Six steps to sustainable commercial buildings for facility managers

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This article provides facility managers with the key steps to integrating sustainable practices into their commercial buildings management.

Summary

Six steps to sustainability is a 'how to' guide for owning, developing, designing, constructing, occupying and managing sustainable commercial buildings. For each industry group, it is a compilation of input and ideas from Australian industry leaders as to what, in their experience, are the most important issues and how they can be addressed. For managers, the six steps to sustainable commercial buildings article provides the key steps to integrating sustainable practices into their commercial building management activities.

The six steps for managers are:

        Step 1 -- Measure baseline performance
        Step 2 -- Set performance targets
        Step 3 -- Identify improvement initiatives
        Step 4 -- Monitor and collect data
        Step 5 -- Report performance
        Step 6 -- Engage the building's occupants

These steps have been adapted from Section 6 of the 'Sustainability and Property Management, Sustainable Property Guide' (Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW, 2007).

Step 1 - Measure baseline performance

The first step is to understand the levels of current performance of your building or portfolio. This baseline performance provides a point of reference for understanding targets and industry best practice. Typically, energy, water and waste data needs to be collected, and this information needs to be as accurate as possible. It may be essential to get some of this information from tenants and other service providers. Sub-metering is an essential element. Other rating tools and benchmarks can be used for broader sustainability issues. Some consideration should also be given to the business case for sustainability and the balance between initial cost and added value to the building or to the overall portfolio. For example, with an older building, it is not always feasible to incorporate the most expensive sustainable technology if the building is nearing the end of its life span.

Once the baseline information is available, a gap analysis between the 'stretch target', best practice or industry benchmark, and the baseline information will allow you to assess what needs to be done to raise the bar from the existing situation to the new sustainability targets.

Step 2 - Set performance targets

Once improvement initiatives have been identified (Step 1), performance targets for these initiatives can be set. Targets should not be so ambitious that they are too difficult to achieve, nor be too close to baseline performance levels. Targets should be realistic, yet provide enough stretch to ensure they enhance sustainability goals and satisfy the business case if required.

It is essential to collaborate with agents, tenants, building managers and other relevant people to assist in determining realistic performance targets. Communicating with all stakeholders when performance targets are achieved also assists in aiding others to meet their sustainability goals and enhances your reputation.

Step 3 - Identify improvement initiatives

The gap analysis from Step 1 can be used to identify a range of measures to meet the new sustainability targets. These can be prioritised to distinguish between those measures that are easier to achieve in terms of resources and disruption to tenants, and those that are more resource-intensive or may cause disruption to tenants.

Some of the easy solutions include:

• installing smart metering and sub-metering to provide greater flexibility in building control management systems, and to establish levels and patterns of usage
• using motion detectors or similar devices in areas not frequently occupied
• increasing the energy efficiency of lighting systems, controls and lamps, and improving user access to zoned lighting controls, both during and after common working hours
• installing waste separation facilities in tenancies where streamed recycling collection services are economical
• replacing appliances with energy-efficient ones at the end of their life.

It is important not to set the bar too low: plan for big improvements with longer payback periods that will assist with promoting the business case (see The business case for facility managers of sustainable commercial buildings for more information). It is best to think of sustainability in a holistic way and to integrate it throughout building management processes and plans. Improvements may also enhance your reputation and corporate values, and improve your relationship with users of the building.

Step 4 - Monitor and collect data

Collecting information on the performance of green buildings is crucial to developing the business case and to ensuring that we learn from the process so that we can create healthier environments for living and working. Critical issues to deal with at the planning stage are: What information needs to be collected? By whom? and At what intervals?. The adage 'a problem well designed is half solved' applies equally here — data collected needs to be reliable and fit for purpose.

Depending on the data needed, it may be important to seek the assistance of service providers. It may also be necessary to check equipment from which data will be collected, to ensure that it is calibrated or maintained correctly, and that the data quality will not be compromised.

Step 5 - Report performance

The metrics for measurement and reporting depend on what is being monitored. Reports enable tracking to monitor achievement of the overall goals of the organisation and those set for the particular building or fit-out. If the performance goals are not being met, the reports will provide a basis for further inquiry and may suggest opportunities for exploring alternative solutions. From a business case perspective, it is important to monitor cost savings or consider the overall effect on the capital value of the building.

It is important to report performance regularly - on a weekly or monthly basis, or at another relevant interval - to ensure that anomalies are picked up at early stages. Reports presented at regular intervals to senior management and at team meetings ensure that the sustainability performance becomes more meaningful and part of doing business, not just window-dressing for the end of year annual reports.

Reports are also helpful for understanding trends, for establishing and comparing performance with industry benchmarks, and for identifying further research or lines of inquiry for qualitative information.

Share lessons learnt

Sustainable buildings are complex, and measuring and understanding their performance realities is important to maintaining optimum building performance and to improving industry knowledge. In this respect, it helps if performance data is disseminated to stakeholders in the project, including the developer, owner, occupiers and designers. For example, designers will benefit from feedback on building performance, as it will help them learn what worked as designed, what didn't, and why. In some respects, especially in property or real estate markets, detailed information sharing is not a common occurrence, although these barriers are being broken down over time.

Step 6 - Engage the building's occupants

Delivering a base building to a specific rating does not guarantee that the occupied building will perform to design expectations - a green building may still have 'grey' performance, due to lack of systems integration, poor building commissioning, and a lack of training (Heerwagen, 2000; Hassanain & Harkness, 1998). Building management, tenancy fit-outs, and occupant behaviours all impact on overall building performance. Gaining the support and input of building occupants is therefore critical to maintaining building performance and to identifying ways to reduce environmental impacts.

Managers need to interact with their occupants to raise their understanding of office design and management practices and of the individual behaviours that will support sustainability (or those behaviours that may reduce the effectiveness of sustainability inclusions). Managers need to be able to distinguish between the performance of the building's systems and how the occupants' behaviour is impacting on the performance. Tenant expectations of comfort in the space can influence their behaviour.

In some organisations, managers meet regularly with tenants to monitor performance and to assist in realising sustainability targets. Green leases (see Lease negotiation for more information) are a useful way to define the roles, responsibilities, and expectations of all parties in achieving desired sustainability outcomes. Occupant education and awareness is also important, as it ensures that occupants can appreciate how they can contribute to sustainability through things like printing on double-sided paper, turning off lights when not in use, and separating waste at the point of source. Specifying the benefits in financial terms (where possible) to tenants may also raise their awareness. Green leases are also useful for tenants seeking to fulfil their own corporate sustainability goals and to align them with their business case for sustainability (see The business case for occupiers of sustainable commercial buildings for more information), as they may place obligations on the facility manager to ensure that the commercial building is operating to meet intended sustainability outcomes (which should include specific building performance ratings).

References

Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW (2007), Sustainability and Property Management, Sustainable property guide, Sydney: NSW DECC (http://www.livingthing.net.au, http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au).

Hassanain, M.A. & Harkness, E.L. (1998), Building investment sustainability: design for systems replaceability, London: Minerva Press.

Heerwagen, J. (2000), 'Green buildings, organizational success and occupant productivity', Building Research and Information, 28 (5), 353--367.