Reducing building emissions for facilities managers

If you are looking to reduce your portfolio’s carbon footprint, this article covers the key things you need to know.

There are several energy performance regulations, standards and targets that FM professionals should be aware of when it comes to reducing building emissions:

Responding to climate change can often feel overwhelming. Nevertheless, research shows that FM professionals can play an important role in reducing humanity’s carbon emissions.

The original design of a building will have the greatest bearing on a facility manager’s ability to reduce carbon emissions. It is of course normally more difficult to go about reducing building emissions for older structures. But, as building designers focus more on achieving the goal of zero emissions buildings, this should become easier over time.

There is no ‘silver bullet’ solution for reducing building emissions. But the following steps can help towards cutting your portfolio’s environmental impact.

1. Establish your baseline energy usage and emissions

2. Get the whole organisation on board

It is far easier to make a change when your colleagues and tenants support the drive towards reducing building emissions. Communicate your targets and explain what individuals and teams can do. If, for example, you run an office block, send round an email to all tenant companies to explain the new strategy. It might also be worth putting posters up.

3. Low hanging fruit

Once you have established your baseline energy usage, it is likely that you’ll notice several sources of energy consumption which could be easily reduced. This might include things like:

4. Implement continuous improvement strategies

There are many more sophisticated investments you can make which will help with reducing building emissions. This includes things like:

5. Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance

Perhaps one of the most effective ways of reducing a building’s carbon footprint is to keep all equipment and structures fully maintained. Regularly inspecting things like HVAC systems and ensuring they are working efficiently will reduce the need for replacement. That represents both a financial saving and avoids the carbon cost of manufacturing too. Digital maintenance solutions can make it even easier to keep things working efficiently:

Everybody can play their part in reducing carbon emissions. And, because facilities managers are responsible for the way large, multi-occupancy buildings use energy, they have a particularly important role in achieving society’s net-zero goals. By implementing some simple initiatives around maintenance, repairs and continuous improvement, you too can help make a real difference to the planet’s future.

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