Whether FMs are forced to comply, ascribe to common sense or feel a moral imperative to do the right thing, the bars have been set. The challenges lie in how FMs will vault over them.

When it comes to the law of supply and demand, it seems the demand is more prevalent in the world of FM. It is up to FMs to provide the supply. A relatively new term in the business world depicts an overall company as the demand organization. It does not take much imagination as to which group in the facility is most affected by this concept.

One demand that is either implied or mandated is the implementation of sustainable initiatives. If an FM is moral, ethical or practical, the supposition that taking care of the environment is an integral goal of operations. This focus encompasses activities that provide benefits on multiple levels: namely, activities centering around the triple bottom line. However, should an FM need guidance or further incentive, there are legislative mandates, regulations, standards and guidelines available to help them navigate the world of sustainability.

Laws

First, and most importantly, are the laws that have been created to dictate performance and outcomes for the preservation of the environment. Much like FM, legislation has been viewed as a combination of science and art. Environmental laws often relate to issues such as the pollution of soil, air, or water; global warming, the depletion of natural resources such as fossil fuels, and the ecology. They can be comprised of a complex combination of state, federal, and international treaty law pertaining to the environment and protecting natural resources.

Environmental law is increasingly an international issue, due to the cross-border issues of air and water pollution, and man-made climate change. It is an ever-changing and constantly expanding challenge. When decisions and collaborations occur across international boundaries, disputes inevitably transpire because of trade implications for the respective nations, safety concerns and cleanliness of environmental resources among shared borders. Problems with enforcement regarding liability under agreements or treaty provisions relating to the environment can also arise.

This area of international law includes a multitude of environmental issues. Future issues regarding population growth and supporting those people, the challenges of biodiversity, global climate change, ozone depletion and preserving the Antarctic regions are major concerns. Maintaining the integrity of natural resources means controlling the movement of toxic and hazardous substances, as well as vessel-based pollution and dumping waste on land and sea. The conservation of marine living resources, trans-boundary air and water pollution, desertification, and nuclear damage are other dangers to the environment that have international implications.

United States environmental law concerns legal standards to protect human health and improve the country’s natural environment. The country remains an important source of environmental legal expertise and experience, despite criticism at home and abroad on issues of protection, enforcement, and over-regulation.

Environmental sustainability laws in the U.S. include the Clean Water Act; Clean Air Act; Endangered Species Act; Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; and The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, to name a few. FM advocates, through IFMA’s Government Affairs Committee have tried for years for Congress to enact an updated comprehensive energy conservation bill.

Legislation refers to the laws enacted by the legislature or a law that is in process of being enacted. They are directives proposed by a legislative body to direct particular actions. Regulations, meanwhile, are the process of monitoring and enforcing a law as well as the document that contains the details of a written rule. A regulation is a specific requirement within legislation and details how legislation is enforced. These two are inextricably intertwined but are different from each other.

A regulation refers to a specific requirement that can take on both broad and specific forms. it is how legislation is enforced by regulators and they support the requirements of the legislation. In industry, they specify the formal (legal) requirements to be followed by organizations, workers and employers. Regulations address product safety, consumer protection and other factors in the public interest. At times, FMs receive visits from regulators (such as from the health department, fire marshal, water quality/storm water management or waste diversion).

The next level of external support for efforts in sustainability and FM are industry standards focusing on health, indoor environmental quality and resource management. Standards are principles considered a basis of comparison or a model approved by an authority or general consent. Standards are the distilled wisdom of people with expertise in subject matters and are fully conversant with the needs of the organizations they represent.

Numerous standards have been developed globally in recent years to address issues of social equity, environmental quality and economic prosperity. Despite the common denominators regarding sustainability, there are some significant differences in terms of their target groups of adopters, historical development, scattered geographical differences, and varied emphasis on environmental, social or economic issues.

One of the major differences between standards is their level of strictness. Some standards set the bar high for a sector, attempting to promote the strongest social and environmental practices while working with the top performers to constantly increase sustainability expectations. Other standards are more concerned with the elimination of the most detrimental practices and have practitioners operate at more of an entry-level to incrementally improve their operations. Strategies are also developed to move producers through a progression of ever-evolving sustainability initiatives. Standards can be developed applied internationally, with mechanisms built in to ensure local relevance. Other standards are developed entirely with a regional or national focus.

ISO is the International Organization for Standardization and covers a broad scope of business practices, including product quality, environmental activities and risk management. ISO 14001 sets out the criteria for environmental management systems and interested parties can be certified through it. It maps out a framework that a company or organization can follow to set up an effective environmental management system. Applicable to any type of organization it can provide assurance to company management, employees and external stakeholders that a business’ environmental impact is being measured and improved.

While ISO 14001 provides requirements with guidance for use that relate to environmental systems, other standards focus on specific approaches such as audits, communications, labelling and life cycle analysis, as well as environmental challenges such as climate change.

FMs should also take interest in the newly published ISO 41000 series: Standards in Facility Management. ISO 41001:2018 guides the implementation and operations of any FM organization and refers formally to the FM organization as an organ of any enterprise which makes use of facilities. The business entity is defined as the demand organization and this is one area in which that term has taken root.

ISO 41001 specifies the facility management system requirements when an organization wants to demonstrate the efficient and effective FM delivery supporting the objectives of the demand organization. It was created to assist companies meet the needs of interested parties and to meet applicable requirements, and operating sustainably in a globally competitive environment.

Other members of this standards family include:

  • ISO 41011 which defines FM vocabulary;

  • ISO 41012 which provides guidance on strategic sourcing and the development of agreements; and

  • ISO 41013 which outlines the scope, key concepts and benefits of FM.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an international standard generated by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). GRI helps businesses and governments understand and communicate their impact on critical sustainability issues such as climate change, human rights, governance and social wellbeing. This enables real action to create social, environmental and economic benefits for everyone. The GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards are developed with true multi-stakeholder contributions and are rooted in the public interest.

ASHRAE

Other standards that can be referenced have been published by ASHRAE (the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers).

ASHRAE Standard 55-2017 provides a systematic approach to help architects and engineers analyze design alternatives that integrate suitable combinations of enclosure, fenestrations, constructions, terminal HVAC technologies and space layouts and dimensions and meet or exceed function-specific thermal environmental requirements for occupancy. Furthermore, Standard 55-2017 provides methods and metrics to support the evaluation of thermal comfort in existing buildings using subjective occupant surveys, objective environmental measurements and the use of a building automation system

Standard 62.1 can be used to guide the improvement of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in existing buildings as it outlines minimum measures intended to provide IAQ that is acceptable to human occupants and minimize adverse health effects

Standard 90.1 has been a benchmark for U.S. commercial building energy codes and a key basis for codes and standards around the world for more than 35 years. This standard provides the minimum requirements for energy-efficient design of most buildings, except low-rise residential buildings.

Guidelines

A guideline is a statement by which to determine a course of action. It aims to streamline processes according to a set routine or sound practices. In concept, a guideline is never mandatory. One way in which to consider standards and certifications such as those offered by BREAMM, LEED or CASBEE is to treat them as guidelines or best practices of a sort.

FMs can review and attempt to follow the specifications in a certification program to the best of their ability, or the capabilities of their buildings. These programs relate what needs to be done for certification, and an FM can opt to achieve ABC (All But Certified) status for their operations.

Measures aimed at improving the built environment have been established around the world.

  • The BREEAM® assessment was introduced in 1990 by the British Research Establishment (BRE) as the world’s first comprehensive green building rating system for office. It has reached strong market recognition and is recognized by construction and property sectors as the benchmark for best practice in environmental design and management.

  • LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. Developed in the United States it is available for virtually all building types. It provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings.

  • CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency) is the green building management system in Japan.

Taking action

The case for sustainability is no longer an argument. It is based on statements of fact. Much of FM is reactive, taking care of problems as they arise. This is not the time for that. FMs must be proactive by implementing proper measures now. There are many motivators for sustainability, from mandates to voluntary efforts. There are legislation and laws that are ostensibly aimed at the public good that are enforceable and binding. There are regulations, enforced by agents with a rule book and advice in one hand and a fine schedule in the other.

There are standards and guidelines designed to make facilities safe, healthy workplaces with decreased impact on the environment and the bottom line. There are business cases galore, proving savings through cost avoidance. Savings are evidenced through energy efficiency, water conservation, waste diversion and improved productivity in the workplace. Or, it could be the prevention of fines or finances aligned with remediation. The proof is easy to see, and the tools are there. Benefitting the triple bottom line is no longer a catchphrase, but a realistic set of objectives.