Sustainable Facilities Management Research Articles

Management and sustainability of event facilities: perceptions of end-users in higher education institutions in Ghana

Purpose Users are key stakeholders in event facilities, and therefore facilities management (FM) services must meet their needs and expectations. The paper aims to assess users’ perceptions of FM practices and sustainability in event facilities in higher education institutions. Design/methodology/approach The study used a descriptive design approach to explore the perceptions of end-users of event facilities. Using Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology as a case study, 384 users of the event facilities were contacted through the email directory of the event facilities. Questionnaires were used to collect data and analysed in descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v22.0). Findings The study categorised users’ perceptions into customer care, security and safety and service quality dimensions. The results revealed that constituent key important indices of these three dimensions were not significant at both the composite and individual levels. Thus, the users generally perceived FM practices in the event facilities to be below standard. None of the three sustainability constituents was significant, suggesting that users perceived event FM sustainability practices as below standard. Practical implications The study presents users’ perceptions of FM practices in event facilities. It has also suggested effective ways of managing event facilities to improve user comfort, safety and satisfaction. Originality/value The study provides relevant information on users’ perceptions of FM practices. It specifically has sustainable FM as a key component, which is crucial for achieving sustainable development goals.

Sustainable facilities management in the built environment: a bibliometric review

Purpose This study aims to review the status quo, current state of research, research hot themes and research gaps in sustainable facilities management (SFM) in the built environment (BE) through an extant literature review. Design/methodology/approach To map and analyze knowledge paths in the context of SFM research, a sequential explanatory mixed-method review involving bibliometric and content analysis was used to help identify current research trends, research hot themes and knowledge gaps. The Scopus search engine was used to find 169 relevant articles. For a better understanding of the literature accumulated, a bibliometric analysis was carried out by using VOSviewer to reveal current research themes, the status quo and current state of research as well as research gaps. Findings Through the literature review and content analysis, the current research themes on SFM revealed from the study include green building technologies, assessment methods of SFM, smart buildings and building information modeling. The research hot themes in SFM include smart buildings and green building technologies, green buildings (GB), architectural and building designs in the university sector, assessment methods in buildings and decision-making and the adoption of asset and facility management in the university sector. Indoor air pollution, intelligent buildings, climate change, maintenance, environmental management, facilities, historic preservation, environmental performance, energy management, etc. are the research gaps identified from the study, and these serve as potential areas for future research studies under SFM. It was recognized that facilities managers are increasingly involved with sustainability policies within their organizations and are developing sustainability agendas to keep up with the changing nature of the facilities management (FM) profession. Practical implications The findings of this study hold relevance to the FM practice, as the integration of SFM by facilities managers can lead to waste reduction, decreased operating expenses and reduced energy consumption. In addition, occupants of sustainable buildings experience improved conditions that contribute to better health and productivity, thus boosting their overall well-being. Consistent with the themes of smart buildings and green technologies, revealed to be the hot themes in the SFM research scope, properties with sustainable features can command higher rental rates and property values, appealing to a broader range of stakeholders. SFM practices in universities can aid in saving money from reduced facility operational costs and improve the image of institutions while creating better indoor environments for students and staff. The analyses of countries involved in research can open doors for the establishment of research groups and the development of collaboration between universities in different countries researching similar topics of interest. Originality/value The geographical scope of this study is not limited and, therefore, encourages broad applicability of the findings to the global sustainable BE.

Sustainable Facilities Management (SFM) Initiatives in Malaysia Hotel Industry

This study offers valuable insights into the implementation of Sustainable Facilities Management (SFM) initiatives within Malaysia's hotel industry. By drawing upontraditional organizational theory, the research identifies sustainable measures at strategic, tactical, and operational levels. Environmental issues have gained increasing recognition among hoteliers worldwide, making them a crucial area of focus. The rise of the tourism sector is often associated with the hospitality industry's impact on the environment. Through preliminary semi-structured interviews with eight respondents from diverse hotel experiences, the study analysed the current SFM initiatives in the context of the Malaysian hotel industry. The findings highlight that SFM practices follow a top-to-bottom sequential process, encompassing policy planning (strategic), awareness-raising (tactical), implementation (operational), and monitoring and improvement planning (operational). Emphasizing the significance of integrating SFM initiatives into day-to-day hotel operations, the study underscores the need for systematic and comprehensive sustainability practices. Moreover, this study makes a valuable contribution by developing Sustainable Facilities Management (SFM) initiatives that assess hotels' long-term commitment to sustainability, benefiting not only the industry but also the wider community. By focusing on SFM initiatives in the hospitality sector, this article offers crucial information to fuel the rapid growth of sustainable development within Malaysia's hospitality industry.

Path dependencies and sustainable facilities management: a study of housing companies in Sweden

ABSTRACT Facilities management (FM) of housing stocks has great potential to contribute to sustainable development, but the transition to sustainable facilities management (SFM) is complex and slow. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges of transitioning to SFM for housing companies in Sweden in relation to practical and technical innovations like digitalization. Using a path dependency framework, and drawing on semi-structured interviews with 23 FM professionals, the findings reveal many technologies and practices that housing companies can adopt to transition towards SFM. However, their institutionalized path-dependent behaviour means they are unwilling to change, tend to avoid uncertainty, and overemphasize the financial bottom line. These new innovative solutions also present challenges, such as a lack of established business models and poor value for money. This study contributes insight into what path dependencies need to be broken, what behaviours need to be changed, what structures must be created, and what skills and knowledge must be developed to increase SFM in the housing sector.

Sustainable facilities management in Malaysia: Adoption challenges and the way-forward for improvements

One of the most important issues the world is currently facing is climate change. The sustainability agenda needs to be incorporated into the built environment in order to address this issue. Facilities management (FM) is regarded as having the greatest potential to drive and incorporate the sustainability agenda into the built environment. There can be a significant environmental impact from FM services provided in buildings. This resulted in the combination of FM activities and sustainability principles, giving rise to the idea of sustainable facilities management (SFM). In the context of Malaysia, this paper identifies the issues with SFM and potential solutions. The research used a quantitative approach to gather data through a questionnaire survey, and the Relative Importance Index (RII) was used for data analysis. The results show that, energy consumption reduction is the widely implemented practice, while legislation is the most important driver of SFM in Malaysia. Financial constraints and a lack of knowledge and understanding of SFM are the least significant barriers to SFM implementation. Participation in SFM workshops or training is the most crucial improvement that should be made, while investing in building information modelling or other pertinent technologies for FM purposes is the least crucial improvement. Overall, the results show that Malaysia’s rate of SFM adoption and implementation is still low.

Sustainable digitalisation and implementation of ISO standards for facilities management

PurposeThis viewpoint paper aims to discuss sustainable digitalisation of facilities management (FM) through the implementation of the newly recognised International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards within the ISO 41000 series.Design/methodology/approachThis viewpoint paper provides a review of the literature of the recent ISO documents and academic study. The content is also dependent on the authors’ opinions and interpretation.FindingsFM is currently shifting emphasis towards a strategic focus through the adoption of the new recognised international ISO standards that consider sustainable digitalisation in business decisions. However, the FM sector is encountering potential risks to the implementation of the new recognised international ISO standards. Digitalisation is one kind of force that has shaped the management of the built environment and FM recently and rapidly, especially in the Covid-19 period. This is impacting the FM industry. As standardisation aims at establishing a constantly evolving baseline of proven practices, standardisation can be considered a part of sustainable FM. It is believed that standardised and strategic level support is crucial for the smooth adoption of sustainable FM practices and processes. Standards such as the ISO standards, applied to the global FM industry, help in objectively quantifying the added value of FM to the core business. Advanced technology and digitalisation can contribute to the sustainability of any profession and industry, but it also requires a community to tackle the problems.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the FM industry by making recommendations for improvement in the use of digitalisation. In summary, the significant finding of this viewpoint paper is that digitalisation offers both possibilities and problems in the application of the new recognised international ISO standards within the FM industry.

Facilities Management Digitalisation Model: A Systematic Literature Review

Facility or facilities management (FM) helps ensure that the built environment is efficient, safe, comfortable, and sustainable. The goal of FM is to raise productivity and improve people's quality of life. FM involves working with a variety of service providers to ensure that buildings and associated facilities are well maintained. The role of the facility manager is becoming more prominent in a digitally enabled world. The recent pandemic has boosted the rate at which innovation is being embraced in most organisations. This research will look at the current trends in FM that are emerging as a result of digitalisation. The main objective of this research is to propose the FM digitalisation model, which might influence future FM practices. This systematic literature review is based on a search of articles across Scopus and Google Scholar using keywords such as "facilities management" and "digitisation". On July 6th, 2022, the searches yielded 614 articles, including 64 articles in Scopus, 113 articles in WoS, and 437 articles in Google Scholar. After screening, 29 Scopus articles, 93 WoS articles, and 398 Google Scholar articles were excluded. According to this study, the field of FM digitalisation is still in its early stages of development. The study also identifies FM digitalisation trends over the previous twelve years, establishing contextual knowledge. As a result, a conceptual model that focuses on sustainable FM digitalisation is proposed.

Sustainable Facilities Management in the Built Environment: A Mixed-Method Review

The significance of facilities management practices in the built environment and the changing focus to include sustainability principles have been acknowledged. However, there is no consensus on the sustainability principles needed to ensure maximal benefits in the built environment. Few studies have systematically analysed and visualised the trends in facilities management sustainability research. This study thus explored facilities management research and its evolving focus over the past decade regarding sustainability. With a focus on the built environment, an exploratory study using scientometrics and content analysis was undertaken based on the extant literature from 2012 to 2022 published in the Scopus database. Keywords including “sustainable facilities management” and “built environment” were used to identify journal articles and conference papers. Interlinks were mapped and visualised using VOSviewer and complemented with findings from the content analysis. Findings showed that current research pathways centred around four clusters, including planning and implementation, community-oriented smart facilities management, innovativeness, and environmental and corporate energy management. These core research focus areas were mostly concentrated in the United Kingdom. The core researchers, institutions, funders, and sources were established. Future research gaps and directions based on knowledge areas and methodological and collaborative endeavours were highlighted. The study offers insights to facilities managers, researchers, analysts, and policymakers on the trajectory of sustainable facilities management research and the extent to which the sustainable development agenda has been embraced. The relations between SFM research and opportunities or areas of stronger focus given contemporary occurrences were identified.

Lean and visual managements contribution to sustainable facilities management

Sustainable management practices such as lean and visual management can be directly linked successfully to facilities management practices. This was acknowledged during an exploratory case study that assessed the leanness of a university’s transformation, evaluating their lean and value-added approach to enhancing workflow efficiencies. The research study was limited to one UK university estates and property services lean journey. Design science research methodology with an action research approach was applied. In conjunction with qualitative methods such as interviews, questionnaires, and participatory observations in action that included a workshop. The literature review surmised that there is a lack of data demonstrating the correlation between lean visual management and sustainable management practices especially in facilities management services. Additionally, combining sustainable management and change management methods is also not widely researched. When sustainable management practices that include lean and visual management are implemented in facilities practices customer expectations are improved, waste eliminated, color coding and labelling implemented, and known sustainable practices such as recycling of furniture, fixtures and equipment occur adding value and reallocating financial resources. It is recommended that change management be introduced to better understand workplace culture when executing transformation directives. Subsequently, management will become better equipped at contending with employee’s attitudes, work ethics, and behaviours. The originality of this research exploration illustrates that facilities management departments should embrace sustainable management practices that include lean visual management methods combined with change management. Consequently, improving employee experience, return on investment and acknowledgment from customers, senior leadership, and the C-suite.

Sustainable Facilities Management for Muslim Friendly Tourism and Hospitality

An Islamic tourism model is embedded with economic, cultural, and religious conservative concepts. It should aggressively contribute towards societal, economic, and environmentally sustainable development. Sustainable facilities management (SFM) will focus on developing, maintaining, and sustaining the attractiveness and competitiveness of Muslim-Friendly Tourism and Hospitality (MFTH) destinations. This study will adopt a deductive approach designed to explain the SFM processes and dynamics. The study will be conducted by distributing a questionnaire survey. The MFTH customers are the target population for this study. The study's unit of analysis is Malaysian travellers, as well as tourism and hospitality facility management professionals. The number of people that are expected to take part in this study is expected to be 1500. This research is an exploratory approach to highlight the determinants of SFM for MFTH success in Malaysia. All data gained from the questionnaire survey is analysed using SPSS to run the factor analysis. A total of 47 determinant factors were grouped into eleven groups (including dependent variables). The main results from this research help MFTH stakeholders to better utilise their destination facilities with respect to sustainability, delivering better service and hospitality.

Sustainable Facilities Management (SFM) initiatives in Malaysia hotel industry: reliability and validity analysis using Smart-PLS

This paper presents the reliability and validity analysis of the data collection instrument used in a larger study scale. A pilot study has been employed to prove the viability of the questionnaire survey and make improvements prior to the actual survey examining the framework of Sustainable Facilities Management (SFM) initiatives for Malaysia’s hotel industry. A survey was conducted among 5-star hotels registered under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) Malaysia. A total of 34 respondents were successfully recruited from Klang Valley’s hotel staff. The reliability and validity analyses of this pilot study were conducted using PLS-SEM: SMART-PLS Version 3.3.2. The study’s findings revealed that the surveyed SFM initiatives in the hotel organisations were statistically significant. In addition, the findings indicated that the SFM initiatives positively contributed towards sustainable development goals (SDG); particularly SDG 6, SDG 7, SDG 9, SDG 12, and SDG 13. The study’s main implications further confirmed that the instrument used in the pilot study fulfilled the acceptable requirements of the reliability and validity range for the main data collection purpose of the intended study.

ASSESSMENT OF OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PRACTICES IN FACILITIES MANAGEMENT OF OFFICE BUILDINGS IN LAGOS, NIGERIA

The development of facility management (FM) in Nigeria is relatively new and limited in scope although it has been introduced for more than four decades. This study attempts to assess the operation and maintenance practices in the FM of office buildings from the Nigeria context, aimed to address issues concerning activities of operation and maintenance. It also intends to reveal the adoption of FM techniques and associated challenges in the office buildings in Lagos., Nigeria. A total of 216 members of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) were sampled using purposive sampling techniques and their responses were analysed by descriptive statistics such as weighted mean score (WMS), severity index (S.I), and Kruskal-Wallis H test (KWT). The study found that the major FM activities that are mostly engaged include space management, power plant/electricity maintenance, waste management, lift maintenance, general cleaning services, routine maintenance, and water management. While the preferred FM technique is a blended approach (both the preventive and the corrective methods). The prominent challenges in their respective categories were design flaws and poor installation of equipment (technical); inconsistency in financing maintenance, and high cost of maintenance components (finance); weak standards and poor enforcement (administrative), indifferent attitude towards maintenance issues, wrong perception and lack of foresight (top management). The study concluded that the operations of the FM practice are still in their infancy stage and characterised by prominent challenges of technical, administrative, and finance. However, being a multi-disciplinary profession, the study suggests efficient collaborative effort can be strengthened by an institutional framework that encourages human capacity development and enhanced technology to foster sustainable facilities management practice in the country.

Challenges in maintaining facilities in elderly Pondok Village environment

Pondok originates from an Arabic wordal-funduq which implies a hostel, a transitory home or dormitories meanwhile in Indonesia, a pondok is known as pesantren and dayah. The function of the pondok house is to serve as a center for the study of Islam in the Muslim community that does not have a specific age limit and is allowed to all genders. But most pondok houses are occupied by senior citizens who want to study Islam. The construction and existence of pondok house including facilities provided are mainly used for religious activity. Due to lack of law and regulations to govern the development of Pondok Village (PV), it drives a few problems that are related to insufficient facilities provided which then causes poor performance in managing it. This paper is presenting on the preliminary study from two pondok sites located in Perak, Malaysia. This paper is sought to discover the barriers related to implementing sustainable facilities management to PV. An interview with the building operators and an observation of the facilities provided in the PV was conducted. The findings reveal that lack of financial, lack of knowledge and skill related to sustainability, lack of staff to manage the building and facilities, lack of technology and inconsistent guidelines implemented are the key barriers that contribute to the performance of PV facilities management. Thus, this research recommends the implementation of sustainable facilities management of PV to reduce the cost of operating, proper training to the staffs that manage the facilities in a better way, thus increase skill and knowledge. Finally, the regulatory body should take holistic action in providing a standardization of facilities that should be provided in PV development and management.

Sustainable Facilities Management for Smart Buildings: A Case Study of the Heritage Place, Lagos

A recent development within the metropolis of Lagos State, Nigeria is the emergence of smart buildings aimed at providing safer, more secure, productive and comfortable business environment. A major challenge to the sustenance of such edifice is the delivery of strategic facilities management services to maximise the building’s efficiency and achieve expected return on investment. This study investigates sustainable facilities management practices in smart buildings using the Heritage Place as a case study. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 19 facilities management personnel and 68 users of the facility. chart, mean score and Spearman’s Correlation were used as the descriptive and inferential statistical tools, respectively. The results show the most frequently practiced sustainable facilities management practice to include: compliance to the preventive maintenance schedules for Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems and prompt response to repairs and corrective work activities in the facility with mean scores of 5.00 and 4.90, respectively. The results further show that the facility users were dissatisfied with the level of implementation of sustainable facilities management practices, except in integrated pest management and optimised waste management where marginal satisfaction were recorded, respectively. The study recommends a sustained effort by smart buildings stakeholders at implementing sustainable facilities management practices in order to significantly and continually improve operations and maintenance activities in the buildings. And that the efforts of facilities managers for smart buildings should be geared at the delivery of strategic facilities management services that meet the expectations of users of the facilities.

Challenges of implementing sustainable facilities management in higher institutions of learning

The paper investigates the barriers to the implementation of sustainable facilities management practice in higher institutions of learning. An integrative literature review was conducted to identify the barriers associated with the implementation of sustainable facilities management practice in higher institutions of learning. Findings from the literature reviewed thus far indicate that the lack of knowledge, senior management commitment, time and financial constraints, and lack of capability are major barriers to adopting and implementing sustainable facilities management. However, there is acute scarcity of relevant information for the local context. There is a need to address the barriers of implementing sustainable facilities management principles in higher institutions of learning. Especially in the local context, there is a need for empirical studies for adequate comparison and specificity of results. The paper will be informative on the current barriers of implementing sustainable facilities management practice in higher institutions of learning, and provide a strong basis for empirical research in this area.

Sustainable Facilities Management: Interviews with FM practitioners for Malaysian universities

Sustainability in Facilities Management (FM) is a new approach in managing buildings and may be influenced by practitioners involved within an organisation.Sustainability inthe organisation has a significant impact on organisational success in increasing the firm’s profitability,reducing cost and enhancingsafety and health. This paper aims to evaluate the level of sustainability implementation in the university organisations with the objectives to measure an understanding concerning sustainable FM among practitioners, and to determine the sustainability dimension which mostly considered. Six-teen interviews were conducted, and the results found that the majority of participants were not familiar to the sustainability concept and the environmental dimension was higher priorities in FM implementation.Keywords: Sustainable Facilities Management; Malaysian Universities; Sustainable Organisation; IntervieweISSN 2398-4295 ©2020 The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21834/ajbes.v5i18.188

The Adoption of Sustainable Facilities Management Practices in Organisations: A study of Malaysian universities

Globally, there is a growing trend among organisations towards promoting sustainability as an essential business strategy due to a high level of awareness about the impacts of their operations on the triple bottom line. This paper aims to examine the implementation of sustainability practices in an organisation focusing on universities. The objective was to determine sustainability adopted in facilities management (FM) practice concerning three different sustainability dimensions. Sixteen (16) interviews were conducted with the senior managerial level in selected universities. Among all dimensions, environmental sustainability was widely focused on having higher priorities for energy efficiency, waste reduction, and water conservation. These results provided some explanation and understanding of the overall picture of the study about organisational commitment towards sustainability in facilities management.Keywords: Sustainable Facilities Management; Malaysian Universities; Sustainable Organisation; Facilities ManagementeISSN: 2398-4287 © 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v5i13.1898

Emerging sustainable facilities management practices in health-care sector

Purpose Health-care (HC) is one of the most polluting industries and recognised as the second energy-intensive sector, emitting 8 per cent out of total 40 per cent of total carbon emissions. Integrating sustainability to facilities management operations is imperative and could significantly contribute to reducing energy consumption, waste and day-to-day operational costs of buildings. The integration of sustainability into FM practices depends on factors such as facility type, organisational scale, business sector and organisation characteristics. This paper aims to explore the SFM practice with a specific focus on HC-specific FM services and respective sustainable practice that could be integrated into FM operations. Design/methodology/approach A Delphi survey was administered to ten experts in two rounds, who are specialised in FM and sustainable practices in the HC sector. Data gathered from the survey were analysed using the Relative Importance Index to identify the most significant FM services and sustainable practices. Findings The study found 9 significant FM services and 49 sustainable in HC. The top three significant FM services include “building services (BS)”, “space planning (SP)” and “quality management (QM)”. Further, “identifying applications for energy-saving measures” and “ensure onsite, off-site storage and transport of wastes” were found as the topmost significant sustainable practices. The relevancy of these identified sustainable practices to the principles of sustainability was determined. The results showed that 22, 18 and 09 sustainable practices were relevant to environmental, social and economic principles of sustainability, respectively. Originality/value There is a dearth of literature that integrates sustainable FM practices in HC sector, and this study fulfills this research gap. The study is novel in offering a framework to integrate sustainability into FM practice in HC sector.

Positioning Strategic Sustainable Facilities Management (SFM) for Hotel Industry in Malaysia

Sustainability issues in the hotel industry are significantly distressing matter. It has been expressed as a constituent interest to a negative impact on the environment. However, the sustainability management concept is yet to be established by the Malaysian hotel industry. The aim is to study Sustainable Facilities Management (SFM) practices in the hotel industry. This conceptual paper encompasses on evolution theory of SFM. Meta-analysis was conducted focusing on developing trends of SFM globally. The findings revealed that 9 out of 15 sustainable initiatives have been commonly practised. These initiatives are essential to gain holistic SFM practices in the hotel industry.

The Implementation of Sustainable Energy Initiatives in Campus Buildings

Sustainable energy initiatives are one of the substantial measures toward achieving environmental sustainability goals and should be adopted by facilities management practices in university. This paper examined the sustainable energy initiatives implemented at three (3) participated universities with the objectives to identify the most current effective initiatives undertaken and to propose future improvement strategies. The perception of six (6) key persons was observed via a semi-structured interview. The most implemented strategies were establishing energy awareness programs, adopting energy-efficient appliances and equipment, managing time schedules, and implementing the prepaid metering system. The study suggested that the firm commitments and participation from all parties in universities are needed towards achieving a sustainable campus.