Facilities management

This chapter explores the discipline of facilities management and the contribution that this emerging profession makes to securing sustainable building performance. It argues that the realization of intended environmental improvements depends pivotally on the behavior of users and the on going management of the facility throughout its life. The chapter describes an alternative view of a building's evolution as seen through the eyes of the facilities manager. In doing so, it highlights a much greater diversity of opportunities in sustainable building design that extends well into the operational life. Learning scope: on successful completion of this chapter, readers will be able to: (1) demonstrate the role of facilities management in ensuring continued performance improvements with respect to sustainable objectives; (2) explore buildings as a multilayered process rather than a product; (3) explain how facilities managers consider sustainability interventions at critical points within this layered life cycle; (4) examine how whole life building economics impinges on sustainable decision making.