Facilities management driving green building certification: a case from Finland

Purpose - The aim of this study is to identify and understand the role of facility services in the environmental performance of existing office buildings. Design/methodology/approach - The study observes how a facilities management (FM) service provider develops its service processes to meet environmental efficiency objectives. The environmental objectives are adopted from a commonly used green building rating system. The developed processes and services are then analysed and tested against a case facility. Findings - The results indicate that FM service processes have both direct and indirect influence on the building environmental performance metrics. The results show that, by relatively light changes and modifications to the FM service processes, quite extensive environmental benefits can be achieved. Research limitations/implications - The study is preliminary and the results are based on the single case study. Only one service provider was assessed. Moreover, the case study represents a situation where all FM services are provided by one service provider. Practical implications - FM providers readily hold a great portion of the data required for green management. It can be argued that FM services play a central role in the environmental performance of an office building and FM organizations can significantly support client organizations in their efforts to minimize their total environmental impact. Social implications - The majority of carbon dioxide emissions caused by buildings are created during the operating phase of existing buildings. In other words, the way a building is managed and maintained has a major impact on the environmental performance of the building. Originality/value - The study contributes to the discussion on the role of FM in climate change.