Maintenance: The Right Thing for the Environment 

6/13/2024

What is it going to take?? 

No, seriously. How many strong reasons do institutional and commercial organizations need to understand the value of properly funding the maintenance of their facilities? For decades, maintenance and engineering managers have tried every possible argument to convince C-suites that investing in maintenance is a smart financial move.? 

Among the age-old arguments are that effective maintenance: preserves a facility’s value; prevents costly equipment breakdowns and service interruptions; prevents more expensive repairs later; and ensures regulatory compliance, meaning no financial penalties.? 

Not many of these arguments have hit home, judging by the number of facilities that struggle with massive repair backlogs. Still, a maintenance and engineering manager’s job is to advocate for investments in facility repairs and upgrades.? 

So here is yet another argument — maybe the strongest one yet — that funding maintenance and repairs is a smart move.? 

Aging buildings use more energy, and as a result, they generate more greenhouse gases, which lead to climate change. Given the growing number of organizations racing to meet ambitious climate mandates that require buildings to reduce their carbon emissions by a certain amount and by a set date, cutting emissions from facilities is essential.? 

Properly funding maintenance actually can solve two problems plaguing organizations. It can cost-effectively preserve aging facilities, and it can cut emissions to address climate change mandates and meet ESG goals.? 

The challenge of decarbonizing the nation’s aging facilities is massive, and so is its potential impact. It might just be the argument managers have needed to finally convince the C-suite that investing in the maintenance and repair of facilities isn’t just the smart thing to do for the bottom line. It’s the right thing to do for the planet. 

Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.