by Lynn Baez, T-Mobile USA and Alana F. Dunoff, AFD Facility Planning — Remember 1990? In the U.S. facilities market, 1990 was a big year. That was the year the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed. Within the months and years following, there were workshops, seminars, consultants, sessions as IFMA conferences, vendor-generated tools and other resources all designed to help FMs learn, plan and implement projects to comply with the new law. Today ADA is just part of our daily vernacular, just another process in our designs and operations.
We are experiencing a similar paradigm shift with sustainability. Once a foreign and perhaps scary concept to implement, sustainability has become woven into our organizations’ corporate social responsibility statements and critical to our organizations’ success. Like ADA, sustainability practices must shift from project-based activities to being fully integrated into our daily FM processes.
Value proposition
Integration of sustainability practices into our daily FM operations just makes good FM business sense. FMs are often the champions of sustainability within our organizations; it is only logical that we take the helm of transitioning sustainability into something we just do, not something we first plan then implement.
There are many reasons why sustainability integration is critical to FM operational success. It is how and what to integrate that can be the real challenge. We found two primary keys for successful integration:
- Focusing on obtaining good smart data and metrics
- Integration of these metrics into vendor management processes
Building a baseline of data
Good smart data is paramount to every decision we make; it is the foundation of our performance measures and how we track our success. So, even though collecting data may require rolling up your sleeves and getting a little dirty, it is worth the effort to ensure you have reliable information.
The first step is creating a baseline of data. A baseline allows you to draw a line in the sand to understand where you are today and helps you identify where you want to be in the future. To build a baseline of sustainability data, start by collecting utilization and cost information for key operations such as:
- Utilities (electric, water, gas)
- Waste (recycle, trash, compost)
- Site services/amenities
You might collect information differently for each of these operational areas. For example, for utilities data you may need to dig out your monthly bills. Then in a simple excel document, record on a month-by-month, building-by-building basis, your consumption (kWh) and costs. If you can collect this data going back two to three years, you will build a historic perspective of your organization’s utilization trends.
When collecting data from vendor partners such as custodial services, they may have their own internal processes to collect and track sustainable practices such as percent of green cleaning chemicals or overall percent of green clean within a facility. The challenge here is that you need to ensure their data and processes are transparent and reliable — don’t be afraid to ask them how they got their numbers!
Once you have collected your data, the second step is to build a dashboard. Creating a simple dashboard (e.g., using a spreadsheet) allows you to summarize your data such as yearly totals, averages, percentages and year-to-date information on a building-by-building basis. The value of the dashboard is that it can provide a big-picture view of your consumption, costs and processes. Dashboards do not have to be complicated — keep it simple and start off slowly. To get started, pick one building and collect and record your electrical consumption data, then summarize it. The dashboard becomes the foundation for collecting, analyzing, planning and acting (see Figure 1).
Identifying metrics
Baseline data tells you where you were. To help you get to where you want to go, you have to find, create and identify benchmarks, metrics, targets, key performance indicators or best practices. Whatever you call them, performance measuring tools allow you to compare yourself to the outside world and help you define goals that are reasonable and achievable.
In the beginning of this process, internal metrics are often the first and simplest to obtain. For example, if you look at your history of electrical consumption it may be easy to suggest a targeted decreased consumption level that is attainable, given certain projects you are considering implementing (e.g., new lighting or occupancy sensors).
FIGURE 1 illustrates a working dashboard.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Once you have advanced past your own internal benchmarks or if you are looking for gauges and guidance outside of your organization you will need to look for external benchmarks or metrics. External sustainability benchmarking data is out there but it can be challenging to find. In the IFMA Benchmarking Report for Operations and Maintenance #32 you will find helpful information on how to convert your data using the Energy Use Index so that it is comparable to outside organizations. IFMA’s online Benchmarks Exchange (BEX) also can provide helpful utility consumption data.
An increasingly popular recording and benchmarking tool is the EPA’s ENERGY STAR® program. Instead of an excel spreadsheet you can record your utility utilization data into the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (www.energystar.gov). This easy tool provides internal reports as well as access to benchmarking data within their vast database.
If you are looking beyond comparative data and want to figure out what sustainable goals or targets you should be striving to achieve, check out the criteria for LEED Existing Building Operations and Maintenance (EBOM) (www.usgbc.org/credits/existing-buildings/v4). Even if you don’t intend to obtain your LEED certification the EBOM is a terrific framework for building your own sustainability program and finding achievable metrics to attain. In eight categories, including energy and atmosphere, water efficiency, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality and innovation, you can understand in real operational terms what LEED defines as minimally acceptable standards. If you match your FM operations to these standards you know you will have achieved integration of sustainability practices into your daily operations.
Vendor management processes
Once you define the sustainability metrics and standards to which your organization is committed, your vendor partners will be the key to your organization’s success. Understanding what you measure and the outcomes you want to obtain can be an organic process. through your sustainability initiatives you will have current and new partners, providers and vendors engaged in daily operations.
Current vendors will want to work with you on supporting your goals in order to increase their services provided and invest time and resources to a potential benefit for future clients. Vendors range in all different sizes, regions and in their understanding of sustainability. The key is to level set your expectations. Host a kick-off event which outlines your initiatives and your vision of partnership. Then provide expected outcomes per vendor type; for example, an office supply vendor would need to furnish specification sheets on each item on your property with transportation manifests to support a reduction of emissions. Partner with procurement and legal departments to ensure contracts reflect the enhancements in either products or services by existing partners.
As new partners emerge you will need to provide a roadmap of how they can integrate their products or services within your initiatives. Obtain support from your procurement and legal teams to include sustainability-related language for requests for information, requests for proposals and requests for quotations documentation. Attach site policies, procedures, service level agreements or statements of work that reflect how sustainability is supported daily, based on the type of service or product needed. Ensure through the negotiation process traceable examples can be furnished to confirm you have a solid understanding of what environmental impact the items or services maintain.
Each vendor will need to provide transparent data and details in regard to how they support your location’s sustainability objectives. Ensure you provide a simple translatable method of data collection that can be furnished through contract language and exhibits. If your goal is to publish your results externally, make certain the story can be translated applying global standards using the Global Reporting Initiative as an example.
Final thoughts
Integration of sustainability data and metrics into daily operations can be a daunting task. It is important to remember to begin at the beginning and take your time to plan your integration methods and processes. You will have fits and starts. Here are some key lessons learned:
- Ensure you have a firm understanding of your data by collecting from various resources utilizing tools that are simple and effective.
- Gain buy-in from leadership that your goals and visions may change as data begins to take shape.
- This is a marathon, not a sprint; outcomes from various resources will furnish the best results.
- Utilize both internal and external benchmark tools and guidelines to support your findings.
- Dashboards and presentations can help tell your metric story.
- Partner with your vendors to obtain a complete picture of site management through a sustainability focus as well as a financial and operations perspective.
Finally, it is clear that sustainability benchmarking data and metrics are not easily and readily available. Share your journey of integration within the online IFMA Sustainability Community to support a call of best practice and benchmark sharing so that we can all benefit from each other’s efforts.
Alana F. Dunoff, FMP, IFMA Fellow is a strategic facility planning consultant at AFD Facility Planning and an adjunct professor at Temple University. In her career of more than 22 years She has served on IFMA’s board of directors and as president of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of IFMA and believes in the power of turning data into actionable knowledge. Dunoff holds a Master of Science degree in facility planning and management from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Science in environmental psychology from Boston University.
Lynn Baez, FMP, SFP, CFM is workplace ambassador — south region for T-Mobile USA. Previously, she led Dr Pepper Snapple Group headquarters to obtain LEED EBOM Gold in 2012. A member of the 2014-15 IFMA board of directors, Baez serves as the board liaison for the Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Strategic Advisory Group and the Environmental Health and Safety Council.