NEWS & ANALYSIS FMJ.CO.UK
ASSOCIATION NEWS
8 OCTOBER 2021
DEVELOPING AN INTERNATIONAL STANDARD
FOR OPERATING BUILDINGS (IBOS)
The perception of the
role of buildings and
their contribution to
society have changed. Accordingly, expectations
of what property professionals can do to deliver
value to owners and occupiers has never been
greater.
While cost is still a key factor, it is no longer the
only strategic driver of value for many occupiers
in determining the worth of a building to them.
Cost and experience must therefore be aligned,
and data is the key to benchmarking performance
measurement and consequent decision making,
consistently.
Until recently, buildings were rarely considered in
terms of how they influence and a„ ect those who
work, play, learn, heal and enjoy within them. But
increasingly we understand their impact on:
Environmental crisis
Health and wellbeing
Productivity
Business/economic success
Local economies/communities
In this context, there is need for a globally
consistent approach to measuring building
performance holistically. This a„ ords the ability
to track the successful performance of buildings
in these key areas, ensuring that owners and
occupiers alike can assess whether buildings
are delivering against key objectives. It o„ ers
the opportunity to assess whether buildings
are e„ ectively supporting changed needs of a
building’s occupier, and delivering a return on
investment. Property managers and FMs can
harness the vast amounts of data that buildings
produce (especially data centred on the experience
of its users), in a manner comparable with other
benchmarks to allow informed strategic, decisionmaking.
Pre-COVID trends, such as the growing
prominence of sustainability and employee
wellbeing and productivity have not gone away;
they are more relevant than ever before.
While the future is far from certain, and COVD-19
continues to cloud the horizon for commercial
real estate, it is clear that it has been a catalyst for
change. It will be up to our profession to shape our
recovery, e„ ect positive change and demonstrate
the value it delivers for our society.
In this context, RICS is developing a data led,
people centric, holistic standard benchmarking
framework, referred to as IBOS (International
Building Operating Standard).
We anticipate that IBOS will help to position
RICS and its membership as the trusted, ‘go
to’ profession for building operations and
performance benchmarking – for governments and
the wider supply chain – in real estate, across all
asset classes.
It will ensure that RICS members remain
relevant by identifying the key issues critical
to both business and society by addressing a
genuine need to the public advantage (i.e. better
performing, better managed buildings and public
spaces). In this way we expect it will be a useful,
internationally applicable system, that supports
our members to elevate up the “food chain” in their
advice to clients. Following successful completion
of the pilot exercise, RICS will develop a number of
products to help support professionals and their
clients to deliver related advice, based on the IBOS
framework, partnering with professional bodies
across the built environment.
For more information and to take part in
the consultation visit: https://consultations.
intstandards.org/ibos/
CLIMATE CHANGE: THE ALARMING GAP
BETWEEN INTENT AND ACTION
Peter Drucker once said: “Plans are just
good intentions unless they immediately
degenerate into hard work.”
In a few weeks, COP26 will see world leaders congregate for climate crisis talks
at a time when governments are pursuing increasingly aggressive policies and
targets in the face of the imminent existential threat of climate change.
Last month we released IWFM’s fourteenth Sustainability Survey Report and,
given the context, the findings could not be more pertinent, nor alarming.
Over 310 workplace and FM professionals responded to the Survey, providing
a continued benchmark of perceptions on organisational sustainability
performance, governance, reporting and priorities. The Survey also addressed
what we consider to be three key issues for our profession: the return to the
workplace, net zero targets, and skills and capability.
The findings o¬ en paint a positive picture of the state of the sustainability
agenda in our sector. For example, 95 per cent of respondents believed
sustainability was important or very important to their organisation, while nine
in 10 end user respondents felt their organisations had an adequate or better
understanding of sustainability.
However, many organisations still lack the baseline data for their carbon
footprint, clear objectives, and a strategy for how targets will be met. Meanwhile,
almost nine in 10 respondents felt upskilling was necessary, but this was not
matched by the percentage who planned on upskilling in the next year. These
findings highlight a worrying gap between intent and action which will hinder
already delayed attempts to stall climate change.
To quote the Report: “There appears to be lacking a holistic, long-term
approach in organisations to determining and delivering the outcomes that
meaningful sustainability action requires. Concerted action is needed to deliver
in this area and for our members consistently to be in a position to deliver on the
role they are best placed to take.”
So, what needs to change? Inenco, our partner for the Survey, said: “Many
organisations still need to create a ‘golden thread’ that links the Board’s
aspirations to a detailed plan supported by clear accountability and allocated
budget supported by the appropriately skilled resource to ensure its
achievement.”
Workplace and facilities managers are the lynchpin to drive sustainability
outcomes in organisations, but they must be empowered to create the results.
Further escalation of the climate change threat is avoidable, but further delay
could mean the results of inaction are inescapable. We invite anyone wanting to
help close the intent–action gap to get in touch on research@iwfm.org.uk.
Humanity’s potential self-inflicted destruction isn’t the lightest note to end on,
so I will just point out there are also excellent examples
of climate action to celebrate within our profession. We
will be doing just that at the IWFM Impact Awards when
we announce the winner of ‘Positive Climate Action’.
Paul Bagust - Global Property
Standards Director, RICS
Peter Brogan, Head of Research & Insight, IWFM
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