Facilities management and maintenance and sustainable commercial buildings

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This article identifies and describes issues related to facilities management and maintenance for improved ESD performance in commercial buildings.

Summary

This article identifies and describes the links between effective facilities management and improved ESD performance. The benefits and risks of improving sustainability are enumerated for various stakeholders.

A range of government and industry policies, together with legislation at federal, state and local levels, provide a framework for ESD considerations when operating commercial buildings.

There are many opportunities for improving environmental performance in commercial buildings. They occur in each of the operational phases of planning, day-to-day operation, scheduled maintenance, monitoring, reporting and ad hoc activities. These opportunities are identified and described in broad terms, with links to resources for further detail and action. Finally, the article lists some of the tools available to facilities managers to make this happen.

Definitions

• What is facilities management?
• What is maintenance?
  • Preventative maintenance
  • Comprehensive maintenance
  • Performance-based maintenance
• Where do facilities management and maintenance occur in the life cycle of a sustainable commercial building?

What is facilities management?

The primary functions of facilities management (FM) are to manage the efficient operation of buildings and to minimise operational life cycle costs, including the impact of buildings on the built environment. The FM industry is also responsible for ensuring that services are delivered in a way that contributes to the productivity and profitability of building occupants, as well as improving returns for owners and investors.

The range of services provided includes traditional building services, such as repairs, maintenance, security and cleaning, as well as more highly technical services. A key strength of the FM industry is the adaptability and experience of those working in this sector. There are many technical and professional backgrounds within the industry.

The Facility Management Association of Australia (FMAA) defines facilities management as '... a business practice that optimises people, process, assets and the work environment to support the delivery of the organisation's business objective'.

Facility managers are people who are actively involved in managing the delivery, operation, maintenance and disposal of their organisation's facility or facilities. Many facility managers have migrated from building-related professions such as architecture and engineering.

What is maintenance?

Maintenance covers a range of activities aimed at reducing the occurrence of failures, ensuring satisfactory operation and productivity, and extending the life of plant equipment.  Maintenance is just one of the many activities that a facility manager must manage, but its importance in underpinning improved environmental performance cannot be overstated.

Maintenance can either be planned or unplanned (e.g. break-down). A range of planned maintenance strategies are in common use — these are outlined below (summary adapted from AIRAH, 2001).

Preventative maintenance

The maintenance contractor performs regular inspections, maintenance and calibration according to an agreed schedule, and reports any obvious deterioration of the plant. The owner is responsible for the cost of all major repairs.

Comprehensive maintenance

Under this strategy, the contractor covers the cost of all repairs and replacements, and usually takes out insurance to manage this risk. The activities undertaken may be similar to those above, but are usually determined by the contractor, rather than the owner.

Performance-based maintenance

Here the focus is on reliable delivery of defined services (e.g. heating and cooling), as opposed to scheduled maintenance on specific plant items. The contractor is rewarded based on reliable supply of those services.

Where do facilities management and maintenance occur in the life cycle of a sustainable commercial building?

The bulk of facilities management and maintenance activities occur in the operational phase of the life cycle. However, consideration of these aspects is vital at other phases, as outlined in the table below.

Facilities management and maintenance considerations at different phases of the building life cycle

Phase	Considerations
Design and documentation	Document design intent and assumptions; provide safe access for maintenance
Construction	'As-built' drawings
Commissioning	Balancing reports
Handover	Operating and maintenance manuals
Operation	Facilities management and maintenance
Tenant fit-out	Re-commissioning; waste management; emissions
Refurbishment	Upgrade building elements and systems

What is the importance of integrating sustainability into facilities management and maintenance practices?

• Why is it important?
  • Importance for the triple bottom line
  • Importance for owners
  • Importance for occupants
  • Importance for managers
• What are the benefits?
  • General benefits
  • Benefits for owners
  • Benefits for occupiers
  • Benefits for managers
• What are the risks?
  • The construction phase
  • Inadequate commissioning process
  • Inadequate building tuning
  • Potential failure of sustainable materials, products and technology
  • Potentially increased liability for the building owner
  • Inadequate independent verification of green cleaning products
  • Inadequate knowledge transfer at handover
  • Inadequate knowledge transfer at turnover
  • Lack of skilled managers

In December 2006, the Australian property market was valued at $418 billion, of which approximately $250 billion was commercial investment-grade property. According to industry research conducted by the Facilities Management Association of Australia (FMA), the Australian facilities management industry is a significant business sector with a turnover of approximately $60 billion, and annual investment in facilities management contributes approximately 4% to Australia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to Hampson's (2003) interpretations of industry data, the building and construction sector contributes approximately 14% to Australia's GDP. Approximately 95% of Australia's building stock comprises existing buildings, with the remainder being the new floor space that is added each year. This suggests that facility managers have a pivotal and challenging role in reducing the impacts of their buildings on the environment whilst contributing to Australia's economic prosperity

Why is it important?

Importance for the triple bottom line

A balance must be achieved between protecting and improving the natural environment, contributing positively to the economy, and achieving social equity. Facility managers have the potential to influence the triple bottom line performance of the buildings that they are responsible for managing and maintaining.

Buildings have a significant impact on the environment, both in their construction and in their operation. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2003), buildings consume around 32% of the world's resources, including 12% of its water. Buildings also produce 40% of waste going to landfill and 40% of air emissions. According to the Australian State of the Environment Committee (2001), commercial buildings in Australia produce 8.8% of the national greenhouse emissions, and have a major part to play in meeting Australia's international greenhouse obligations. Companies that are involved in the construction and property sector account for a significant proportion of resource use and negative environmental impacts in Australia. Facility managers have a responsibility to ensure that these impacts are minimised and that positive contributions are made.

As awareness of sustainability grows, the community is demanding that major developments and buildings seriously address ESD. As a result, companies and building owners need to demonstrate their concern for the environment and social issues and their commitment to improving performance. Facility managers, in their day-to-day management and operation of buildings, contribute significantly to the creation of a healthy working and living environment for tenants and owner-occupiers.

As sustainability continues to become an integral part of the Australian building industry, there is growing recognition of the importance of the facility manager's role in improving the economic bottom line by reducing the building's operational costs. This creates a healthy indoor environment that is attractive to tenants and therefore increases the value of the building through long-term planning and implementation of sustainability initiatives.

Importance for owners

The government is responding to global, national and local environmental concerns by introducing legislation. Section J of the Building Code of Australia (BCA), consisting of energy efficiency performance requirements, was introduced in 2006 for commercial buildings. Legislation relating to the environmental impacts of a building is becoming more stringent, and it can be anticipated that in the future it will be extended to the whole gamut of sustainability issues, such as water efficiency and resource consumption. In the future, as resources become increasingly scarce, utility costs (e.g. energy, water and waste disposal) will rise. User-pays levies (e.g. the UK's Climate Change Levy) and taxation schemes that penalise poor performance are likely to be introduced. Facility managers have an important role in anticipating change and advising building owners, as well as in acting on their behalf to plan for these eventualities and to future-proof their buildings accordingly.

The increased risk and liability of owners of poorly performing buildings is a driver for improvement of sustainable management practices. With the introduction of corporate manslaughter legislation, businesses, company directors, and boards can be held responsible if the way in which they manage their business is shown to have caused a person's death. Owners of poorly performing buildings and those that can be linked to sick building syndrome (SBS) may be held accountable for creating an unsafe working environment for employees or tenants through exposure to certain hazards, such as asbestos, poor air quality or dampness.

A number of companies and owners of buildings and property portfolios already measure, report and publicly disclose their environmental and social performance, in addition to their financial performance. There will be increasing pressure from investors, the government and the community to undertake transparent reporting in the future. Implementing sustainable management practices and setting up the framework for measuring, monitoring and reporting outcomes will become an increasingly important facet of facilities management.

Importance for occupants

In August 2004, there were an estimated 10.25 million people in the Australian workforce. There is growing concern over the health of workers and the effect that buildings have on people's health and productivity. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognised sick building syndrome (SBS) for over ten years. SBS can be responsible for a range of illnesses and can be linked to negative effects such as greater absenteeism rates and increased staff turnover. The WHO estimates that around 30% of offices, hotels, institutions and industrial buildings have sick building syndrome.

There is a growing body of research and literature into the link between well-designed workplaces and increased worker productivity. Facility managers have a pivotal role in providing a good indoor environment quality (IEQ) for workers by maintaining good indoor air quality and thermal comfort. Organisations are realising the importance of the quality of their workplaces to their business performance and economic bottom line.

Importance for managers

A number of government agencies and property companies have obtained certified environmental ratings of their buildings, such as the ABGR star rating, and require that this rating be maintained or improved. Facility managers have an important role in ensuring that the building's environmental performance is maintained or enhanced accordingly, through the integration of sustainability initiatives into their management practices and through liaison with tenants.

There is increasing demand in the Australian property market for green buildings. This in turn creates a demand for sustainable facilities management professionals, so it is essential for managers to enhance their knowledge, skills and experience in this area. Facility managers not taking sustainability into account in their work activities will eventually find that their skills are obsolete in the marketplace.

What are the benefits?

General benefits

Sustainable facilities management and maintenance practices have numerous benefits to the environment, including reduced water, energy and resource consumption and fewer emissions that contribute to climate change.

The incorporation of sustainable practices by facility managers into the management and maintenance of a building improves the building over the long term, in terms of the efficiency of its resource consumption and enhanced value, and provides a range of social, environmental and financial benefits. The benefits for the various users of commercial buildings are outlined below.

Benefits for owners

Owners of sustainable buildings can benefit financially from incorporating sustainable management and maintenance practices. Sustainable management practices can lead to lower energy and water consumption, resulting in reduced energy and water costs. If resource efficiency and waste re-use and recycling management practices are implemented, less waste needs to be taken off site, leading to reduced waste disposal costs.

Depending on the complexity of building services systems, sustainable commercial buildings can have lower operational and maintenance costs. According to Cooper's (2002) rule of thumb, buildings increase in value approximately eight to ten times the operational savings.

Sustainable facilities management and maintenance practices that improve indoor environment quality (IEQ) for occupants can attract long-term tenants and may encourage occupiers to continue leasing office space, thereby reducing the costs to the owner associated with churn.

Where buildings are more of an investment tool, benefits can include enhanced resale price, improved perceived market value and better competitiveness in the rental market.

The implementation of sustainable management practices can improve risk management across a building owner's business and property portfolio by taking a life cycle analysis and planning, costing and implementation approach to operations and maintenance. Risk can be reduced and fines may be avoided for water, land, air and noise pollution incidents through successful implementation of an environmental management system (EMS). The risk of building owners being prosecuted due to poor health and safety performance would also be minimised. Sustainable management practices that plan for potential change, such as future legislation, act to future-proof property investments, leading to increased revenues over time. Potential liabilities, such as future levies on fossil fuel use, can be minimised due to more efficient resource consumption.

Incorporating sustainable operational practices can demonstrate concern for the environment, improve a company's reputation with stakeholders and investors, differentiate the building owner's company from other companies not yet addressing sustainability issues, and enhance the company's reputation as a good corporate citizen.

Sustainable building projects may be undertaken to demonstrate the feasibility of ESD and/or establish a leadership position in the market (e.g. CH2 and Szencorp building in Melbourne).

Benefits for occupiers

The adoption of green practices by facility managers can lead to greater efficiencies in the building's HVAC systems, which can result in better indoor air quality (IAQ) and an improved thermal environment. The benefits for occupants include an improved indoor environment quality (IEQ), improved health, potential increases in worker productivity, and reduced absenteeism and sick days. There are a number of studies that have been carried out in the US. For example, the US General Services Administration (2001) suggests that buildings that incorporate sustainable initiatives (such as improved lighting, acoustics, ventilation and IAQ) and perform better environmentally not only have lower operating costs, but also contribute to increases in worker productivity of between 6% and 16%. An improved working environment can improve the ability of companies to attract and retain employees.

Benefits for managers

In addition to improving the sustainable outcomes of a building, the incorporation of green practices by facility managers into the management and maintenance of a building provides professional benefits. As awareness of sustainability increases, the facility manager's role and profile within the organisation will grow. In addition, there will be more opportunities for communication, education and networking with the building's occupants, as well as with high-level organisational managers and other industry professionals. Market demand for green buildings creates a demand for sustainable facilities management professionals. Those managers with knowledge, skills and experience in implementing sustainable practices and achieving sustainable outcomes will benefit through increased job opportunities and career mobility.

What are the risks?

Some of the perceived risks that come with the incorporation of sustainability into the facilities management and maintenance practices in commercial buildings are outlined below.

There are a range of factors that contribute to this situation:

• dislocated delivery process
• dilution of the skills base through specialisation
• dependence on BMCS and other technology with inadequate support and technical knowledge
• knowledge and skill gaps in the supply chain.

The construction phase

This is often a dynamic phase, which may see changes to the building services that may compromise the ESD performance of the building. Seemingly minor changes can reduce the potential star rating.

Inadequate commissioning process

Commissioning is typically the first casualty of a project not running to the planned time frame. A major risk to the performance of a building is inadequate time allowed for commissioning of building services at handover. If commissioning is not carried out appropriately and closely linked to the design intent, the building will not perform optimally. Sustainability aspects that were carefully planned for in the design stages, such as energy efficiency, thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ), may all be compromised during the operational phase of the building.
It is often the case that the facility manager is not involved in the commissioning stage, particularly with new buildings, as the manager may not yet have been engaged. The potential risk is that the building may not be operated as the design team envisioned, which can result in poor sustainability performance.

Inadequate building tuning

Sustainable commercial buildings are increasingly becoming more highly engineered, incorporating sophisticated design and technologies in a variety of innovative ways. Consequently, these buildings need to be continually tuned to ensure that performance is optimal. If there is not a management plan in place to ensure continual building tuning, and if the knowledge loop regarding building services between building designers and managers is not facilitated, there is a risk that severe operational inefficiencies may occur, resulting in financial losses, poor indoor environment quality (IEQ), and increased risk and liability for the building owner.

Potential failure of sustainable materials, products and technology

Sustainable buildings typically require higher levels of technology integration and can be more complex to operate. The installation of sustainable materials, products and technologies can potentially increase their risk of failure, particularly if they are innovative or experimental systems that have not been in the marketplace very long. There is a perceived risk that new technology may be unreliable or more complicated to operate and maintain, and there is unlikely to be a lot of information available regarding the potential risks associated with this new technology. In addition, the risk is potentially greater if the product originates from overseas and has not been thoroughly tested and proven under Australian climatic conditions for a particular building type or under certain operational conditions. The risks include adverse impacts on the environment and operational inefficiencies due to poor function or failure, both of which could result in financial impacts. Unfamiliarity of contractors with innovative materials and technologies can potentially lead to installation time delays and consequently increased costs.

Potentially increased liability for the building owner

The incorporation of sustainable materials, products and technology as part of the maintenance plan or refurbishment of a commercial building can potentially increase the assumed risk and liability of the building owner if that product or technology does not function as envisioned. For example, if a system is installed in the building that collects, stores and recycles water for re-use, the responsibility for water quality transfers from a water utility company to the owner of the building.

Inadequate independent verification of green cleaning products

Currently there are no Australian standards that relate to the environmental impacts of cleaning products. Green cleaning products that are independently verified as being sustainable are difficult to source. If facility managers and maintenance staff cannot make an informed decision as to the environmental credentials of a cleaning product, they risk using products that may have a detrimental effect on the environment, IAQ, and potentially the health of building occupiers. Standards and independent verification of products are required before an informed choice can be made.
A small range of mainly domestic cleaning products has been assessed as complying with the requirements of the Good Environmental Choice Label. The Good Environmental Choice Label is an environmental labelling program that indicates the environmental performance of a product from a whole-of-product life perspective. The label is awarded to products that meet environmental performance standards that conform to a number of international environmental labelling standards. Hopefully in the future more cleaning products, particularly those suitable for commercial buildings, will achieve certification.

Inadequate knowledge transfer at handover

Whether a commercial building is new or refurbished, there is at times inadequate handover and knowledge transfer between the design team and building owners, facility managers and occupiers. This can lead to the building not being operated according to design intent and may increase the risk of operational inefficiencies and poor building performance. This risk can be mitigated by implementing a formal handover process by the design team to the owner, manager and occupier that includes education, training, handover of appropriate documentation, and a building user guide with appropriate levels of detail for the manager as well as the occupier (Wallbank & Price, 2007). Currently, there is no standard format for this documentation, although Green Star has some requirements on the content.

Inadequate knowledge transfer at turnover

The successful performance of green buildings relies to a large extent on the behaviour of the building's occupants, and their knowledge of the building's design and systems and how this is linked to optimal performance. Ongoing tenant churn, turnover of building managers and owners, and a lack of appropriate handover procedures can result in the loss of this knowledge and potentially lead to poor building performance.

Lack of skilled managers

Although awareness of sustainability is rapidly growing in the Australian property industry, many building and facility managers lack knowledge, skills and experience in the practical implementation of sustainable facilities management and maintenance practices. In addition, sustainable buildings can be more complex to operate, typically requiring higher levels of design and technology integration and the installation of a building management system (BMS) to operate these systems for optimal performance. If managers with specialist knowledge of sustainability are not engaged, there is a risk of inadequate implementation of management and maintenance plans and operational inefficiencies.

Barriers and drivers

• What are the barriers to achieving sustainable outcomes through implementing sustainable facilities management and maintenance practices?
  • Split incentives
  • Lack of knowledge and education
  • Lack of adequate metering and monitoring
  • Habitual management practices
  • Absence of reward for good management
  • Overly technical building user guide
  • Unsustainable procurement policy
  • Lack of an 'environmental champion'
• What are the drivers for achieving sustainable outcomes through implementing sustainable facilities management and maintenance practices?
  • Government legislation
  • Market demand
  • Corporate responsibility
  • Life cycle costing

What are the barriers to achieving sustainable outcomes through implementing sustainable facilities management and maintenance practices?

Split incentives

A significant impediment to the upgrading of existing buildings and the implementation of sustainable facilities management practices is the split incentive that occurs through the financial gain by either the tenant or the owner as a result of the improvement. If the tenant has a net lease (where tenants pay a fixed cost for their spaces plus a percentage of outgoings such as energy, water and cleaning etc.), any improvements that the owner makes (e.g. installing a more efficient air-conditioning system) will result in a benefit of lower outgoings for the tenant. If the tenant has a gross lease (where tenants pay all the costs related to their spaces and the services), the owner retains the full benefit of any improvements, as building services are delivered more efficiently (i.e. the income from rents remains the same, but the outgoings for central energy systems are reduced).

The costs of sustainability initiatives should be shared along the lines of where the ability to influence them lies. For example, a gross rent should include aspects such as shared building services (e.g. lifts), so that the owner has a vested interest in reducing costs in preference to passing them on to the tenant. The tenant should be responsible for the aspects under their control, such as lighting and water use.

Lack of knowledge and education

A lack of knowledge and education on the part of the stakeholders of commercial buildings is a considerable barrier to implementing sustainable management practices and to achieving sustainable outcomes. The building's design and services can be planned to achieve sustainable outcomes, but if these features and technologies are incorrectly operated then poor performance may result.

The lack of support from senior and high-level management, CEOs, and building owners who are not well versed in aspects of sustainability or aware of the potential benefits to their organisation poses a significant barrier to those managers and tenants who wish to implement sustainable management and maintenance practices.

The range of activities undertaken by a facility manager and their scope of responsibility is very broad. According to Lundberg (2006), the main issues for facilities management are costs, location, infrastructure and image. There is a general lack of understanding on the part of facility and building managers in the Australian building industry of the benefits of sustainable management practices and the operational savings that green buildings can provide. There is also a general perception that ESD initiatives and technology are risky. There is a general shortage of facility managers with knowledge and experience of integrating sustainability initiatives, which is a significant barrier to achieving successful outcomes. 

The lack of education of maintenance staff and cleaners, who are not aware of the environmental impacts of the cleaning products that they use, is also a barrier to achieving sustainable operational practices.

Building tenants typically do not fully comprehend the benefits of sustainable development and the impact that their behaviour has on the performance of the building (AIRAH, 2003). Building occupiers often lack awareness of the productivity and health benefits of improved indoor environment quality (IEQ), which may be due to the lack of studies undertaken on the link between productivity and IEQ and the quantifiable benefits. In addition, many occupiers do not have a great understanding of environmental rating tools and what each measures, which is a significant barrier to achieving sustainable outcomes, as the behaviour of occupants has a large impact on rating tools such as National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) and Australian Building Greenhouse Rating (ABGR).

Lack of adequate metering and monitoring

A significant barrier to achieving sustainable outcomes during the operation of a building is inadequate metering systems and monitoring plans. The adage 'you can't manage what you can't measure' applies. In order to enhance sustainability performance through the implementation of sustainable management and maintenance practices, the building's performance must be measured and tracked over time, targets should be set, and opportunities for improvement need to be identified.

Habitual management practices

Facility managers and maintenance staff can become entrenched in routine, continuing to manage and maintain the building as they have always done. Check-lists and log sheets are commonly used, requiring a simple tick or 'OK'. They do not typically require interpretation of the measured results, which can lead to opportunities for improvement being overlooked.

Absence of reward for good management

Facility managers are not often rewarded for achieving good building performance outcomes through the implementation of sustainable management and maintenance practices.

Overly technical building user guide

The building user guide should explain the building's sustainability strategy and how the building's passive and active features are designed to enhance performance. The building user guide should include information on the building fabric, building services, monitoring, performance targets, transportation facilities, and energy, water and waste/recycling policies. If the guide is too technical and not explained in layman's terms, building occupiers/tenants are not likely to understand their role in improving performance and achieving sustainable outcomes.

Unsustainable procurement policy

Procurement policies need to be regularly updated in order to accommodate the range of new sustainable products, materials and technologies in the marketplace. Repeat purchasing of service equipment and office products (e.g. plant equipment, office paper, etc.) without considering the other potentially more sustainable alternatives that are available is a barrier to improving sustainable outcomes in commercial buildings.

Lack of an 'environmental champion'

In many buildings, there is no individual whose responsibility it is to manage environmental performance. The facility manager quickly becomes absorbed in day-to-day issues, and environmental performance remains 'on the back burner'. Adding environmental targets and reporting to the facilities management's regular reporting cycle is an important first step to addressing the problem.

What are the drivers for achieving sustainable outcomes through implementing sustainable facilities management and maintenance practices?

Government legislation

Sustainability performance in buildings is being increasingly legislated in the Building Code of Australia (BCA) and in state and local government regulatory controls. Sustainability legislation will become increasingly stringent in the future. Developing sustainable management and maintenance practices now will assist in the future-proofing of buildings against upcoming sustainability regulation.

Market demand

There is increasing demand for sustainable buildings in the Australian property market. Many government agencies and owners of property portfolios are requiring certain sustainability performance levels to be achieved (e.g. Green Star, ABGR ratings) in the refurbishment or leasing of their space.

Corporate responsibility

There is growing pressure for companies, building owners, property portfolio owners and government agencies to demonstrate their corporate responsibility (CR) and to report their triple bottom line (TBL) performance. The need for measurable and reportable sustainability outcomes is a driver for implementing sustainable facilities management and maintenance practices.

Life cycle costing

Life cycle costing (LCC) is increasingly being undertaken in the Australian property industry, particularly by building owner-occupiers and owners of commercial property portfolios. This is a driver for implementing initiatives to improve sustainability performance, as there are long-term benefits such as utility cost savings (e.g. energy and water) and enhanced building value.

Policies, regulations and standards

• Government and industry policies
  • What current government and industry policies on facilities management and maintenance exist?
  • What is driving facilities management and maintenance policy development?
  • Future policy impacts on developments
• Regulations and standards
  • What current regulations and standards on facilities management and maintenance exist?

National, state and local government policies and regulations all impact on the built environment, and the complex relationship between all three poses challenges for facility managers. Regulations and policies are also continually expanding in response to demands for safer, healthier and more sustainable buildings.

Government and industry policies

What current government and industry policies on facilities management and maintenance exist?

National policies

• Facilities Management Action Agenda: One of the aims of this policy statement is for 'the facilities management industry to play a key role in moving Australia toward a sustainable built environment'. Rather than focusing on regulation, this document focuses on market education.

Industry group policies

• AIRAH: Residential air-conditioning best practice guidelines.

• Facilities Management Australia (FMA): FMA policies relate to:
  • high performance facilities
  • facilities management contracting guidelines
  • guidelines to managing risk
  • accreditation at three levels of performance (see Figure 1). The FMA is considering introducing continuing professional development as a mandatory part of maintaining accreditation.
• Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC): ASBEC has a policy to support regulatory reform and, in particular, to ensure that delivered outcomes match the design expectations.

Local government programs

• Adelaide Building Tune Ups project: The Adelaide Building Tune Ups project was initiated by the Adelaide City Council and the South Australian Government. It was developed by the Capital City Committee's Green City Program, and incorporates three stages. The first stage involved recruiting ten commercial office buildings within the City of Adelaide and assessing their energy and water consumption. Plans for improvement were made in Stage 2 to increase each building's energy and water efficiency. Stage 3 is a re-evaluation of the energy and water performance of each building, completed one year after the improvements from Stage 2 have been implemented (Adelaide City Council, 2007).
• 3CBDs project: The 3CBDs Greenhouse Initiative is a partnership between City of Sydney, North Sydney and Parramatta City Council and the Department of Environment and Climate Change. The initiative was launched in February 2005 and assists commercial office tenants located in these three central business districts to reduce their climate change impact. Signatories to the program commit to achieve an accredited 4-star or higher ABGR tenancy rating (City of Sydney, 2007).

State government policies and programs

• New South Wales: The NSW Government has a policy relating to commercial buildings they own or occupy. A full description of the policy is attached to Premier's Memorandum 2004-04 and is available from the Premier's Department. A summary of the policy considerations is provided below.
  • Where an existing building is owned by the agency, the agency must
    • achieve a 3-star building rating by 1 July 2006
    • commit to a minimum 4-star rating when undertaking major upgrades.
  • Agencies that build new government offices are to commit to a 4.5-star rating for the new building.
  • Where an agency is a tenant, the agency must:
    • achieve a minimum 4-star tenancy rating by 1 July 2006
    • commit to a 4.5-star tenancy rating for major fit-outs and refurbishments
    • endeavour to occupy premises where the building is rated at least 3 stars (this will increase to 3.5 stars from 1 July 2006)
    • require disclosure of the accredited rating for the building when seeking information about the building for leasing purposes (NSW Government, 2005).

• Western Australia: In October 2004, the Western Australian Government introduced minimum ABGR requirements for existing premises leased by government tenants and for the leasing of new buildings by government tenants. Government tenants require the disclosure of the base building ABGR rating when seeking new premises for leasing. Since July 2006, government tenants have been required to seek buildings with a minimum 3.5-star ABGR base building rating, and new tenancies must be fitted out to achieve 4.5 ABGR stars. By July 2006, existing tenancies had to achieve 4-star ABGR ratings and adopt water-efficient appliances and fittings. New Western Australian Government buildings were required to achieve a 4-star ABGR rating and to incorporate water-saving fittings — this requirement increased to 4.5 stars in July 2006. This policy is enforced by Department of Housing and Works, which manages Western Australian government office leasing (ABGR, 2007).

• Victoria: The Victorian Government requires that the following ABGR ratings apply to their office accommodation:
  • base building (existing offices): 4 stars
  • base building (new offices): 4.5 stars
  • tenancies (new or existing offices): 5 stars (DTF, 2005).

What is driving facilities management and maintenance policy development?

The two main drivers for policy development are currently:

• Government leadership — this is driving policy development through the government office requirements outlined above.
• Industry leadership — Facilities Management Australia and other industry groups have developed policies in order to facilitate consistency across building regulations and industry education.

Future policy impacts on developments

Under the National Framework for Energy Efficiency, research is being commissioned into mandatory disclosure for commercial buildings in Australia, which will inform governments, business, industry and the community of issues and directions for implementing a program for disclosure.

The NSW Department of Conservation and Environment is preparing a sustainable property guide, to be published in 2007. This is expected to provide an excellent approach to improving sustainability in the operating phase of buildings.

Regulations and standards

What current regulations and standards on facilities management and maintenance exist?

There are many different regulations and standards that apply to facilities management and maintenance. These include:

• Building Code of Australia: Section J — energy efficiency and Section I — access for maintenance
• AS 1668: The use of mechanical ventilation and air-conditioning in buildings
• AS 1851: Fire safety maintenance requirements
• AS 3666: Air-handling and water systems in buildings — microbial control
• AS 3873: Pressure equipment — operation and maintenance
• AS/NZS 4581: Management system integration guidance standard — guidance to business, government and community organisations
• AS/NZS 14015: Environmental management — environmental assessment of sites and organisations
• ISO 14001: Environmental management system (EMS)
• ISO 14031:2000 Environmental performance evaluation(EPE)
• Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000.

In addition to these, there are also various state and territory based building and plumbing regulations. For example, the Building Commission of Victoria requires an annual essential services report (Form 15) be completed, verifying that all active and passive systems have been maintained (CETEC, 2004), while the Victorian EPA requires businesses with a trade waste license that also consume above a threshold energy level to do an energy audit and then progressively implement the findings.

The above figure outlines the various state and territory regulations relating to asbestos removal.

Measures and assessment

• Economic indicators
• Environmental indicators
• Using indicators to compare performance

Building operational performance can be measured by a range of economic and environmental indicators, as listed below. The indicators should be chosen to reflect the nature of the facility and the current management priorities.

Economic indicators

Economic indicators include:

• Energy: $/m² per annum
• Water: $/m² per annum
• Waste disposal: $/m² per annum
• Maintenance: $/m² per annum
• Cleaning: $/m² per annum
• Supplier: $ per annum for consumables
• Community investment: $ per annum.

These economic indicators can also be expressed relative to business turnover (e.g. energy $ per $ turnover).

Environmental indicators

Environmental indicators include:

• Energy: kWh/m² per annum and MJ/m² per annum and GJ/person per annum
• Greenhouse gas emissions: CO₂equiv/m² per annum
• Water: kL/m² per annum
• Waste disposal: tonnes per annum and kg/person per annum
• Waste recycled: tonnes/annum, % of total
• ABGR/NABERS
• % recycled materials per m²
• % change in natural area due to operations and activities
• % recycled product per annum
• No. of spills/volume of product per annum.

Using indicators to compare performance

If these indicators are being used to compare performance across a portfolio, or to publish benchmarks, it is important to ensure a consistent basis. This may involve:

• allowing for building function(s) and climatic location
• normalising for hours of operation
• using a consistent definition for floor area
• ensuring consistent levels of service
• agreement on inclusions and exclusions
• accounting for vacancies and breakdowns.

Examples of schemes that address these concerns include:

• PCA energy targets
• Australian Building Greenhouse Rating (ABGR)
• National Australian Building Environmental Rating Scheme (NABERS).
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Opportunities for improving performance

There are many opportunities for improving sustainability outcomes through implementing initiatives during the facilities management and maintenance process. The left figure below shows the processes, players involved, the issues they face and the tools they employ.

Incorporating sustainability into facilities management will require facility managers to:

• gain commitment from senior management
• find a champion at a senior level to support the change
• identify risks and priorities
• set policies, objectives and targets (long- and short-term) in conjunction with stakeholders
• develop a plan to implement the process
• allocate resources to action the plan
• effectively communicate those details to all internal and external stakeholders (TEFMA, 2004).

Where possible, these actions should be done as part of the existing change process within the organisation. The right figure below shows an example of how sustainability initiatives may be incorporated into existing facilities management processes.

Planning for improved performance

• Strategic planning
• Developing an environmental management plan
• Target setting
• Maintenance planning

Strategic planning

A strategic plan for a building sets out a long-term (i.e. 10 year plus) objective for maintaining and developing the asset and how it is positioned in the market. Environmental performance will form a part of the strategic plan, although it will often not take first priority among other objectives.

Developing an environmental management plan

The steps to developing an environmental management plan (EMP) are:

1. Identify priorities
2. Set objectives and targets
3. Define performance indicators
4. Document strategies and time frames to achieve targets
5. Determine specific actions to implement each strategy
6. Allocate responsibilities and resources
7. Establish mechanisms to monitor, evaluate and report progress (use existing mechanisms where possible)
8. Track costs and benefits.

Target setting

Setting building-specific targets is fundamental to saving energy and water, reducing waste or improving IEQ.  Targets are usually normalised to Net Lettable Area (e.g. MJ/m² per annum). Setting targets for improving environmental performance provides motivation for staff and provides a sense of achievement when the targets are reached.

Targets should be realistic and achievable, and care must be taken to compare 'like with like' (e.g. What areas/systems are included? How is the area measured? Has the target been adjusted for operating hours?).

Rating schemes like ABGR and NABERS provide a standardised method for measuring performance and can be used to set targets (e.g. achieve ABGR 4 stars by end of 2008).

Developing a target for energy reduction in existing buildings involves:

• reviewing existing use through an energy audit
• calculating energy savings potential
• using the existing building best practice benchmarks as a guide
• calculating a custom target that considers specific energy uses and operating hours.

Useful resources:

• Property Council of Australia: energy guidelines: http://www.propertyoz.com.au
• City West Water: http://www.citywestwater.com.au
• Wastewise: office kit and resource kit: http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au

Maintenance planning

A maintenance plan defines a structured approach to optimising the performance of a building and its services, in terms of life, reliability and efficiency. By considering environmental impacts when drafting the plan, better ESD outcomes can be achieved.

The efficiency and performance of a building can be improved through the implementation of a maintenance plan that incorporates provisions for monitoring, commissioning processes, and scheduled maintenance.

To gain a basic understanding of the building's operations, a number of audits (energy, water and waste) should be undertaken to identify where the building sits with regard to environmental performance. This will allow strategies to be developed to optimise the building's performance over time. Other steps that can be taken to assess a building's operational performance include:

• developing an asset register that lists equipment and location, and allows the identification of equipment nearing its end of economic life
• developing a building-specific maintenance specification for each major system
• installing sub-meters and instrumentation to indicate system performance
• reviewing maintenance procedures and performance.

For more information on this issue, see the Regular (scheduled) improvement initiatives section of this article.

Implementing and operating for improved performance

• General improvement initiatives
  • Education
  • Engaging tenants
• Day-to-day improvement initiatives
  • Cleaning
  • Waste management
  • Operations (complaints, after-hours operation)
  • Tuning
• Regular (scheduled) improvement initiatives
  • Maintenance -- HVAC
  • Maintenance -- lighting
  • Maintenance -- fire protection
  • Monitoring
  • Reporting
• Irregular/ad hoc improvement initiatives
  • Handover upon practical completion
  • Energy audits
  • Water audits
  • Waste audits
  • Post-occupancy evaluation (POE)
  • Fit-out after tenant change
  • Re-commissioning
  • Minor refurbishment
  • Major refurbishment
  • Lease negotiation
  • Plant breakdown

General improvement initiatives

Education

Education is a key component of a successful environmental management program. Each person involved with the building needs to understand the systems that are in place to manage energy, water, waste and IEQ. For example, the building and equipment can be designed and/or selected for energy-efficient operation, but if equipment is left switched on, or is incorrectly controlled, then good energy performance will remain just a target.

Facility managers need to understand the major energy consumers and the plans for energy management. They need understand the 'big picture', in order to manage the EMP and have sufficient detail to be able to brief specialists and work with them to improve performance.

Service personnel need to understand how each system should operate and how to check that controls are working as intended. They need to understand how systems use (and waste) energy, and how this can be mitigated.

Occupants need to understand the influence their behaviour can have on energy and water consumption, waste management and IEQ. Well-informed and motivated staff can alert operations staff to potential problems (e.g. 'I was in on Saturday and the air-conditioning system was still running' or 'the toilet is leaking'), and can also identify opportunities for improvement. Environmental management should be included in induction procedures.

Cleaners need to be instructed to switch lights on and off as they work through the building.  Cleaners play a key role in recycling and waste management and also IEQ in terms of cleaning products and procedures.

Security staff need to know which items of equipment can be switched off after hours. Their role may be to simply report equipment left on.

Training is available through the FMA: continuing professional development program.

AIRAH, in conjunction with several partner organisations, has been granted funding under the National Framework for Energy Efficiency (NFEE) to develop a suite of training programs for facility managers. The courses will be developed in partnership with Swinburne University, the Facility Management Association of Australia (FMA) and facilities management training provider FM Edge.

Engaging tenants

Improving the environmental performance of any building requires a concerted effort from building owners, facility managers and occupants. In particular, energy and waste management are affected to a major extent by the behaviour of tenants. Facility managers can assist tenants to practice sustainable behaviours by providing the following:

• Building user guide: This contains a detailed description of the systems within the building and how they are to be used. This document can be made easier to understand by appropriate use of language, diagrams and examples.
• Induction package: A brief overview of environmental management systems in place in the building can be provided to tenants for inclusion in their induction materials provided to new employees. The overview should highlight how each system works and the responsibility of each person.
• Fit-out guidelines and advice: Tenant fit-outs can impact on energy (HVAC and lighting), IEQ (glare, views and VOCs) and waste.  A combination of rules and advice can improve environmental outcomes. 
• Two-way communication: Developing a dialog between the facility manager and tenants is vital. This can be achieved through email newsletters, posters, competitions, forums or a suggestion box. Tenants can provide facility managers with an extra set of eyes and ears, ready to spot actual or potential problems and opportunities, and therefore tenants need an easy way of communicating with the facility manager. Facility managers can assist with communication by providing a regular graphical indication of building performance to keep tenants informed.
  
  

Day-to-day improvement initiatives

Cleaning

Some cleaning products contain toxic and non-biodegradable ingredients that contaminate the environment and endanger human health. Green cleaning involves selecting alternative products, using those products properly, and taking other steps to reduce risks while maintaining a satisfactory level of cleanliness and disinfection.

Cleaning contracts should be reviewed regularly to ensure that they are aligned with sustainability initiatives. The sustainable property guide due to be published in 2007 by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change will contain model clauses for cleaning contracts.

For more ways of increasing the sustainability of cleaning processes, see the Education of cleaners section of this article.

Waste management

Much of the waste generated by offices can be easily recycled. Paper makes up 80% of this waste.

The provision of dedicated storage space for the separation, storage and collection of recyclable resources will encourage recycling. Recyclable resources include paper, glass, metals, organic materials, computers, and consumables like printer cartridges. The space needs to be accessible to both staff and collection agencies.

Recycling companies can provide receptacles suitable for their purposes, enabling co-mingled recycling.

Operations (complaints, after-hours operation)

It is important to investigate complaints promptly, as doing this will make tenants happier and thus they will be more likely to provide useful information and assistance.

Requests for after-hours operation of HVAC equipment should be logged, and the data periodically analysed to identify opportunities for increasing the efficiency of HVAC delivery. For example, some areas of the building may need a dedicated system, so that a building-wide system is not running when only part of the building needs the service.

Tuning

Air-handling unit (AHU) controls systems control the operation of the AHU in terms of on-off times, fresh air controls and variation of air flow and/or temperature to efficiently meet the varying heating and cooling loads within the building. The control systems can be tuned to match the current requirements of the area served, and/or refined by adding new control algorithms.

A building management and control system (BMCS) enables centralised control of building services, including mechanical, electrical, fire and security. It also can be used to identify systems running inefficiently or in unintended ways, and in so doing, find areas for energy savings.

For example, many systems adjust the supply air temperature based on the zone with the highest cooling demand. If one zone has insufficient supply air compared to its loads, it will often be demanding cooler air than the other zones, and therefore wasting energy. A BMCS can be programmed to detect this situation.

When tuning control sequences, it is important to only change one setting at a time and to evaluate performance to ensure benefits are captured.

Regular (scheduled) improvement initiatives

Maintenance – HVAC

Long-term maintenance contracts should be negotiated for each major system within the building to ensure that plant is kept in peak operating condition and that maintenance staff build up a body of knowledge about the system. This also allows the condition of plant to be monitored, giving advance warning of potential break-down.

Maintenance staff can become set in their ways and fail to pick up opportunities for improvement.  Therefore, it is important to develop maintenance log sheets that require staff to measure and record data, rather than just ticking 'OK'.

Other HVAC improvement initiatives that can be undertaken include:

• developing a building-specific maintenance specification for each major system
• installing instrumentation to indicate system performance
• consulting the AIRAH guidelines for air-conditioning
• implementing regular water program maintenance
• reviewing maintenance procedures and performance.

Maintenance – lighting

Lighting maintenance improvement initiatives may include:

• Cleaning: Dust and dirt build-up can reduce light output by up to 30%, so a program to clean tubes, reflectors and diffusers is important.
• Tube replacement: Light output (lumens/watt) decreases markedly towards the end of the life of a fluorescent tube, so don't wait until they have black rings at each end. To maintain light levels, consider scheduled group re-lamping, as recommended in Australian Standard 1680.1. This can also save up to 20% of the labour cost of 'spot' relamping (ABGR, 2000). When replacing tubes, consider more efficient alternatives to the current technology (e.g. T5 adapters are available to retrofit into T8 fittings).
• Upgrading the lighting system: While doing normal maintenance, look out for opportunities to improve the lighting efficiency (e.g. de-lamping in over-lit areas and changing switching zones).

Maintenance – fire protection

Sprinkler systems for fire protection must be tested regularly, which can result in large volumes of water going to waste. Large quantities of water can also be wasted when systems are drained to permit system modifications. This water can be conserved by recycling or providing holding tanks.

Tanks can be designed to be combined with a rainwater collection system, but should be designed with enough capacity to hold the required fire-testing water plus any additional water incoming from rainwater so that no water is lost.

Other initiatives may include:

• checking current regulations to ensure that tests are not conducted too frequently
• determining water consumption during fire tests and developing a strategy for retaining water for re-use (commonly the water is re-used in toilet flushing, cooling towers or irrigation) (Taylor, 2006).

Monitoring

Energy monitoring
Energy consumption should be monitored on a monthly basis to provide ongoing feedback on performance. This can be done manually by walking around recording each meter and sub-meter, automatically (via the BMCS), or as a service from the energy supplier or specialist monitoring company.

Sub-metering should be installed to systems or areas that use substantial amounts of power (>100kVa), for example HVAC plant rooms and data centres, and to each tenancy.

Monitoring on a more detailed level (weekly, daily, hourly, real time, day time/after hours) for short periods of time can provide valuable insights into patterns of energy consumption. This analysis can extend down to individual items of plant or groups on a single circuit, using trend logging on a BMCS or a stand-alone data logger.

Monitoring and reporting by exception can also be a very powerful tool for the facility manager (e.g. Which zone is most often 'calling for cooling'? Which zone is last to warm up?).

Equipment that is left operating continuously, even though only required during office hours, can have a large impact on overall energy consumption. Operating hours are often one-third of total hours in a year. A program to identify and control this equipment will be rewarded.

Water monitoring
A digital output can be added to modern water meters to interface with the BMCS. In this way, water consumption can be tracked and equipment failures that lead to water waste can be detected early, rather when the next water bill arrives. 

Indoor environment monitoring
Some building managers monitor CO₂ levels in the return air stream as a proxy for indoor air freshness. CO₂ levels tend to match population levels and so are a good indicator of pollution that is human-generated; however, they are not so good for pollutants arising from furnishing and finishes.

Reporting

Environmental performance should be reported each month as part of normal reporting to stakeholders. Graphical presentation of performance will show improvements on historical data and comparison to benchmarks or targets.

Where resource consumption (i.e. heating, cooling and mains water) is linked to weather patterns, it may be useful to show a relevant indicator (e.g. heating degree-days or monthly rainfall).

For portfolio managers, a report comparing performance across the portfolio will highlight the best and worst performers, and enable refurbishments and upgrades to be targeted for best returns.

Irregular/ad hoc improvement initiatives

Handover upon practical completion

Commissioning is often a weak point in the handover of buildings, as it is usually constrained by time. If commissioning is not carried out with close reference to the design intent, buildings can be handed over running at less than optimum performance and contrary to design intent. Later modifications and 'tweaks' instigated to fix poor performance stemming from poor or incomplete commissioning may contribute to the widening gap between original design intent and actual building performance.

'As-installed' drawings should be completed and handed over as part of the requirements for practical completion. Balanced air and water flow rates and details of tenancy services and fit-outs should be documented.

A building user guide should also be completed. This document is aimed at occupants and tenants representatives, and details the systems with which the building users will interact. As well as functional and safety considerations, the guide should cover ESD issues from the tenants perspective, using plain language.

Energy audits

An energy audit can assist in improving the environmental performance of a building or tenancy by:

• identifying major energy consumers
• identifying areas where operational procedures can be made more efficient
• demonstrating the need for plant and/or equipment to be upgraded
• providing a review of maintenance requirements.

A good energy audit should identify energy savings of 20% to 30% with paybacks of less than three years, and will cost between 10% and 20% of the annual energy costs, depending on the level of detail required. The table below outlines some different types of energy audits.

AS 3598:2000 – Building energy audit types

Level	Scope	Accuracy
1	Evaluate overall energy consumption for site using billing data; brief report with list of high priority actions	+/- 40%
2	Site investigation; reconcile energy accounts with loads; recommend improvements with brief description of work required; full written report	+/- 20%
3	Level 2 plus, on-site metering; detailed analysis of  improvements with cost/benefit analysis; presentation to senior managers	+/- 10%

Source: Australian Standards, 2000

Note: An energy audit is different to an Australian Building Greenhouse Rating (ABGR). The ABGR rating assesses the greenhouse performance of the building at a point in time, whereas an energy audit is more focussed on determining actions to improve energy performance.

Water audits

A water audit is