Industrialised, Integrated, Intelligent sustainable Construction - I3con

HANDBOOK 2 SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION
“Facility managers are people who are actively involved in managing the delivery, operation,
maintenance and disposal of their organisations facility or facilities. Many FMs have migrated from
building-related professions such as architecture and engineering” (Moller and McCartney 2007).
FM is based on the premise that the effectiveness and efficiency of an organisation is linked to the
physical environment in which it operates (Barrett and Baldry 2003). Most FM operations occur at the
operational phase of a building lifecycle to ensure the organisations’ buildings and infrastructure
support business goals. Businesses that can run its facilities more efficiently will have a competitive
advantage as well as the possibility of improving its profitability (Leifer 2003). Users and occupants
of a building are concerned with getting their work completed with the minimum of disruption. FM
provides a service to enable users to get their jobs done and must interact with the client for
continuous improvement (Blyth and Worthington 2001). Duffy (2000) claimed the discipline has
developed, although cost cutting seems to have become the predominant objective and distinguishing
feature of FM in practice.
“The expertise of the FM profession can contribute to almost every stage of the procurement process
and hence the final product in an economic, social and environmental sense” (Hadi et al. 2006). By
moving away from the operational phases of a facility and understanding that little is known regarding
a buildings eventual use pattern at the design stages, FM can inform the process of briefing and
building design (Clements-Croome 2004). This investment at the design phase can deliver significant
benefits in use including minimised capital cost, maximised attributes that contribute to better
business operation and minimised financial drain over the life cycle of the building (Halliday 2008).
The building can be specified to meet the end-users’ core business activities.
Facilities Management and Building Design
Shah (2007) illustrates when the operational performance of a building is not met, whether this is due
to the designers not fully understanding their remit or the operators not having the ability to manage
the facility, it is the occupants and finances that suffer. Shah (2007) gives the possible reasons for
poor design as follows:
• Inadequate communication through the delivery of a facility where the client requirements are
not included within the final designs or the FM is involved at a late stage.
• Different agendas of the parties where the client brief does not always capture end-user
requirements or the architects design without end-user input.
• Decisions made without the view of long-term maintenance.
• Minimal design timescale results in rushed decisions and fast handover
FMs arguably have the greatest knowledge of facilities in operation and can inform the design of a
new building of the end-user requirements. However, there is a tendency for those concerned in
running the building not to talk to those who design and provide them (Halliday 2008). The FM must
aim to have direct involvement with the Client, Architect and Project Manager to provide operational
knowledge at an early stage. Designers need to understand the way people operate in buildings, the
way in which they are used and the ways in which their performance and productivity can be
maximised to the benefit of the organisation and society at large. Facilities Managers have a great role
in advancing sustainability agenda through the continuous practice of sustainable FM (Elmualim et al.
2009; Atkin and Brookes 2005).
Methodology
Methodology is a set of working methods and can be defined as a body of practices, procedures and
rules used by those who engage in an enquiry. Research has a number of characteristics where data is
collected and interpreted systematically with a clear purpose to finding things out. Systematic
research is based on logical relationships and not just beliefs with the requirement of a clear purpose
(Saunders et al. 2003).
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