitality industry 11.8 megatonnes of catering equipment goes to landfill, globally.
This throw away culture is increasing carbon footprint as we get in an endlessly repeated cycle of ‘buy and dispose’.
As we drive towards net- zero, we need to procure more responsibly and improve your waste management and asset recycling process.
A CAFM can give you the data about the performance and longevity of equipment that can help you make the right investment decisions.
Our CAFM shows managers what we are spending on assets and where they could potentially drive new efficiencies. This is important because FM is a massive part of P&L in our business. Giving our workers these digital tools contributes to cost savings and increases profitability.
Shakeel Jivraj (Head of Operations for Queensway Coffee Houses).
In businesses with multiple sites and FM teams a single, cloud-based CAFM system built for mobile, can help you shift to a paperless approach.
Many clients have found they can operate entirely virtual helpdesks which reduce the need for workers to commute and required office space.
Centralising the helpdesk has helped us utilise our labour better. I don’t need as many people and I can recruit from anywhere. They can all work together using our CAFM as one team, remotely.
Alan Jones (Head of Facilities at Activate Learning Group).
Net-zero initiatives need to be targeted and measured.
You need control over people and process to ensure you are procuring responsibly and managing assets in the most efficient way possible. Using a CAFM can create a framework for sustainable working that will become 'the way you do things' - it helps you turn targets into real-world KPIs that can be measured and tracked.
The US is on the brink of withdrawing from the Paris agreement, and Trump wants to ‘Drill, baby, drill! ' But the reality is that the world must generate and use energy more responsibly to secure a safer planet.
If we don’t, countries can expect more extreme weather events, damage to infrastructure, and escalating costs.
And if the politicians and corporations won’t act to improve their Corporate Social Responsibility - it seems consumers and employees will vote with their feet.
The need to become greener and more efficient is now also being driven directly by customers and workers.
“Our planet is still in the emergency room”, says António Guterres, Secretary General of the UN. We must drastically reduce emissions now. The world still needs a giant leap on climate ambition.”
But taking steps to deliver on net zero doesn’t have to be about investing in expensive photovoltaic cells for your roof or costly IoT straight away. There are smaller but still significant steps FM teams can take with more focus on process and digitisation.
By improving oversight and control of facilities through a CAFM system you can begin to rein in previously invisible waste, control energy consumption, and justify CapEx decisions that can make your company an active part of the ‘circular economy’.
Editor’s note: this post was originally published in October 2021, and updated in January 2025 for accuracy.