Sustainability: Why building maintenance is like tuning a car

One of the quickest, cheapest ways to improve the sustainability and operational performance of your commercial building is to look at how it is managed.

Regular building tuning, monitoring and commissioning is just like having your car serviced.  With time and lack of attention, a race car will become a lemon.  The same goes for our buildings.

The Green Star – Performance rating tool can help you understand the management practices that can transform a building from brown to green.

Good building management identifies malfunctions and wastage, reduces operating, maintenance and repair costs, and ensures that your building is operating at peak performance both for the environment and for the occupants.

It is also a cost-effective way to improve how your building performs.

A 2009 study of 643 buildings in the United States, for instance, found that while average commissioning costs amounted to less than 0.5% of the overall construction cost, good commissioning practices delivered a 16% energy saving for existing buildings and a 13% saving for new buildings.

Having a well-trained facility management team that understands how to operate your building is essential.

Research conducted in Australia has found that having a facility management team with a sound knowledge of energy efficiency principles can deliver higher building energy efficiency ratings – sometimes by as much as one and a half stars.  This, of course, translates into significant operational cost savings.

Of course, your facility management team can be the best in the business, but if your tenants continue to crank up the heating and air-conditioning, leave the taps running or forget to switch off the lights when they leave at night, it won’t be a sustainable building.

Simple education campaigns – from posters around your building to a regular update on sustainability initiatives – can be effective in helping building occupants to understand the impact of their behaviour and make more sustainable choices.

Many building owners and tenants are working together to improve the environmental performance of their buildings.  Increasingly we’re seeing landlords and tenants commit to sustainability targets that will reduce operating costs, attract and retain employees, deliver higher returns, and boost productivity and corporate reputation.

True sustainability is found at the intersection of good design, good management and good behaviour – and good behaviour can sometimes be the hardest to maintain.