Section 1
Inefficiencies in the Management of a Residential Building
Current trends in facility management require managers to apply sustainable methods in managing a facility. The current trends expect facilities and buildings to use a form of energy that is environmentally friendly. The quality of the indoor environment should be conducive for the residents. Homeowners must ensure that the residents are using and reusing water to prevent wastage. Constructors of a residential facility should recycle the materials to minimise the building and maintenance costs. The managers should also manage gaseous emissions to prevent their entry into the atmosphere. This section will discuss the inefficiencies in managing a residential building.
The current trends require residential building managers to install sustainable sources of energy in the residential premises. However, a residential building that I monitored in the past had energy inefficiencies. The manager relied on generators using petrol to supply power to the entire building. The combustion of the petroleum emitted harmful gases into the atmosphere. Additionally, the generator was a source of noise pollution to the residents and the neighborhood. Apart from the generators, the management connected all tenants to one meter of electricity. The joint meter was a source of commotion among the residents as they fail to agree on electricity payment.
The quality of the indoor environment determines the comfort and health status of the residents. The residential building that I worked with in the past had a poor quality of indoor environment due to various reasons. Firstly, the houses lacked comfort controllers hence limiting their inhabitability. Secondly, the facility lacked a device to monitor its carbon dioxide levels; high amounts of the gas make life uncomfortable for the residents. Thirdly, the painters used VOC paint on the walls. The smell of the paint is harmful to the environment and the tenants.
Sustainable water use is also a current trend in Australian Property Management. In the residential building that I dealt with in the past, the residents had to carry water to the urinals. The act of cleaning the urinals after use consumed a lot of water. The residential building lacked rain harvesting tanks to store rainwater; thus, the residents could not tap the natural resource for their usage. The premises also lacked facilities for retaining stormwater; hence limiting the sources of water for the residents. Therefore, the tenants relied on water from the water and sewerage cooperation companies.
Efficient usage of materials during construction is a trend that most masons are embracing in the current age. However, I noticed wastage in the residential building that I observed in the recent past. The masons used the concrete without recycling the one falling off the roof. The management of the building spent a lot of money in purchasing construction materials. The Masons failed to reuse the building components; thereby, leading to wastage. Additionally, I witnessed a wasteful use of the PVC during the construction process. The plumbers used unsustainable timber products leading to additional wastage of construction materials.
Controlling gaseous emissions to the atmosphere prevents global warming and climatic changes. Managing the emissions of harmful gases is a current trend in the management of residential buildings. The building that I observed lacked detectors of refrigerant leaks. Refrigerant gases contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer; hence, permitting the penetration of UV rays. The propellants and the refrigerators in the building lacked the recommended low ODP. Moreover, the pieces of machinery used during the time of construction were emitting carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The residential premises also lacked a proper method of waste disposal; thereby, allowing the environmental emission of waste materials.
Addressing the Inefficiencies
Sustainable means of transport are essential in the management of a residential facility. The residential building that I recently monitored applied certain unsustainable transportation of construction materials from the hardware to the site. The manager used a private car to transport light materials to the construction site, an exercise that consumed a lot of fuel. The management opted for truck transportation in moving heavy materials, an exercise that was costly to the building owners. The management opted for road transport in moving materials that required containerization. The building owners failed to use the sustainable means of transport like electric vehicles.
Addressing the Inefficiencies
The residential building that I dealt with in the past had several inefficiencies regarding energy sources and the quality of the indoor environment. Sustainability issues also arose in water usage and the management of emissions. Improper usage of materials and unsustainable means of transport also need urgent attention. The usage of petroleum generators requires a renewable energy alternative to prevent air and noise pollution. The management should also adopt sustainable means of transporting building materials from the hardware to the construction site. This section will propose solutions to address the inefficiencies at the residential building.
The building joined all residents to a single electricity meter. Additionally, the tenants rely on generators using petroleum to supplement electric supply. The management should apply tenancy sub-metering for effective electric supply. The custodians of the residential premises should also replace the generators with power sources like solar energy which is environmentally friendly. Ocean Wave Technology and wind turbines are other sustainable sources of energy that can replace the use of petroleum fuel. The tenants should request for LED lighting and T5 to facilitate their indoor activities at night. High tech roves and facades area also source of sustainable energy.
The building had a poor quality of the indoor environment; thus, making tenants uncomfortable. The premises lacked comfort controllers, devices for monitoring carbon dioxide among other inefficiencies. The management should insert comfort controllers in each room at the residential building. The custodians should also monitor the levels of carbon dioxide and control it to ensure comfort. The painters should use low VOC paints for decoration to minimise the emission of global warming gases. The building should have a weather station to help residents in observing any atmospheric changes. Thermal modelling ensures a quality indoor environment; hence, the management should embrace the modern trend.
Tenants of the building experienced water wastage due to improper management. The residents use a lot of water in the urinals and also lack tanks for harvesting rainwater. The building lack water tanks for harvesting rainwater. The management should construct waterless urinals to minimize water wastage. The custodians of the building should avail a tank to harvest rainwater. The tenants should reuse the water to avoid further wastage. The residents can use dirty water to irrigate their crops. The building management should also put measures to retain storm water. Additionally, the tenants should re-use the storm water to eliminate wastage.
The masons and plumbers did not recycle building materials; hence, escalating the costs of construction. The masons should recycle specific materials to cut the costs of purchasing new ones. Additionally, PVC minimization contributes to the cutting of construction expenses. The management should encourage the use of sustainable products of timber during plumbing. The construction specialists should recycle paper and flooring products to minimize the costs of materials. The masons should also recycle concrete to ensure sustainable construction process. Applying recycled components also cuts the costs of purchasing new building materials. The construction experts should prefer renewable materials to nonrenewable ones to ensure sustainability of resources during construction.
The building that I dealt with in the past also lacked a proper method of dealing with harmful gaseous emissions. The refrigerant lacked a leak detector. The management of the residential premises should use low ODP propellants and refrigerators to avoid the emission of ozone gases. The refrigerant should have a leak detector for detecting the emission of harmful gases into the atmosphere. Technicians should mend the refrigerant to prevent any leakages. The construction experts should also ensure that the machinery under use emits little levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The management should have appropriate ways of managing chemical wastes from the residential area.
The manager of the building used unsustainable means of transporting building materials from the hardware to the construction site. For example, the manager opted for personal care in moving materials to the site. The management should opt for public transport in moving materials as it is cheaper than private means. The custodians of the residential premises should also consider other sustainable means of transport like electric vehicles and car-pooling initiatives. The management should also reduce the use of truck transport due to its unsustainable nature. Transportation of goods through containerization is also a viable means of transport.
Applying Life Cycle Management (LCM) in Procurement
LCM is a strategic system of management that explores the environmental, economic, and social impact of a purchased product or service. Therefore, managers applying LCM in procurement would purchase products with desirable environmental, social, and economic impacts. The life cycle of a product entails its manufacture, usage, and disposal. Application of LCM enables procurement officers to purchase products or services that are durable. The strategic system can help procurement officers to choose an expensive product or service over a cheaper one due to durability dynamics.
The Think-Ask-Access-Act cycle relies on the LCM to source for an appropriate service for a facility like the Australian property management. The procurement officers should first brainstorm about the potential and actual impacts of the service. The management should source for services that are environmentally friendly. Additionally, the social implications of the service should be desirable to the users. For example, a residential building should use renewable sources of energy due to their favourable environmental impacts.
The procurement officers should request the suppliers to avail the data on life cycle during the process of tendering. Services or products with long life cycles are desirable due to their economic advantages. The purchasing officers should ask the suppliers to help reduce the undesirable environmental impacts of a specific product. If possible, the company should hire services that have desirable social and ecological effects on users.
Proper assessment of service suppliers is necessary before deciding on hiring or purchase. The evaluation should base on the life cycle of the service or the product. The service should meet the economic, social, and environmental requirements. For example, managers of a building premise should purchase LED lights if all tenants are comfortable with the lighting system. However, the procurement officers should overlook services that do not appeal to all residents in the building.
After thinking, asking, and assessment, the procurement officers, should proceed with hiring the most qualified service. The management of a residential building should make an investment that can address possible environmental problems. An example of an environmental issue is pollution. The painters of the floor should use paints with low VOC to curb the emission of global warming gases. Therefore, the procurement team should prioritise the purchase of paints with low VOC to curb environmental effects.
The LCM framework requires procurement officers to purchase products or services with unique features. Appropriate products are those with systems that protect them against fire. Therefore, the purchasing officers should overlook products without the fire protection system. An example of a product that should have a fire protection system sockets and television sets. Additionally, the purchasing officers should employ an expert to maintain the fire protection system. The management must source for compliance testing in the maintenance of fire protection devices. Regular editing services are also needed to maintain the system. Therefore, the management must ensure proper supervision of the system. Facility administrators should monitor and respond to fire incidences at all times.
The LCM framework also requires purchase officers to hire mechanical services for maintenance of several facility types of equipment. The services include air-conditioning, ventilation, and heating. Additional mechanical services are plumbing, building automation and pipework. The manager should ask the in-house specialist to conduct the mechanical services. The management can also outsource the services of a specialist organisation to sort out any mechanical issues. An air-conditioned apartment breeds comfort to the residents than one without the service. Providing water to tenants is another way of ensuring their comfort at the residential premise.
LCM also requires facility managers to employ the appropriate security for various fields. Physical security services are necessary to protect the tenants against theft and other criminal activities. Physical security includes bars, locks, doors, gates, and fences. Electronic security also assists in protecting the well-being of the residents. Access controls and alarm systems provide the required electronic security. Human resources security like mobile patrol and employing security guards also protect the residents. Armed security personnel should escort cash-in-transit to prevent incidences of theft. Finally, information security prevents access to a company’s data by unauthorized individuals.
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