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The relationship between us and our home, earth. That is one way to define sustainability. Sustainability is such a complex concept that it cannot be simply described in one sentence and it takes more than simple understanding to fully acknowledge how everyday life affects our environment. Sustainability can also refer to social conditions, economic prosperity and even food waste control or supporting your local shop by shopping there.

We can be sustainable in almost every area we function, from switching to LED lights at home to driving a hybrid or an electric car, but how is sustainability seen at larger scales?

The advertising trap

In recent years, the concept of being sustainable has gained a lot of momentum and public attention, therefore we need to clearly separate real sustainability from advertising. Real sustainability is more of a “do it” than “say it” concept and of course, sustainability reports, media statements and public declarations of sustainability are great, as long as what is said is also being done.

Being sustainable isn’t synonym with aggressive marketing – each of us must do our part.

Sustainable Facility Management

The adoption of sustainability from the facility management side has been an inevitable step, as energy performance and carbon footprint became essential pre-requisites of the new-age real estate sector.

The facility management companies represent great ambassadors of sustainability. They hold the key towards ensuring high-quality and efficient functioning of all systems and equipment that are being operated by them and also provide proper knowledge when it comes to implementing sustainable solutions for the real estate branch. 

Take this as an example: every building owner wants to pay lower utility bills. This translates into finding solutions to ensure lower consumption for electricity, gas, water. Taking things a bit further, a lower utility consumption will eventually be reflected in the overall carbon footprint of the before mentioned building, thus providing great sustainability numbers. 

But we don’t need to focus just on the technical aspect of sustainability. Facility managers can often be shut down by the landlord when proposing an energy efficient solution like implementing light sensors in an office building – that can prove to be too big of a bill for the owner. But using less paper, encouraging employees to use public transportation, ride sharing or providing electrical cars, using environment friendly cleaning products,  supporting food waste control and even putting a small sticker on top of a light switch with a sign that says “Please turn off”, represent great solutions towards the change that this amazing concept brings. We don’t need to implement photovoltaic panels on each building to be sustainable because, if improper done, it can lead to be an economic unsustainable solution – especially if you install solar systems on buildings that will be demolished in a number of years in the future.

Sustainability is not just a definition or a concept, it represents a mindset that needs to be implemented into everyday life. It needs to become automatic thinking.