Tools and Guidelines for More Sustainable Facilities Management: Operational Plans and Budgets

Background and aim. The Danish Facilities Management association (DFM) started a development program in 2022 to establish a stronger foundation for digital and sustainable Facilities Management (FM) through a series of best practice guidelines. This paper presents the results of a project on operational plans and budgets. The aim of the project was to develop tools to support practitioners to integrate sustainable considerations and activities.
Methods. The project was carried out in a project group with practitioners and researchers and included literature reviews, document studies, workshops, case studies, and external tests and assessments.
Results. The project resulted in two tools and guidelines for practitioners to support work with sustainable FM in operational plans and budgets. It also provides templates with a comprehensive overview of FM activities and a correlated budget and account structure.
Originality. The project shows how to work sustainably with FM, whereas previous guidelines did not address sustainability activities explicitly.
Practical implications. The project provides generic guidelines for FM best practice, which are of relevance for FM-organisations, building client organisations, software providers and other interested parties.