Why Green Credentials are Business Credentials

WHY GREEN CREDENTIALS ARE BUSINESS CREDENTIALS

Ian Fielder, CEO of the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM), and Katharine Deas, Managing Director of Low Carbon Workplace Ltd, emphasise the all-important role of the facilities manager in the drive to cut carbon and save money.

The government has set a mandatory and ambitious target of a 34 per cent reduction on the UK’s carbon emissions by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. As non-domestic buildings consume some 300TWh of energy a year and are responsible for 108 million tonnes CO2¹, about 18 per cent of total UK CO2 emissions, attention is on the non-domestic property sector as a source of carbon emissions reduction.
Most organisations are implementing a variety of incremental measures to reduce their carbon emissions, driven by regulation and cost savings, corporate social responsibility, employee engagement or other perspectives. Pioneering organisations are tackling their carbon emissions strategically by taking a visible, holistic and systematic approach. Every business can ‘walk the walk’ on carbon reduction by actively taking steps to integrate their sustainability goals throughout their real estate strategy and integrate their sustainability targets into operations.
Simply, managing energy consumption is about managing assets effectively - that is, understanding the risk and realising the opportunities. Being responsible for services that support business, facilities management (FM) is ideally placed to both bridge and engage different functions to achieve the shared focus required to successfully cut carbon and save money. With as much as 50 per cent of emissions reduction connected to people’s behaviour, facilities managers have a key role to play in optimising the sustainable behaviour of occupiers and contractors and creating a sustainable future for offices. And it is the FM discipline that is uniquely placed to ‘translate’ the high-level, strategic change required by senior decision-makers into day-to-day reality for people in their workplace.

About facilities management

The FM sector is now large and complex, comprising a mix of in-house departments, specialist contractors, large multi-service companies and consortia delivering the full range of design, build, finance and management. Estimates vary; market research suggests that in the UK alone the sector is worth between £40bn and £95bn per annum. What is clear is that effective facilities management, combining resources and activities, is vital to the success of any organisation. At a corporate level, it contributes to the delivery of strategic and operational objectives. On a day-to-day level, effective facilities management provides a safe and efficient working environment, which is essential to the performance of any business - whatever its size and scope. FM has come to the fore in its role of ensuring employees feel supported and as the supporter of all workplace facilities.

Carbon challenges in our workplaces

It is expected that half the office buildings that will be in use in 2050 have already been built. In its current state, the UK’s existing stock (98 per cent of which is more than five years old) is unlikely to comply with current or future carbon legislation. For example, London’s total office stock is estimated to be 150 million sq ft, of which 47 million sq ft has not been refurbished or redeveloped since before 1986². The challenge clearly lies in shrinking the carbon footprint of our existing workplaces.

Equally, many occupiers are reporting challenges in achieving their carbon reduction initiatives: citing difficulty in agreeing shared cost/benefit with landlords and improvements from ‘light touch’ retrofits compromised by poor building fabric or plant; and difficulty in winning employee engagement and engaging suppliers with a carbon reduction campaign.

Power consumption in office buildings primarily arises in the following areas: ventilation, cooling, heating, lighting and ‘small power’ (the loads consumed by occupants’ equipment, which is controlled by specifying low-consumption equipment and appropriate use of standby settings). It is a relatively simple set of ‘ingredients’ and, coupled with underlying human-behaviour drivers, each needs care and attention on an ongoing basis. We must not lose sight of the truth: it is people, and how we use buildings, which drive energy consumption - not the buildings themselves.

Green ambitions in the workplace - the research

Our 2011 report, ‘Green Ambitions for the Workplace’, analyses the scale and scope of workplace environmental objectives of 170 professionals with responsibility for facilities and estate management in a range of private, public and not-for-profit organisations across the UK. We believe it has helped provide clarity on the challenges faced by organisations and a series of recommendations that make good business sense - from a financial, reputational and environmental perspective.

Set ambitious environmental objectives

Surprisingly, 20 per cent of organisations are yet to set their environmental objectives and are at serious risk of being behind the curve when it comes to realising energy-efficiency cost savings and demonstrating carbon emission reductions. Of the 80 per cent of organisations that have environmental objectives, nearly all of which are endorsed at senior executive or board level, the good news is that 80 per cent of respondents felt these were achievable. Perhaps the challenge now is ensuring these targets are ambitious enough, and comprehensive enough, to make the necessary step-change to achieve the government’s targets.

Make optimal use of workspace

The traditional office paradigm of one person to one desk, with all the entailing equipment, still reigns. Office space is a significant overhead for most organisations and is usually considered a finite resource. There is scope for facilities managers and space planners to make office space work harder: Optimising utilisation and occupancy levels, for example through the introduction of hot-desking and flexible working patterns, means an existing office site still might be able to incorporate growth or deliver rationalisation savings. Conducting a simple office utilisation study will determine current usage trends and highlight where better, or alternative, use of space can be made - and could deliver financial, productivity and environmental benefits.

Measuring energy consumption

The old adage ‘if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it’ holds true for energy consumption. Our research found that 72 per cent of facilities managers are unaware of their organisations total energy use, information which is often surprisingly difficult to glean and decipher. Installing a smart meter will result in knowing exactly where, when and how energy is consumed - especially useful when trying to ascertain energy-use data from shared areas. Coupled with active monitoring and targeting, this allows for effective polices to be put in place to regulate energy consumption and avoid waste. Tangible evidence of energy use can be used as a tool in communicating with stakeholders as well as engaging staff and driving carbon reduction.

Everyone pulling in the same direction

‘People’ factors remain the main obstacle for achieving workplace environmental objectives. The most commonly cited hurdles to carbon emissions reduction include budget constraints and sustaining staff motivation. Despite evidence of a willingness among employees to support workplace environmental goals, respondents report that 71 per cent of organisations do not state these objectives in staff job descriptions. Given that it is not unusual to find small power loads consume 15 per cent of the total electricity used in offices³ and an average of 10 ‘plug-ins’ per employee, the benefits are clear.

Our experience shows that employees are keen to be involved in cutting emissions within their workplace. Low Carbon Workplace advises companies to ensure senior-level backing for carbon-reducing strategies to sustain levels of employee compliance. A top-down and interactive approach to working with the employee base to achieve environmental objectives was reported by 90 per cent of facilities managers. Nominating an individual as responsible for energy management, backed by senior executive support, plays a key role in making workplace environmental goals a day-to-day driver of human behaviour.

Training staff on how to use their equipment effectively can play a large role in reducing carbon emissions at little cost. Simply making energy usage a conscious, tangible and accountable process can be a very effective tool to engage staff and drive reduction.

Identify stakeholders outside your organisation

Traditionally, landlords and tenants have had difficulty in agreeing common ground in following carbon-reducing refurbishments and refits, with cost/benefit timeframes running at slower speeds for landlords than for tenants. It seems that as much as 70 per cent of landlords are unaware of their occupiers’ workplace environmental objectives. We must look beyond the boundaries of our organisation to engage stakeholders, including landlords, building managers and contractors, to increase our chances of success.

Conclusion

There are signs that carbon emissions reduction is a true benchmark across businesses today: 91 per cent of respondents cited corporate reputation as a benefit of pursuing workplace environmental objectives and 46 per cent nominated it as the sole main driver (double the number that chose financial benefits).

Facilities managers are uniquely placed to push the scope of environmental objectives within the workplace to create greatest overall business advantage. They are the de facto relationship broker - between landlord and tenant, occupier and building, building and maintenance contractor. Facilities managers marry the ‘soft’ stakeholder engagement factors with the ‘hard’ factors of technical building operation to span the entire organisation and embed sustainability strategy into operations. The transparency of sustainability initiatives, heightened awareness of resource scarcity and financial gains of implementing energy-efficient measures are compelling; now, green credentials are business credentials too.

Biography of Ian Fielder CEO, BIFM

Ian Fielder joined the BIFM as CEO in May 2004 and has a long association with the institute. He was Chairman for two years from June 2000 and has held a number of key appointments, including Deputy Chairman, Chairman of the BIFM South Region and Chairman of the International Committee.

Ian is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), Honorary Fellow of the BIFM (Hon FBIFM) and a Fellow of the Institute of Association Management (FIAM). He is also an adviser on the board of the Asset Skills Council and a Board Director of Global FM.

Website: www.bifm.org.uk

Biography of Katharine Deas, Managing Director, Low Carbon Workplace Ltd

Katharine Deas is Managing Director for Low Carbon Workplace Ltd, which delivers low-carbon advisory services and is the exclusive carbon adviser to the Low Carbon Workplace Partnership*, the first UK entity committed to delivering high-quality, low-carbon offices that are inspiring, leading edge in their energy usage and excellent value for money.
Website:www.lowcarbonworkplace.com
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*The Low Carbon Workplace Partnership, described as the UK’s most ambitious low-carbon commercial property initiative, was formed by the Carbon Trust, Threadneedle Asset Management and the developer Stanhope in 2010.
References
1 “Building the Future Today” Carbon Trust, 2009 www.carbontrust.co.uk
2 Property Market Analysis. 2010, www.pma.co.uk
3 “Office Equipment: Introducing Energy Saving Opportunities for Businesses” Carbon Trust, 2006