Many facility managers strive to make their buildings more efficient and sustainable. However, the goal of sustainability at times can seem vague and lofty to realistically achieve.
Sustainability assessments help by identifying the areas that need improvement within a facility. Similar to a facility condition assessment, this process will provide the data needed to communicate sustainable initiatives to the C-suite.
To understand how this works, Greg Walterscheid, FMP, vice president at Terracon Consultants, will present the session “Sustainability - Back to the Basics in Your Building” at NFMT in Baltimore from March 25 to 27, 2025.
FacilitiesNet: How can facilities managers use sustainability assessments to identify areas for improvement within building systems and components, and what tools or resources are most effective for this process?
Greg Walterscheid: So, sustainability assessments in our world of building or facility consulting is really about the same as a facility condition assessment, which we do a lot of. Essentially, that's an assessment to determine the condition and basically the performance of various building systems from curb to the rooftop. It also helps to identify the lifespan and efficiency of those systems that are in place, and it really starts there.
There are a lot of things you can do after that, but the sustainability assessment or facility condition assessment is really the first step. This is because you need to understand what you own, how many of it, and in how it's performing. That's the primary tool, and that can be done through a visual means.
You can do some additional things, like energy auditing or energy modeling. However, the visual assessment of sustainability performance is really what I'll call the initial step in the development of a sustainability program. So, it's about doing that assessment, understanding what you own, starting to prioritize and then looking for those opportunities based on your main business goals but also your commitment to sustainability.
FN: What strategies can facilities managers implement to align sustainability upgrades with budget constraints, ensuring long-term cost savings and operational efficiency?
Walterscheid: The goal is optimizing service life and performance while reducing the cost of ownership. So, you have to understand again what you own and its condition and develop that plan of renewal actions that can be budgeted, implemented and tracked. If you don't have a plan, it's hard to work on the plan consistently and to garner any real notable and repeatable results. This is because of the challenges of what facility managers face with budget and where do they spend their money, the challenge is so great that things often get deferred.
Deferred maintenance in the building operation world is probably the biggest black hole in operational dollars that exists because the easy answer is to defer things or pull it off the priority list. However, having a plan that starts with a sustainability assessment and really identifies on a five- or 10-year basis of actions that are needed for which systems and budgetary requirements for those renewals is the first step in development of that long-term program.
That long-term program is what leads to consistent cost savings and improvements in operational efficiency each and every year. It requires quite the commitment initially. Though, those that do it really find that they have a lot less reactive emergencies and a lot more operational efficiency, system performance and extending service life of those systems. Developing a long-term strategy is really the requirement to be sustainable for the long haul.
FN: Given the global focus on high-profile sustainability initiatives like renewable energy, how can facilities managers highlight the significant, often-overlooked sustainability potential within day-to-day building operations?
Walterscheid:
So, one of the things that that I've recognized over the years is that from a marketing perspective, new always gets a lot more attention than existing or old. However, that's what our business is – helping our owners maintain what systems they have and make it last longer. It's a challenge for facility managers, though, because those dollars often go to new and exciting opportunities for building new buildings or new sustainability initiatives.
We have to learn how to market these programs, sustainability assessments and sustainability efforts in existing buildings. When we do that and we present this kind of plan, I think we can gain a lot more traction while contributing toward the reduction of carbon across the building portfolio. Initiatives like renewable energy and things of that nature still can have a play on existing buildings. But first, we have to start from the inside out. We must look at retro commissioning of systems, whether it's the HVAC system or it's the building enclosure, or perhaps it's the indoor air quality we all have. They're all opportunities for us to make a great impact, and they’re significant when we're talking about occupancy, occupant satisfaction and productivity.
All those things can be played up as real marketing opportunities and to gain awareness and recognition for that building. A lot of that can be driven by a marketing program to really include the building users – the occupants – to be engaged in those types of efforts.
Then on the backside, you're doing things like increasing energy efficiency, maybe changing lighting systems out – all those things. However, we have to learn how to draw attention to the little things that we can do in existing buildings versus the larger, high profile renewable energy or new buildings.
That's why the challenge for existing buildings is we must market our efforts a little bit better and to really track our performance. I think a committed program can really show the results in energy efficiency, in cost reduction and enhanced building performance. It’s not an easy challenge, but one that is worth doing because of the large challenge of existing buildings and their carbon embodiment.
To learn more about the use cases for sustainability assessments, be sure to check out Walterscheid’s session at NFMT this March. Register for NFMT here.
Jeff Wardon, Jr., is the assistant editor for the facilities market.
