You might think of a great building, say an office, hospital, or school. Your job is to ensure that everything runs perfectly, feels good, and doesn’t cost too much to run. This is Facility Management, or FM, in general!
Now, with the world moving so quickly, FM, too, is nonetheless very much advancing. Let’s see 5 major trends in facility management by 2025 and some of the challenging problems that accompany such developments.
1. Buildings That Think: Smart Buildings and the Internet of Things
What’s the trend?
Think of your building as being installed with a super-smart brain! This is what smart buildings integrated with IoT (the Internet of Things) stand for. The building is loaded with equipment—small little things like sensors. These things communicate with each other regularly and send information to a central computer. This helps in getting a real-time understanding of what is happening in the building.
What’s Good About It?
Energy–Efficient: The building can tell if there are no people inside and, if so, turn off the lights and general heating and cooling appropriately
More Comfort: Individuals can control temperatures and lighting within their areas.
Preventive Maintenance: The building alerts you to an impending machine failure so you can resolve it before it turns into a major issue.
Enhanced Space Management: You would know which rooms are overutilized and which are underutilized so as to manage the spaces efficiently.
What’s the challenge? Hackers!
When it’s all internet-connected, hacking issues become prevalent for cybersecurity! So, we need to ensure that our buildings are free from hackers. That means:
Keep updating the software on all the devices.
Strong password usage.
Monitor your network for strange things.
Training humans to behave safely online.
2. Going Green: Sustainability and Protecting the Earth
What’s the trend?
Everyone is on the green trend, which recognizes the importance of caring for Mother Earth. Companies want to be good-looking. Facility management can help in executing this a lot too.
What’s Good About It?
Energy Savings: Using less electricity and less gas is good for the Earth and saves money.
Cutting Water Use: Fixing leaks and using water-conservation toilets can make a huge difference.
Recycling: sorting out the trash and recycling as much as possible.
Green Cleaning: Using cleaning products that do not harm the environment.
Purchasing Green: Purchasing products made by sustainable means.
What’s the challenge? Spending to Save
Sometimes being green might mean spending much at the beginning. For example, you may have to purchase relatively expensive solar panels, yet you will ultimately save on electricity. The most critical factor is how to find the right balance between the costs associated with going green and the profit from it.
3. Rescue by Robots: Automation and Robotics
What’s the trend?
Robots infiltrated facility management! They could perform some boring, repetitive jobs so that we humans can focus on other important things.
What’s Good About It?
Cleaning: Robots clean the floor by vacuuming and window cleaning perfectly.
Security: At night, robots patrol the building, looking for any sign of trouble.
Maintenance: Robots check machines and report problems.
Moving Stuff: Robots transport varied items within a building, such as packages and equipment.
What’s the challenge? Getting Them to Work Well
Getting robots to work well in a building may be quite challenging; you need to do this:
Discover what jobs are best suited for the robots.
Select robots appropriate for the job.
Train people to operate and maintain robots.
Ensure robots communicate with the other systems within the building.
4. Happy People: Workplace Experience and Well-being
What’s the trend?
Companies care about their employees’ happiness and health. A good workplace makes the company more attractive to new employees and increases retention among existing ones. In this regard, the facility managers truly facilitate the process.
What’s Good About It?
Flexible Spaces: Providing options—a quiet room or meeting area depending on the task.
Wellness Programs: providing gyms, yoga classes, or nutritional snacks.
Comfortable Furniture: comfortable desk chairs and desks.
Fresh Air: Clean and fresh air.
Nature: inclusion of plants and natural light into the office space.
What’s the challenge? Knowing What People Want
Knowing what exactly makes people happy might seem like a difficult task. You need to:
Ask people what they want and need.
Use the data to analyze how people are using the building.
Experiment with new things to see what they do.
Communicate with the users about what you are doing and why.
5. Information Power: Data-Driven Actions
What’s the trend?
Facility managers are leveraging data to make informed decisions. They are collecting information from all building operations with a view to improving functional performance.
What’s Good About It?
Seeing What’s Working: Energy usage or cleaning costs can be tracked to show where savings may be attained.
Predicting Problems: It can predict the likelihood of machine failure based on data.
Comparing to Others: A comparison can be made among the buildings in terms of energy use and many others.
Effective utilization: Decide where to spend your money and time for optimum results.
What’s the challenge? Making Sense of All That Information
The data can be a bit cumbersome to manage.
You need to:
Have a competent system for the collection and storage of data.
Be able to evaluate the data and filter out significant aspects.
Train the users on how to apply the data to decision-making.
Ensure the data is correct and protect it.
In Conclusion: A New World for Facility Management
This is a fast train that runs and speeds up in Facility Management! By adopting such new trends and confronting all the challenges, facility managers will transform buildings into smart, green, and user-friendly environments. This is an exciting time in the industry! For further updates, contact us.
