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Sustainable facilities management (SFM) research necessitates a sociotechnical system perspective as core organizations and facilities management (FM) suppliers are subject to multiple pressures while participating in buildings’ use, operation, and maintenance. The purpose of this study is to examine the SFM literature and improve understanding of factors that influence SFM practices using a sociotechnical transitions approach.

This study, first, examines facility management and sociotechnical system approaches to develop a framework that conceptualizes pressures and management processes that may impact the transition of FM practices to more sustainable ones. In a second step, the framework is combined with a systematic literature review of studies published between 2000 and 2023 to examine pressures applied to FM firms, explore responses and management processes and the evolution of FM practices, and identify research gaps.

The review findings indicate that the factors proposed by a sociotechnical system framework are examined in the SFM literature and that FM regimes acknowledged the applied pressures and responded by adapting their strategies, updating technical knowledge and capabilities, establishing new governance mechanisms, and modifying the industry identity and mindset.

The review is limited to SFM literature between 2000 and 2023. An evolutionary sociotechnical system perspective of SFM practices necessitates context-specific research.

The study responds to the call for a sociotechnical system view of SFM and adds a sociotechnical transitions perspective to the development and evolution of SFM research. It organizes the current SFM literature, points to the need for context-specific research, and allows for the identification of future SFM research directions.

Despite the increased retrofitting of Finnish residential buildings, there are limited post-retrofit studies on the actual measured indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and occupant satisfaction during summer-time. This paper provides a better understanding of the actual performance of retrofitted residential apartment buildings in Finland, focusing on some aspects of and the risk of summer overheating through post-occupancy evaluation (POE).

The study used both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, including satisfaction surveys, indoor air temperature and relative humidity measurements, self-reported behaviour forms, open-ended discussions, and site visits in five apartments in different residential buildings in Tampere city, monitored during the summer-time, for at least 2 weeks at a time.

While occupants were positive regarding most aspects of IEQ, concerns about indoor air quality (IAQ), summer overheating and acoustic comfort were raised. The summer-time monitoring highlighted that indoor air temperatures could reach as high as 27 °C for 2–9 days depending on the monitored apartment. Little cloud cover and warmer outdoor temperatures directly influenced indoor air temperature overheating. For some aspects of the investigated IEQ parameters, it was noted that while occupants’ satisfaction was influenced by the length of their residence, their acceptance of the same conditions remained positive over time (i.e. more than one year) as they adapted over time.

The number of participants and case studies was relatively small due to the well-known difficulty in gaining access to private homes, so the results do not allow generalisation but do provide interesting insights of these specific cases to be validated with future additional research. The short sequential rather than long-term parallel monitoring of the case study apartments was another limitation making comparison between cases and understanding reasons for differences difficult.

Findings highlight the need to maintain the performance of housing in Finland during summer-time. The highlighted subjective issues emphasised in this study underscore the necessity for enhanced pre- and post-retrofit quality processes and the prompt resolution of issues as they arise. The integration of POE studies into all residential construction practices becomes pivotal for the advancement of sustainable homes now, but also in the future, especially when subjected to a warming climate.

This study is among the few POE studies conducted in Finland, offering insights into post-retrofit performance and occupant satisfaction during the summer-time. The study highlights the potential of POE to understand the performance of retrofitted Finnish apartments from a user-centric perspective.

India’s growing elderly population necessitates ensuring indoor thermal comfort because of their vulnerability to temperature-related illnesses and reduced capacity to regulate body temperature. Currently, thermal sensation (TS) assessment scales, designed for those between 20 and 60 years of age, may not accurately capture the preferences of elderly adults. To address the gap, this study aims to identify appropriate scaling methods to help the elderly understand the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE-55) seven-point TS scale clearly.

Four scaling methods – color, emoji, landscape images and regional images scales – identified from literature were analyzed using quantitative approaches. The differences between two age groups (<60 years and = 60 years) were examined using frequency distribution differences and independent sample t-test methods.

Results indicated that both younger/middle-aged (<60 years) and elderly individuals (= 60 years) were adept at identifying color and regional images scale, while emoji and landscape images scale posed challenges for the elderly. Furthermore, a tailored questionnaire instrument was developed to enhance the comprehension of TS questions for the elderly. One sample t-test results indicated that the proposed questionnaire instrument is a better fit to support ASHRAE-55 seven-point TS scale, making it particularly effective for the elderly population.

This research presents a novel, tailored questionnaire instrument that significantly enhances the elderly population’s comprehension of TS questions, thereby improving the accuracy of thermal comfort assessments and contributing to the creation of better indoor thermal environments for the elderly people.

This study aims to address a gap in traditional university ranking methodologies by investigating the interrelations among key indicators featured in the QS rankings, within the broader context of benchmarking in higher education.

Utilizing the 2024 QS ranking data and a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) model, this research explores the interconnected relationships among indicators such as “academic reputation,” “employer reputation,” “faculty-to-student ratio,” “sustainability” and others to predict university rankings.

The developed model achieves 80% predictive accuracy and shows that strong performance in “employment outcomes,” “academic reputation” and “employer reputation” contributes to higher overall scores. In contrast, weaker performance in “academic reputation” and “sustainability” is associated with lower scores. Among these factors, “academic reputation” is the most informative indicator for predicting the overall score.

This research contributes to the literature by emphasizing the interconnections among ranking criteria and advocating for network-based models for benchmarking in higher education. Particularly, it underscores the importance of “sustainability” in forecasting rankings, aligning well with the broader theme of predicting university performance and societal impact. This study offers valuable insights for researchers and policymakers, promoting a comprehensive approach that considers the interdependencies among criteria to enhance educational quality and address societal change within the framework of benchmarking in university rankings.