Editorial

Citation

Tucker, M. (2009), "Editorial", Journal of Facilities Management, Vol. 7 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/jfm.2009.30807caa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Facilities Management, Volume 7, Issue 3

The British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) Annual Conference 2009 took place in March at Keble College Oxford and despite the current financial predicaments impacting industries across the globe, it was humbling to see such a well-attended event with almost 300 delegates present.

Interestingly, as per last year’s conference the theme for the two-day event focused on sustainability, this year being titled “Sustainability in action,” which has to give testament to the successful delivery of last year’s conference and to an industry that is actively working to be at the forefront of sustainable practice. This was encapsulated in the programme notes by BIFM Chairman Iain Murray stating that “in these uncertain times it is imperative that you have the right tools and knowledge to deal with the challenges ahead”.

The conference provided many though-provoking speeches, which could generally be categorised into the traditional “triple-bottom line” themes of ecology, economy and society.

First, a selection of familiar “green” issues such as decreasing carbon emissions and promoting energy efficiency were covered. This included speeches from BBC Newsnight Correspondent Justin Rowlatt on his one year challenge to decrease his carbon footprint, and Hugh Jones, a Director for the Carbon Trust providing an insight into recent research within the trust.

Second and naturally, the most prevalent theme of the conference focused on the economy, with talks around forecasting and predicting the future of the industry. James Woudhuysen, Professor of Forecasting and Innovation at De Montfort University provided an alternative perspective on these issues, highlighting the potential influence the east will have on leading the way to environmental change. Whilst the future of the workplace provided several discussions, particularly from Mark Catchlove, a Director at furniture company Herman Miller, discussing potential scenarios for “how and where we will work in the year 2030”.

Third, it was refreshing to see such emphasis placed on the social dimension of sustainability, which focused on the role of education through a career development surgery, and the importance of networking and integration within the industry, such as Lucy Jeynes, Director of Larch Consulting, who discussed the role of building sustainable communities.

However, although the issues discussed above are integral to the facility management (FM) industry, it was encouraging to see some practical examples of how FM organisations are actually applying concepts of sustainability to enhance their existing FM strategy. This included Edward Macfarlane, Commercial Director of Faceo FM UK discussing how the company has embedded a sustainable energy strategy. The Journal of Facilities Management is particularly interested to encourage further examples of the strategic application of environmental issues in FM, and would welcome your input.

Matthew TuckerEditorial Assistant