SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES IN FACILITY MANAGEMENT

Sustainable Practices in Facility Management



Executive Summary

In the past several years, the word became conscious about their carbon emission practices. Gradually their efforts to cope with this issue increased. Businesses also realized their social responsibility in reducing their carbon footprint. Apart from general public, businesses account the greatest quantity to the carbon emission. Their assets, activities, products and services became significant contributors to the non sustainability practices. To cope with government regulations and ever increasing consumer pressures the businesses today are adopting various facility management procedures which are aligned with the corporate social responsibility.

As the carbon emission increased, so did various non renewable technologies to address this problem. Wind energy, solar power, geothermal, and biomass are some of the sources used today on domestic and commercial scale. In relation to these practices and sustainability requirements, a company named Technox is assumed in this paper. It is a technology and hardware/software manufacturing firm, which aims to undertake the social responsibility in relation to the facility manager. Currently the company practices do not account much for the social considerations. It uses the natural gas resource to meet most of its thermal requirements, however, with the changing business nature; the company is proactive enough to take a stand in reducing the carbon footprint. The business case details out the strategy the company undertakes to implement CSR. The efficient supply chain management, renewal of the materials, and production processes, a comprehensive waste management processes are several strategies which the company undertakes. These strategies have to be incorporated with the facility management, because they require a comprehensive implementation across the organization. For this purpose employee motivation and support is required. It will require a renewal of organization vision and management. Considering the cost benefit analysis of these programs, it is known that the benefits outweigh the costs for the company. It will observe the reduction in the operational costs, increased visibility as a socially responsible firm, financially and economically stable through the use of wind power technology and capitalize on the social and financial standing in the long run.

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Analysis of business's total carbon footprint emission1

Manufacturing1

Material use1

Toxic substances2

Manufacturing2

Products2

Less consideration towards Energy efficiency.2

Products recyclability3

Services and facilities3

Assets3

Supply chain and transportation4

Need for businesses to manage the reduction of carbon footprint4

Compliance with government regulations4

Improving operational efficiency4

Consumers' pressures5

Communication of business metrics5

Equity and brand differentiation5

Demand of the workforce6

Appraisal of renewable energy technologies6

Suitability to different locations and styles as per organizational needs7

Biomass7

Wind energy8

Solar Photovoltaic8

Solar Thermal9

Geothermal Technology9

Example of an organization: Technox10

Recommendations of the use of wind turbine to improve the supply chain10

Reasons for adopting Wind technology11

Lower corporate energy costs11

Reduced operating losses caused by power outages11

Reduced emission and realization of social responsibility11

Strong stakeholders' relationship12

Customers12

Local communities12

Employees12

The business case14

Technox business14

The environmental impact of the current practices14

Corporate Social responsibility and facility management15

Alignment of CSR goals with the overall facility management goals15

The need for change16

The sustainable development initiatives17

Vision17

Objectives18

The sustainable development policies18

The strategies to sustainable development19

The wind power project19

The Product Captainship20

Process and materials20

Supply chain21

Employee commute options21

Reducing PFC emissions22

Recycling22

Strategy implementation23

Developing a supportive corporate culture23

The waste ...