Experts task facilities managers on improving African economy, adding value

Facilities management (FM) practitioners have to inculcate sustainability in their activities in order to protect the planet, improve African economy and add value for clients, experts have said.

The experts, drawn from real estate and sustainability sub-sectors, spoke at the 10th edition of the Nigerian FM Roundtable hosted annually by Alpha Mead Facilities as part of activities marking the World Facilities Management Day.

This year’s edition had as theme, ‘The Role of Facility Management in Building a Sustainable Africa’ and provided the platform for the experts to deliberate on the way forward for FM and real estate in Africa.

“We know that, as facility managers, our activities revolve around the built environment and with the International Energy Agency (IEA) saying that buildings generate nearly 40 of annual global CO2 emissions, we need to pay close attention to the energy efficiency of the buildings we manage and accelerate the transition to sustainable energy,” Wole Olufore, managing director of Alpha Mead Facilities, noted.

Olufore added that , besides the energy performance of buildings, waste recycling was another key component of sustainability that should be addressed, pointing out that these practices were contained in sustainable facilities management which was aimed at achieving high performance and safety of buildings and low resource utilization.

“Sustainable FM is not as prominent as it should be due to an array of reasons ranging from lack of training and tools, lack of relevant laws and regulation, and lack of awareness in that order. But that narrative needs to change fast,” he canvassed.

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Duncan Waddell, chairman of the technical committee charged with formulating ISO standards for FM, agreed with Olufore, adding that facilities managers no longer had the option of practising sustainability because they thought it was a nice thing to do, but it is becoming required.

“Not exactly by law, but by the expectations of the end-users. FM connects substantially to the sustainability of an organisation because it covers a broad spectrum of activities including economic, environmental, and social aspects.

“It is not just about going green; it has an impact financially and social aspects of day-to-day life. With its holistic approach, facilities management will play an important role in managing future requirements,” he noted.

Femi Akintunde, Group Managing Director of Alpha Mead, highlighted the impact of infrastructure on sustainable living, presenting an assessment of the current state of infrastructure provision in Nigeria.

This assessment was done by the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) in collaboration with Alpha Mead Group as part of the NSE Infrastructure Scorecard Report and presented to the Federal Minister of Works and Housing in December of 2021.

Akintunde identified 7 key priority areas for Nigerians to live sustainably as education, healthcare, agriculture, electricity, transportation, housing, law and security.

“Infrastructure influences real estate value. A good housing estate with poor infrastructure will be sub- optimally valued. Today in Nigeria, due to inadequate infrastructure support, our real estate sector is underperforming. What is missing is not just inadequate provision but maintaining what we have because the absence of maintenance leads to value loss and increased cost,” Akintunde said.