Managing Environmental Concerns Started Long before Climate Change was Cool

Before the greenhouse effect was a thing of planetary concern, the construction industry has long been looking for ways to fight off increased carbon emissions from building construction and operations. In the property sector, environmental issues like this have long placed a heavy burden of responsibility on real estate owners.

In fact, most facility management professionals spend more time in managing their building’s environmental issues than in any other management priorities. Having been dealing with bouts of environmental problems for decades, one may wonder why building owners and construction still can’t figure out how to efficiently resolve them.

But here’s the thing: Sustainable construction is complex. Like anything, dealing with environmental issues to make buildings sustainable involves several challenges, which may impact or hinder the effective implementation of possible solutions.

As a building management professional, here’s what you can do to reduce the environmental impacts of construction and building operations.

1 – Set up a “sustainable building” management group.

A huge part of building sustainability lies in the relationship between the owner and the building occupants. With a management group in place, both parties can work together to make positive environmental changes.

“A green building management group is a perfect way for owners and occupiers to share information, review performance data, understand [the] details of how their building is used and agree improvement initiatives/opportunities,” wrote Christopher Botten in an article.

2 – Carry out an energy audit annually.

In order to identify the most efficient and most cost-effective energy reduction opportunities, you have to be able to determine how much energy your building is consuming. To carry out such task, it’s a good idea to hire a professional. It’s also recommended that you share the report finding with the members of the green building management group so you can brainstorm and come up with an energy reduction plan.

By following the recommendations from the audit, commercial buildings can reduce energy consumption by 20 percent or more.

3 – Seek to use water efficiently.

Beyond reducing carbon emissions and energy consumption, you should also consider limiting your water use. As a building owner forging sustainability, water conservation should be a top priority, especially when fresh water is a scarce commodity in many U.S. states.

To preserve your water reservoir, consider using high-efficiency fixtures and building a water cooling tower. You should also conduct a periodic building inspection with the help of a professional engineer to make sure the building doesn’t have water leaks.

Establishing a water waste treatment and recycling facility can also help conserve your aquifer. Meanwhile, eliminating garbage disposals and adding stormwater settling ponds can improve the water quality of the building.

As the property sector faces growing environmental concerns and soaring energy costs, building owners and management professionals are increasingly tasked to take action to shrink their carbon footprint and do more using less energy.

How are you dealing with your building’s environmental issues?