Facilities Management Update Issue 129

Facilities Management
Update
Now incorporating asbestos, fre and energy management
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Issue Number 129 16 December 2015
CONTENTS
1 Surveillance camera
certifcation scheme launched
2 News
4 Asbestos: recent prosecutions
6 How to build confdence in
your ability to stay in business
9 The on-site fltering of fre
alarm signals
11 Smart buildings
15 An LPG future
16 Not sustainable? How FM can
help promote sustainability
19 Degree day data
AUTHORS
Daniel Kenning
Chartered Energy Engineer
Splendid Engineering
Robert Spicer
Barrister
Fredrick Place Chambers
Bristol
Jeff Cooper
Energy Consultant
David Howell
Nexus Publishing
Mike Sopp
Health and Safety advisor
Alan Field
Highdown Management Services
DEVELOPMENT EDITOR
Anna Coyle
Anna.Coyle@wolterskluwer.co.uk
nn Surveillance camera certifcation
scheme launched
A new third-party certifcation scheme has been launched by the
Surveillance Camera Commissioner (SCC) for England and Wales.
The certifcation process is designed to be simple, accessible and
affordable. It enables organisations to demonstrate that they comply
with the surveillance camera code of practice. There are two steps
to certifcation.
1. Desktop certifcation is aimed at organisations that are working
to achieve full compliance with the code but are aware that they
may need more time to become fully compliant.
2. Full certifcation is for organisations that are close to or fully
compliant with the code — it involves a visit and full audit from
a certifcation body.
The accredited certifcation bodies are the National Security
Inspectorate (NSI) and the Security Systems and Alarms Inspection
Board (SSAIB).
Successful organisations will receive a certifcate and be able to
display the commissioner’s certifcation mark on their website
and other publicity material. They will need to reapply for full
certifcation after fve years.
Desktop certifcation will be valid for a year and will be awarded
with the understanding that within the year the organisation will
work on putting measures in place so that to be in a position to
apply for the full certifcation. The full certifcation process involves
an auditor from one of the above mentioned organisations visiting
your organisation’s control room to audit the system, cameras
and procedures working with a checklist against the 12 guiding
principles in the Code.
During 2016, the SCC has said it will focus on developing standards
that address the technical requirements for body-worn video for
the police, exploring unmanned aerial vehicles that use camera
technology, looking at algorithms that are capable of predicting
behaviour from video imagery and understanding how technological
developments impact on the Protection of Freedoms Act.
More details can be found at www.gov.uk/government/uploads/
system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473825/Cert_Policy_
Document_-_FINAL.pdf

Facilities Management Update
Contact us: 020 8247 1175 Page 2
nn News
Climate change news
History has been made with at the agreement
at the COP21 conference on climate change
in Paris, where the world has agreed a legally
binding agreement to keep global warming to
below 2° and even to aim for 1.5 °C. Just before
the conference, the Department of Energy and
Climate Change announced that it has scrapped
a £1 billion fund to commercialise carbon
capture and storage (CCS) in the UK in the wake
of budget cuts.
COP21 is the 21st meeting of the “Conference of
the Parties”, that is the countries that have signed
up to the 1992 United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The historic Paris agreement, at one stage
thought impossible to achieve, also agrees a
$100billion a year to support developing nations
to mitigate climate change, but crucially does
not provide for any liability or compensation for
previous loss and damage – a key requirement if
the USA was going to sign up. Commenting on
the deal COP21 President Laurent Fabius, hailed
the agreement as historic and claimed that the
final text “contains the principle elements that
we thought would be impossible to achieve”.
The city of Bristol, the current European
Green Capital, and heralded as a beacon of
best practice for sustainable cities at COP21
is sharing an online toolkit to help cities “go
green”, covering energy, resources, transport,
food and nature. Bristol has reduced carbon
emissions by such measures as installing
20,000 LED streetlamps and introducing a
fleet of “poo-powered” buses.
The Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors
(RICS), also attended COP21, reiterating that
the built environment has a vital role to play in
helping Government meet their carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions targets. Buildings are some of the
biggest emitters of CO2, accounting for one-third
of global greenhouse gasses plus commercial and
residential buildings also account for 40% of the
world’s energy consumption.
In related news, a report from the European
Environment Agency (EEA) has found that air
pollution is responsible for up to 430,000
premature deaths a year across Europe. The UK
alone saw nearly 38,000 such deaths in 2013.
However, researchers suggest that 4000 people
die every day in China as a result of air
pollution.
This EEA report indicates that air pollution is
the single largest environmental health risk in
Europe, contributing to serious illnesses such
as heart disease, respiratory problems cancer.
“Despite continuous improvements in recent
decades, air pollution is still affecting the
general health of Europeans, reducing their
quality of life and life expectancy. It also has
considerable economic impacts, increasing
medical costs and reducing productivity
through working days lost across the economy.”
Will business rate reforms reward
poor payment practice?
The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has
suggested that Chancellor George Osborne’s
business rate reforms will reward poor payment
practice. The FPB believes that London’s
councils will have to change the way in which
they pay their suppliers if the reforms, in which
councils will receive all the proceeds from
business rates, are to succeed.
Analysing results from a recent freedom of
information request, the FPB found that London
was the worst of any region at paying their
small business supply chain. Although London
councils ranked highest at paying their suppliers
within 10 days, in contrast their average time
taken to settle bills was the longest at 22 days.
The north-west and the West Midlands had
the shortest average time to settle bills, both at
14 days, but only paid about 60% of bills within
10 days compared to London’s 66%.
A comparison between the rateable values of
commercial premises and the time taken to

settle bills shows that London will beneft from
any move to give 100% of the proceeds of
business rates back to councils. In contrast, the
Midlands and north-east will be penalised by
the proposed policy.
Also of concern was the fact that many councils
were not able to report how many bills are paid
within 30 days, suggesting possible operational
problems. Only half of London’s councils
reported any fgures.
Ian Cass of the FPB said: “London councils
either pay promptly or the invoices appear to
go into a black hole. The Chancellor’s vision
to give more business rates to local councils
will in effect reward councils in a city which
has increased payment terms over the last three
years. Is this the sort of behaviour that should be
rewarded?”
Workplace infuences
Studies about the infuence of the workplace
on both wellbeing and productivity continue to
fourish.
Most recently, a YouGov survey indicated
that 35% of London employees believe
their working environment makes them feel
unhealthy. In fact, 40% think they do not get
enough fresh air at work while only 50% think
they get enough natural light.
Half of the 1000 Londoners polled said they
would think about going to a new company if
it had better offces or an environment more
focused on health and wellbeing. People
also want to be able to control lighting and
temperature levels.
As far back as 1984, the World Health
Organization suggested that up to 30% of new
and remodelled buildings worldwide may be
the subject of excessive complaints related to
poor indoor air quality (IAQ).
In other research, the Leesman Index, points to
a greater variety of workplace settings “enabling
productivity”. This workplace satisfaction survey
has been completed by more than 120,000
people over the past fve years and suggests
that offering employees’ choice is the key
differentiator in workplace satisfaction.
When asked if their workplace enables them
to work productively, 60% of those working
in private or shared enclosed offces agreed,
compared to only 35% of those with a limited
choice of working options. In contrast, a
massive 85% of workers who are able to
choose their workspace (including working
from home or using co-working spaces) agreed
that their fexibility enables them to work
productively.
Employees like frms that do their bit
Encouraging staff to become involved with
voluntary work makes sense for companies
because it not only helps to develop new skills
but also makes the employer more attractive to
future recruits.
This is according to research carried out
by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development (CIPD) and the National Council
for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) into
employer-supported volunteering (ESV).
The research highlights the signifcant gaps
in employer knowledge about volunteering
and questions why people are less likely to
volunteer in their professional capacity than for
typically unskilled volunteering tasks such as
painting or gardening.
The CIPD/NCVO report, “Building sustainable
partnerships between companies and voluntary
organisations”, is available at www.cipd.co.uk/
binaries/on-brink-game-changer_2015.pdf. It looks
at ways of developing effective programmes
and partnerships, as well as how the costs and
benefts are balanced.
Researchers found that 81% of those who
took part in volunteering reported increased
community awareness, 65% had increased
communication skills and 59% reported an
increase in confdence.
While 65% of respondents said that they
would be more likely to work for an employer
that encourages and promotes volunteering

however, 39% said their employer did not
engage in this area.
Katerina Rüdiger, Head of Policy Campaigns —
Community Investment at the CIPD, said:
“Simply put corporate volunteering can deliver
big business benefts, not only through helping
organisations build relationships within
their local communities, but also by giving
employees the chance to build new skills and
capabilities that they can then transfer back to
their day jobs.”
Do not slip up: prepare to action
winter maintenance and safety
procedures
Employers are being urged to prepare to action
their winter maintenance plans, for example,
with gritting and snow clearance operations, in
order to reduce the risk of slips on ice, frost or
snow, as the colder weather draws in.
According to the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE), slip and trip accidents increase during
the autumn and winter season for a number of
reasons, including that:
• there is less daylight
• leaves fall onto paths and become wet and
slippery
• cold weather spells cause ice and snow to
build up on paths.
The HSE says it is important to identify outdoor
areas used by pedestrians which are most likely
to be affected by ice. Such areas could, for
example, include building entrances, car parks,
pedestrian walkways, shortcuts, sloped areas
and areas constantly in the shade or wet.
The HSE advises employers to put a procedure
in place to prevent an icy surface forming and/
or keep pedestrians off the slippery surface.
Solutions might include:
• the use of grit or similar materials on areas
prone to be slippery in frosty, icy conditions
• covering walkways, eg by an arbour high
enough for people to walk through, or using
an insulating material on smaller areas
overnight
• diverting pedestrians to less slippery
walkways and putting barriers around existing
ones.
A number of companies which supply winter
maintenance and safety services have urged
affected organisations, such as retail outlets,
offces, hospitals, and local authorities, to make
plans before the snow and ice sets in.
Vicky Lopez, Director at De-ice, says that
weather forecasters have predicted “very
unsettled weather ahead” this autumn and
winter, with the El Nino climate pattern
predicted to be exceptionally strong this year.
She said, “We have and always will continue
to plan for the worst. That way, we and our
customers will never be caught out.”
nn Asbestos: recent prosecutions
Employers and others have a general legal
duty to protect any person from exposure
to asbestos. Robert Spicer illustrates the
range of situations in which the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) has brought
asbestos-related prosecutions.
Asbestos is a general term covering a number of
fbrous materials which cause serious, adverse
health effects when the fbres are released and
inhaled.
Approximately 4500 people die each year as
a result of breathing in asbestos fbres. This
makes it the biggest single cause of work-related
deaths in the UK. Airborne fbres can become
lodged in the lungs and digestive tract, and can
lead to lung cancer or other diseases. Symptoms
may not appear for several decades.

Prison sentence
In June 2015, Brian Roberts, a builder, was
sentenced to imprisonment for exposing
workers to asbestos.
Roberts was engaged to remove asbestos from
a commercial unit on an industrial estate in
Colwyn Bay. He removed asbestos insulating
board (AIB) from the unit, despite not holding a
licence to work with this material.
The HSE was alerted to the unlicensed work by
a licensed contractor. Roberts and three men
working with him were exposed to potentially
deadly asbestos fbres.
Roberts received a 26-week custodial sentence
for a breach of regulation 8(1) of the Control of
Asbestos Regulations 2012 for undertaking work
with asbestos without a licence.
An HSE inspector is reported to have made the
following comments after the case.
• Asbestos is the single greatest cause of work-
related deaths in the UK. Its safe removal
requires a high level of skill and technical
knowledge.
• The outcome of the exposure in this case
could not easily be assessed. Those involved
now have to live with the fear of becoming ill
with a life-threatening lung disease.
Exposure at school
Labform Ltd, a specialist laboratory design and
installation company, was fned in May 2015
following the exposure to asbestos of workers,
pupils and teachers.
In July 2012, Labform was managing the
refurbishment of parts of a science block at
Newmarket College School. Subcontractors
disturbed asbestos as they were removing a wall
and channelling the foor.
The company had not arranged for a detailed
refurbishment and demolition asbestos survey to
be undertaken.
The company was fned £22,400 plus £11,700
costs for four breaches of the Control of
Asbestos Regulations 2012.
An HSE inspector commented that exposure to
asbestos was a serious and well-known health
risk, so it was essential that dutyholders took
suitable and suffcient measures to prevent the
disturbance, spread and exposure to asbestos.
Failing to take action to identify asbestos
while planning work, and to ensure that any
contractors who may disturb asbestos are aware
of the location and type of asbestos present, and
not taking appropriate measures to protect the
health of others, is totally inexcusable.
Restaurant serving
In April 2015, Aman Ullah, the leaseholder of
a restaurant, was fned for illegally removing
asbestos from the premises.
Ullah was in control of construction work at
the restaurant. This included the removal of
asbestos insulation board soffts. The board was
removed with no controls to prevent the spread
of asbestos fbres.
A prohibition notice was served which
prevented any work for removal of the material
except by a licenced contractor. Ullah failed to
comply with the notice.
Ullah failed to take suitable measures to
prevent the spread of potentially deadly
asbestos fbres. The asbestos was removed in an
uncontrolled manner and then left at the side of
the building and in an area to which the public
had access.
Ullah was fned £10,000 plus £5000 costs and
a victim surcharge of £500 for failing to comply
with a prohibition notice (s.33 of the Health and
Safety at Work, etc Act 1974) and regulation 16
of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, for
failing to reduce to the lowest level reasonably
practicable the spread of asbestos.
£14,000 fne
Two companies were fned in December 2014
following a routine safety inspection that
discovered serious asbestos-related failings.
Lifting Systems had contracted Durasteel to
refurbish an asbestos cement roof at its site in
Northamptonshire.

In October 2013, HSE inspectors visited the site.
They found that asbestos insulation board had
been removed and stored on the premises and
debris containing asbestos had been placed in
skips. The inspectors issued a prohibition notice
preventing further work.
Lifting Systems had removed most of the old
asbestos cement roofng panels. It did not
have an up-to-date asbestos register, nor had
it carried out a demolition and refurbishment
survey which would have identifed areas
of asbestos to be considered during the
refurbishment.
Durasteel had failed to assess the potential
for asbestos to be disturbed and had not put
effective control measures in place. Neither
company had a licence to remove asbestos.
Lifting Systems Ltd was fned £14,000 plus
£500 costs for three breaches of the Control of
Asbestos Regulations 2012, while Durasteel
Services Ltd was fned £10,000 plus £500 costs
for one breach of the same regulations.
Regulation 5 of the 2012 regulations states, in
summary, that employers must not undertake
work which exposes or is liable to expose
employees to asbestos unless either the
employer has carried out a suitable and
suffcient assessment as to whether asbestos
is present or if there is doubt as to whether
asbestos is present, the employer assumes that
asbestos is present and observes the applicable
provisions of the regulations.
Regulation 16 states, in outline, that every
employer must prevent or reduce to the lowest
level reasonably practicable the spread of
asbestos from any place where work under the
employer’s control is carried out.
Supplying asbestos
Robert Marsh, sole director of RM
Developments (2005) Ltd, was sentenced to
12 months’ imprisonment in June 2014 for
illegally supplying roofng panels containing
asbestos.
Marsh supplied pre-used roofng sheets
containing white asbestos to a farming
partnership which was building a barn. The
partnership agreed to pay £4000 for what it
assumed would be substantial roofng material.
Marsh supplied poor quality, second-hand roof
panels for which he had paid nothing.
A construction worker who had been roofng
the barn fell through the fragile material and
suffered fatal injuries. Following the fall, Marsh
tried to persuade witnesses to hide the sheets
and gave false information to the deceased’s
daughter. He later tried to persuade the
deceased’s relatives not to report the incident to
the HSE.
Marsh was sentenced to 12 months’
imprisonment, disqualifed from being a
director for six years and ordered to pay
£10,000 costs, under s.37 of the Health and
Safety at Work, etc Act 1974, and article 67(1)
of the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation
of Chemicals (REACH) Regulations 2008, for
placing a restricted article on the market.
The HSE stated that the supply of materials
containing asbestos has been illegal for many
years. Marsh had demonstrated a complete
disregard for the law for his fnancial gain. The
weak second-hand panels that he supplied were
a signifcant contributing factor to the death of
the worker.
nn How to build confdence in your ability to stay in business
Daniel Kenning asks how confident you are
about your ability to stay in business in a
changing future operating environment and
how his concept of transition engineering
can help you to be.
Introduction
The business operating environment is
changing, especially relating to energy and
the environment, and conficting messages
from politicians and the media urge a focus

on economic growth, while scientists say we
must stop using fossil fuels. All businesses have
enjoyed a long period of increasing availability
of affordable energy and other resources, but
are now facing change. But how do you build
confdence in the future of a business?
How to be confdent in your business
Confdence is the basis of all business
decisions. Everyone should be confdent that
their decision-making is consistent with their
future operating environment. The higher the
level of confdence, the greater the risk that
can be accepted, and in turn, the greater the
potential beneft. False confdence based on
unsafe assumptions about the future operating
environment increases the risk of failure.
Since the Industrial Revolution, every
generation of business leaders has had more
resources available than their predecessors,
so they could deliver more, newer, faster and
better products and services for customers.
Today’s business leaders must focus on meeting
customer needs in the context of constrained
energy supplies and climate change, and the
need to stop using fossil fuels.
How can you be confdent that your business
strategy will deliver long-term prosperity?
• You can do what you have always done —
but in a changing future “business as usual” is
obsolete.
• You can follow the lead of legislators — but
they lack the technical capacity to design the
future of complex engineered systems.
• You can ask your customers — and you
should, but if you only ask the wrong
questions you will get the wrong answers.
Alternatively, you can develop your own future
narrative, using a thorough, robust, technically
coherent approach, in which you can have
complete confdence.
This article proposes that business confdence
can be built up by proactively addressing the
objective to “stay in business in the long term”
and should augment (not replace) the objectives
to “make proft” and “comply with legislation”.
Challenges and the need to build
confdence
Compliance with legislation is not enough.
Increasing legislation will not prevent
bad business decisions or an organisation
going out of business. Competitors will
be making plans to adapt and to establish
new competitive advantages, so you need
to as well. With the huge bombardment of
conflicting advice about all things “green”,
a focus on confidence can help avoid
unproductive distractions.
To be confdent that an organisation can
continue to meet customer needs and generate
revenue, it needs the confdence that the
organisation is able to adapt to disruption
while maintaining its business operations.
A robust strategic approach to securing
confdence in the future of the business
is offered by transition engineering and
management — providing the framework
and processes to deliver confdence in the
future. This framework is based on engineering
and data, and consistent with economic,
ecological and societal systems.
Ask the best questions!
To gather useful data about a changing
operating environment on which to base
a strategy, it is critical to ask really good
questions.
The initial questions should be about the past,
for example are as follows.
• What external changes infuenced the
organisation?
• How did the organisation respond to them?
• Was the organisation forced to adapt or did it
choose to?
• How has the organisation responded when
energy costs increased?
This will lead on to questions about the
present and examining what data describe
your current operating environment and the
status of the business. For example are the
following.

• On what does the organisation depend?
• How sensitive is the organisation to changes
in external factors such as energy, materials
supply or transport?
• What is the core value proposition of the
business that yields revenue?
• What are the capital assets, including
financial, manufactured, human, social and
natural capital?
• What is the system model; what is within
your influence or control, and what is
not? Include your current dependence on
materials, energy, infrastructure, markets,
policy and legislation, competitors ... etc.
Questions about the future should take into
account that the future will not resemble
the recent past. So what data can you find
to describe the most likely future operating
environment? The starting point should be future
energy and climate constraints. From both the
depletion and the climate perspective, steep
reductions in energy between now and 2050
are likely.
A formal study to understand your past and
present and to describe the future operating
environment for your organisation will enable
much better business decisions to be made with
higher confidence.
Use the answers to adapt to the
future
There are two sorts of optimists. The first is
confident that the future will be great because
nothing needs changing. They will resist change,
permanently convinced they have somehow just
arrived at an unchanging pinnacle of perfection.
The second is confident that the future will be
great because everything can be changed to
make sure. They will take their understanding of
the past, present and future, and use it to create
their own future narrative.
The data you now have about your past
and present, and about the future operating
environment, are a valuable set of constraints
within which to design a future strategy. If you
know the constraints within which you can be
confident that a future strategy will work, you
can set a new direction for the organisation
and remove from “business as usual” and likely
obsolescence and failure, towards long-term
prosperity. This is the “path break concept” that
is the core of a high-confidence future business
strategy.
All relevant stakeholders, external and/
or internal, need to realise the path break
concept should be a core value proposition
within the identified future operating
environment. For this, the environment
needs to be right with; a safe environment
for creative thinking, using people with the
right mindset is needed when getting out
the flipcharts and releasing the combined
brainpower.
Putting it into practice
When the vision of what the business
should look like in future has been formed a
programme of change to execute it is needed.
The back-casting technique requires you to
mentally put yourself in the future and look
backwards, to see how you would have got
there. It is a lot more effective to focus on the
desired destination than to start from your
current situation and try to make the right
steps. The back-casting study can also be
completed in a workshop environment with
stakeholders.
Overcoming inertia
A review of the factors that will affect change
in the desired direction will yield those that
support change, and the barriers to that change.
A key barrier is the initial move away from
“business as usual”. Every organisation will be
“in a rut” to some extent. A “trigger event” — a
small change that leads to large change —
is needed. These are most often external,
unplanned events that cause major disruption
and change corporate direction. What you
need to develop is an internal, planned trigger
event that can cause enough disruption to
enable desired change. This might include

bringing in new expertise, or holding a future-
visioning event for staff.
Summary
It is highly likely most organisations that do
not adapt to the future environment will not
exist in 2050. If they want to do so, they need
a robust, data-based understanding of the
future operating environment, and then adapt
to it. This is not the same as compliance, or
incremental change.
The key steps are described by the transition
engineering process, of these the key innovative
steps are understanding the future operating
environment, plotting a path towards it, and
overcoming corporate inertia with small trigger
events to yield large change.
All these steps can be accomplished through
planned stages working with your internal and
external stakeholders. The process can be good
fun as well — it releases masses of intellectual
energy from your staff as well as increasing
confdence in the future of the business.
References
Transition Engineering: www.
transitionengineering.org
The Natural Step; Back-Casting: www.
thenaturalstep.org/sustainability/backcasting/
www.splendidengineering.co.uk
nn The on-site fltering of fre alarm signals
Mike Sopp looks at methods of reducing
the number of false alarms and unwanted
visits from the Fire and Rescue Services.
Introduction
In June 2014, the Chief Fire Offcers Association
(CFOA) published revised guidance on the
reduction of false alarms and consequent
unwanted fre signals to Fire and Rescue
Services (FRS).
Commenting on its release, CFOA stated that
changes in FRS response strategies, infuenced
by fnancial constraints and changes in
legislation, require a partnership approach to
deal with the problem of unwanted fre signals
with “clear responsibilities and expectations”
existing between all stakeholders.
With the CFOA guidance stating that “the
ideal place to prevent false alarms from being
transmitted to FRS as unwanted fre signals is
on site”, it is clear that the responsible person
must be aware of their responsibilities and how
they can flter unwanted signals from the fre
detection and alarm system on site.
Response strategy changes
A well designed, installed and maintained
automatic fre detection and alarm system
(FDAS) can be an effective fre (life) safety
precaution. It provides for the early detection
and warning of fre so as to enable all occupants
of the premises to evacuate in a timely manner.
Despite a reduction in transmission of unwanted
fre signals to FRS, it remains a signifcant issue.
In the year April 2012 to March 2013, FRS
attended over 249,000 false alarms, the majority
of which were from automatic fre detection
and alarm systems.
As CFOA guidance states, “the historical
cautious presumption that the call is genuine,
until proved otherwise, is becoming more
diffcult to sustain with the large numbers of
false alarms being generated”.
With FRS under considerable fnancial pressures
and the reduction in resources, responding to
false alarms can divert essential resources from
real emergency situations. Consequently, many
FRSs are now reviewing and changing strategies
in relation to how they respond to fre signals
from FDASs.

Contact us: 020 8247 1175 Page 10
The rationale for this originates from s.7 of
the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, which
requires FRS to make provision for frefghting
but not to attend premises to ascertain if a fre
exists.
As a consequence, FRS is introducing
alternative response strategies that, depending
upon the type of premises involved, range
from non-attendance (unless fre situation
is confrmed), reduced attendance and call-
challenging arrangements to ascertain the
situation before determining the response.
In addition, under the Localism Act, FRS
now has the powers to charge for attending
unwanted fre signals while under the relevant
UK fre safety legislation, can take enforcement
action against repeat offenders.
The need for on-site fltering
For the person responsible for fre safety, a
reduction in false alarms from FDASs will
reduce business disruption and will sustain
occupiers’ confdence in the reliability of the
system.
BS5839-1 contains guidance on rates that
would be acceptable, based on the number of
heads, with many organisations using this as a
benchmark to be achieved.
However, as guidance from the London Fire
Brigade (LFB) states “while there may be an
acceptable rate of false alarms relative to the
number of detector heads there is no acceptable
rate for these false alarms being transmitted
to the Fire Brigade to become unwanted fre
signals (UwFS)”.
CFOA Guidance for the Reduction of False
Alarms and Unwanted Fire Signals recognises this
and states that one of the aims of the guidance
is to ensure the responsible person has “effective
procedures in place so that an alarm actuation is
managed appropriately to minimise UwFS calls
and ensure, as much as reasonably possible, that
a call being passed to FRS is a fre event”.
Doing so has clear business benefts, not least
limiting exposure to charges and potential
enforcement action by the FRS. Therefore, as
well as reducing false alarms, organisations are
being encouraged to consider the introduction
of on-site flter arrangements.
Each FRS will have its own policies and
procedures in relation to on-site fltering but
in London, guidance from the LFB states that
it should be considered if “there are suffcient
false alarms to unreasonably impact on
emergency services”.
However, the guidance notes that fltering
measures should only ever be employed as
a result of a suitable fre risk assessment. The
assessment should take into account both
the fre alarm system and the capability of
management practices to support the fltering
practices considered, particularly in relation
to the protection of staff members who may be
required to investigate the cause of the actuation.
When assessing the risk, there can be many
factors to consider including:
• the premises’ size, use, layout and facilities
• capabilities and fexibility of the FDAS and
use of Alarm Receiving Centres
• potential procedures to be used to gather
information on alarm causation
• current fre evacuation strategies utilised in
the premise
• investigation timescales available
• communications during investigations
• capabilities of staff involved in fltering
arrangements
• safety issues involved with on-site fltering.
Arrangements and procedures
It should be noted that, in the majority of cases
where on-site fltering is to be considered, the
evacuation strategy will be one of immediate
simultaneous evacuation, unless the fre risk
assessment can justify other arrangements.
A key aspect of any on-site flter system will
be the information to be used to determine the
causation of the alarm actuation and need for
the FRS to respond. Information sources may
include building occupiers, dedicated staff
pro-actively investigating the area of actuation

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and information from the FDAS and associated
linked systems.
In respect of the latter, CFOA guidance notes
that it is appropriate to consider the signifcance
of the system information available and “AFA
signals that alert of an incident with a high
reliability indication of fre, such as sprinkler
activation, co-incidence detection, call point
actuation, multiple detector/type activation…
may all, potentially, be considered suffcient
reason to immediately request the attendance of
the FRS”.
Where staff members are to undertake a
physical investigation, the responsible person
must give thought to the safety of these staff,
how they are to communicate with those
who have overall responsibility for the fre
emergency procedures and the training required
to undertake the procedures required.
Clearly, as part of the on-site flter process,
it will be necessary to consider the process
for calling the FRS in the event that a fre has
actually materialised.
Where this is through the traditional method of
dialling of 999, it will be necessary to decide
who will have responsibility for this and how
they will be provided with the information
they need (ie from those investigating or those
interpreting data for systems).
Where the premises are linked to an Alarm
Receiving Centre/Fire Alarm Monitoring
Organisation it will be necessary to consider
introducing a time-related system and/or call-
back procedure that delays transmission of a
signal to the FRS. Even where such a system
exists, it is recommended that a direct call using
the 999 system is still made on any confrmation
of a fre situation.
When a building is unoccupied, a signal from
the fre alarm system is less likely to arise from
a false alarm. However, CFOA guidance states
that the responsible person needs to “establish
how calls are received and confrmed when the
building is empty”.
This can include the appointment of an
appropriate number of key holders to attend the
premises during incidents that can attend in no
more than 20 minutes.
Further information
Chief Fire Offcer Association: www.cfoa.org.
uk/10863
• CFOA Guidance for the Reduction of False
Alarms and Unwanted Fire Signals
• Code of Practice: Best Practice for
Summoning a Fire Response via Fire Alarm
Monitoring Organisations
London Fire Brigade: www.london-fire.gov.uk
• GN54: False Alarms Caused by Automatic
Fire and Smoke Detection
nn Smart buildings
The opportunities for the development
of environmentally smarter buildings are
huge. Jeff Cooper examines a range of
measures to ensure that buildings provide
optimum working conditions at minimal
environmental impact.
What makes a smart building smart?
Sustainability in the construction sector has
become embedded in policies but is sadly
not always evident in practice, both for
new buildings and those being retroftted.
The construction sector in the UK, as
with all countries, is hugely signifcant in
both economic and environmental terms.
According to the Institution of Civil Engineers,
the construction sector in 2013 in the UK
accounted for £94.2 billion (6.1% of GNP) and
employed 2.1 million people (6.3% of the UK
total). New leaner systems for construction are
being implemented, including the leasing of
major construction components, eg Tata Steel’s

Contact us: 020 8247 1175 Page 12
leasing of structural steel components in new
buildings so that it can reclaim them during the
demolition of the buildings.
The building stock in the UK, in common with
the rest of the EU, accounts for 40% of the
UK’s energy consumption and the associated
carbon emissions amount to slightly less from
their lighting, heating and use. Therefore, the
2012 EU Energy Performance of Buildings
Directive requires that all new buildings must
be nearly zero energy by 31 December 2020,
and public buildings by 31 December 2018.
In addition, EU Member States have to set
energy performance requirements not only for
new buildings but also for major renovation of
buildings and the replacement or retroftting of
building elements such as heating and cooling
systems, roofs and walls.
What is a smart building?
While new smart buildings can dramatically
reduce each building’s environmental impact,
other strategies can affect the impacts of the
huge stock of existing buildings: retroftting the
existing stock with a range of energy saving and
other environmentally mitigating equipment but
more importantly having personal commitment
from staff at all levels to ensure they assist in
using and maintaining the systems installed.
This feature will, therefore, examine a range of
opportunities to ensure greater sustainability of
our buildings and their usage.
There are several different defnitions as to what
constitutes a smart building but most focus on the
energy use within the building and the extent to
which this is supplied through energy generation
systems within the curtilage of the building and
through a smart grid connection. Smart buildings,
therefore, provide services that deliver lighting,
heating or cooling, air conditioning, sanitation
and a range of other facility services at the lowest
cost while minimising environmental impact over
the whole lifetime of the building. By adopting
practices used for smart buildings, businesses
can mitigate the environmental impacts of their
existing buildings and the activities that take
place within them.
A smart building may be regarded as a set
of systems that could be compared to the
internet, whereby many components link in to
provide the users or consumers with a network
of systems that provide optimum working
conditions at minimal environmental impact.
There are many ways that a smart building
can both save owners or occupiers' money
and improve their environmental credentials,
including:
• balancing equipment to optimise cooling and
ventilation
• matching energy usage to occupancy levels
so that when there are fewer people or
activities, the building can adjust to provide
optimum comfort levels
• proactive maintenance of equipment so that
any problems in performance are fagged to
main optimum effciency
• dynamic power consumption so that
information from the power supplier or the
electricity market changes the energy usage
in the building by reducing energy usage if
still within the parameters of the building.
Most of these changes assume that the building
and its occupiers are linked into a smart power
grid so that buildings can access a wider
network of power supply enabling adjustments
to be made to the energy demand for the
building.
Reducing energy costs
The retail sector accounts for around 20%
of carbon emissions for all businesses in the
UK. Therefore, according to the British Retail
Consortium (BRC) there is an onus on the sector
to improve its environmental performance.
In February 2015, the BRC issued a report,
A Better Retailing Climate, building on its
members’ earlier commitments to reduce the
environmental impact of their operations,
including production, distribution and storage
of goods and services. The BRC claims that
improving the energy effciency of its members’
operations is the most effective means of
reducing energy costs.
For the public sector there are also opportunities
to improve environmental performance and a

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good recent example is the National Health
Service (NHS). The NHS generates 18% of all
emissions deriving from the UK’s non-domestic
building stock and admits that there is excessive
use of energy in the NHS. Therefore, in 2013
there was a competition to allocate £49.3
million of Public Dividend Capital to NHS
organisations to institute energy effciency
improvements. The savings from the projects
would then be available to fund front line
services in the future.
Many of the projects involved changes
to lighting, ventilation, heating and the
introduction of combined heat and power units.
One of the most interesting projects funded was
the Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust. Because
the Trust serves a large area, staff are required to
travel long distances to attend local patients. The
Trust, therefore, identifed electrifcation of its
vehicle feet as a priority to reduce energy costs
and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions so the
scheme included 40 kW of solar photovoltaic
(PV) panels to charge the electric vehicles.
Several issues arose from the decision to install
the PV panels. The frst problem was that panels
had to be installed in two locations rather than
one because the existing electrical transmission
infrastructure could not accommodate the
original design. The need for full planning
application for the PV panels also delayed their
introduction. Up to 2015, 50% of the electricity
generated was being fed back into the grid.
The question that was raised after the system
was installed was whether this was the best use
of the electricity produced or would on-site
storage of generated electricity to be used in the
NHS facilities be more cost effective? Several
other problems also affected the scheme,
especially the compatibility of the generating
system and the charging of the vehicles.
Nevertheless, the scheme has been successful
in both replacing the use of petrol and diesel by
using the electric vehicles, so reducing GHG
emissions and also the number and length of
journeys made.
Although it is only the PV panels that fall within
the remit of the smart building context in this
case, this example is of wider applicability
because a high proportion of journeys made
by businesses with cars and smaller delivery
vehicles are short and could use electric
powered vehicles with locally sourced
renewable energy.
Reducing water usage
Mains water supplies throughout the southern
areas of England are under serious stress. It
is also expected that this position will further
deteriorate in future due to population growth
and the need to build new homes plus the
increasing variability in rainfall associated
with climate change to recharge groundwater
and reservoirs. Commercial and industrial
buildings could economise in the use of water
but rainwater harvesting (RWH) can provide a
key method to mitigate the problem. For further
information, contact the Rainwater Management
Association (www.ukrma.org).
RWH involves the collection and storage for
subsequent use of rainwater that otherwise
would have been lost into soak-away or to
surface water drainage. Collection is usually
from a roof of a building and the water passes
through a particle flter before going into a
storage tank. Leaf guards are also necessary at
the top of rainwater down-pipes.
RWH can substitute for mains water for most
applications that do not require potable water,
such as toilet fushing, vehicle washing and
grounds watering. Normally, the storage tank
will be positioned underground with the water
pumped through a header tank. Other sources
of non-wholesome water, such as the reuse
of bathwater, known as grey water reuse, is
not applicable in commercial and industrial
buildings.
For businesses, there is a strong fnancial
incentive to invest in a range of technologies
that use water sustainably. The Water
Technology List (WTL),developed and managed
by Defra and HM Revenue & Customs in
partnership with Envirowise, enables businesses
to claim up to 100% frst year capital
allowances (ie deduct some or all of the value
from profts before paying tax) when they buy
technologies and products that encourage
sustainable water use.

Contact us: 020 8247 1175 Page 14
Of the 14 technology categories, RWH
equipment would fall into the following:
• rainwater storage tanks
• rainwater fltration equipment monitoring and
control equipment
• rainwater treatment equipment.
Details are available through www.eca-water.
gov.uk.
The need for careful consideration of the
location of the water tank and robust methods
of control and management need careful
consideration. In 2013, the Royal Borough of
Greenwich experienced a catastrophic food
in the basement of one of its newest buildings:
the Woolwich Centre, architecturally award-
winning and constructed along smart building
principles. Due to the constrained footprint
of the site, the rainwater harvesting tank was
located in the basement to provide water for the
toilets. Unfortunately, the council’s computer
servers were also situated in the basement. The
control mechanism that should have stopped
the rainwater harvesting tank flling beyond its
normal cut-off level failed. The resulting food
necessitated the complete replacement of the
servers.
Energy storage
The main means of improving the energy
performance of buildings is by ensuring good
insulation. When retroftting commercial and
industrial buildings, the choice is between
external cladding and internal ftting of panels.
Generally, it is easier and considerably cheaper
to undertake external cladding, which also often
has the advantage of stopping problems with
brickwork such as porosity and non-structural
cracks. However, in conservation areas external
cladding may not be permitted.
Sustainable designs for new buildings —
sometimes applicable for retrofts — use solar
gain and shading as well as air circulation to
ensure more natural optimum heating and air
conditioning throughout a building.
Beyond insulation several options can assist
with the storage of energy but these are often
quite expensive and more suited to local
distributed energy systems. Therefore, linking
electrical generation into the wider grid system
will usually be more cost effective.
There is a distinction between those systems
that store thermal energy and those storing
electricity, although thermal storage can be
used to generate electricity. Excess thermal
energy, eg from air cooling or conditioning
systems, can be stored in tanks of molten salt
or pea-sized gravel and utilised later. One of
most elaborate systems is that at Stockholm’s
Arlanda Airport, which stores excess heat from
the summer to heat the building in the winter.
Pumped heat storage is a good option for
buildings for maximising the effective use of
electricity for provision of heating.
The storage of renewable electricity for later
use can be effected with the use of battery
systems. There are a large number of different
battery chemistries and the choice of system for
a building or group of buildings will depend
on the demands to be placed on the system.
For more than a century, for instance, lead-
acid batteries have been used in telephone
exchanges. Now newer battery chemistries
are being tried but there is no consensus as to
which one holds the greatest potential.
Apple announced in February 2015 that its
two new data centres in Europe — in County
Galway, Ireland and Viborg, Denmark — would
be powered by renewable energy which again
would require electricity storage. In the case
of the Viborg facility, the excess heat from
equipment will be reclaimed for use in the local
district heating system.
Other aspects of sustainability
In addition to the main perspectives covered
earlier in this feature, there is a whole range
of small but locally signifcant measures that
can be undertaken to make buildings more
sustainable. These include:
• green roofs to provide natural insulation both
for heat and cooling and to ameliorate the
rate of precipitation, especially from large
roof areas (this option is not compatible with
rainwater harvesting)

Contact us: 020 8247 1175 Page 15
• roof gardens, which may have the virtues
associated with green roofs plus all the
positive perspectives of gardening for
employees if they are permitted access to
roofs, which is not always possible on health
and safety grounds, eg in Canary Wharf
• bee hives to beneft from the biodiversity of
urban environments and to provide honey
and bees’ wax, eg on the department store
roof of Fortnum & Mason in Mayfair.
The opportunities for the development of
environmentally smarter buildings are huge. The
frst step is ensuring we work towards reducing
our environmental footprint in all our actions.
nn An LPG future
With energy prices following an inexorable
upward trend, facilities management (FMs)
are constantly looking for ways to reduce
these costs. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
can be effectively used as an alternative
energy source but is often overlooked.
Dave Howell reports.
The drive to reduce the carbon footprint of all
businesses and organisations means looking
closely at their energy consumption. FMs have
been tasked with driving down their company’s
carbon emissions by utilising a number of
techniques. One area that can be overlooked
is how alternative energy sources can be
used to bring tangible improvements in the
environmental impact that businesses have.
Furthermore, a proportion of off-grid businesses
may be affected by the introduction of the
mandatory Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme
(ESOS) audit process. ESOS has been introduced
to help UK frms to identify areas to cut energy
use across company buildings, transport and
industrial activities.
Set to apply to 15,000 businesses across the UK,
companies that either employ over 250 people
or have an annual turnover of more than £38
million must survey a representative sample
of their property portfolio to identify energy
ineffciencies and areas for improvement.
Firms must complete and submit an audit by
5 December 2015.
Moving to LPG as a component of an
organisation’s energy requirements can be
sensible and economic, as LPG has been
developing for decades and all FMs can now
take advantage of the energy infrastructure it
offers. LPG usage needs to be carefully planned
and will not offer a wholesale alternative to
grid power for most FM needs, but FMs should
investigate where LPG could offer a viable
alternative and additional energy source.
Fuel security
UKLPG is the trade association for the LPG
industry in the UK, representing companies
that are producers, distributors, equipment and
service providers, and vehicle converters.
Facilities Management Update spoke with
UKLPG Chief Executive, Rob Shuttleworth and
began by asking whether FMs can see a tangible
improvement in their companies’ carbon
emissions by adopting LPG?
“A low-carbon fuel that is portable, widely
available and easy to install, LPG, which is a
mixture of propane (C3H8) and butane (C4H10),
is derived during the exploration of natural
gas felds and is also produced during the oil
refning process. A lower carbon alternative
to solid and liquid fossil fuels, its combustion
emits 33% less carbon dioxide (CO2) than coal
and 17% less than heating oil.
“The lowest carbon fuel available in non-
mains gas areas, LPG has been used within
commercial applications for the past 40 years.
It is a particularly attractive option for larger
organisations required to report on their carbon
emissions.

Contact us: 020 8247 1175 Page 16
“Indeed, LPG is fast becoming a fuel of choice
for industrial properties where the natural gas
distribution network is not available. It also
works well in small-scale gas networks and
as part of a hybrid system to complement
renewable installations, such as solar PV and
heat pump technology.”
Are FMs overlooking LPG as a means
to improve their energy security?
“An increasingly attractive option for
commercial properties is the integration of LPG
with low-carbon and renewable technologies
to combine a reliable year-round power supply
with carbon savings. Indeed, the LPG industry is
experiencing a new generation of research and
development, which is set to coincide with a
growth in the market over the coming fve years.
“Various solutions have been developed, with
the European market specifcally investing in
gas-fred engines, as well as absorption and
adsorption technologies. While the size and
capital cost of these products has hindered
take–up to date in the domestic market,
commercial gas heat pumps are now available
in the UK today.”
LPG initiatives
Poultry business F&H Panton Brothers replaced
a direct-fred heating system with an LPG-
fuelled indirect system to save on running costs
and improve chicken welfare.
David Panton, joint MD of the business, said:
“Keeping the poultry houses warm is vital.
Modern hybrid birds are like Formula 1 racing
cars and need treating with care. We need a
reliable and cost-effective heating system; any
loss of heating at the wrong time would be
catastrophic.
“When I looked at different systems, one of my
most important considerations was both the cost
and continuity of fuel. In the 45 years we have
been using LPG, we have never been let down
on a delivery.”
Suppliers typically own, and are therefore
responsible for, the upkeep and maintenance of
the LPG tank installation. Each time a delivery
is made, the tank is checked by the driver and,
periodically, the installation is checked by a
qualifed engineer to ensure peace of mind.
UKLPG’s Rob Shuttleworth concluded: “As a
complement to renewable energy and energy
effciency measures, it’s clear that conventional
fuels like LPG can still form part of the
development of a more sustainable energy
future. We are seeing many businesses looking
to take advantage of the low-carbon properties
of LPG to help them meet their targets. LPG has
a low-carbon to hydrogen ratio, which means
that it will generate lower amounts of CO2,
while producing the same amount of heat as
alternative options.”
Moving away or at least supplementing the
energy needs of your business with LPG is
a sensible move even if your organisation is
not based in a rural environment. Focusing
on certain aspects of your business such as its
feet vehicles and how these could be adapted
for LPG can deliver massive economic and
environmental savings all FMs will appreciate.
nn Not sustainable? How FM can help promote sustainability
This year’s British Institute of Facilities
Management (BIFM) report, Annual
Sustainability in FM Survey 2015, draws
trend information it has gathered over
a decade and shows how attitudes have
developed. However, there are always
challenges, especially where clients —
internal or external — are at a different
point in the sustainability life cycle from
the FM professional. Alan Field looks
at these challenges and some potential
solutions.

Contact us: 020 8247 1175 Page 17
One business — one sustainability
policy?
The BIFM report makes for inspirational reading,
but an FM business may have views about
sustainability that are at variance with those of
its clients. In other words, the managing agent
or landlord of premises will often have their
own ideas — and fnancial limitations — on
how far to pursue sustainable policies, options
and investment. This can even apply to in-
house FM professionals where both premises
and space planning can be infuenced by
wider budgetary policies over and above
sustainability.
When to say no
The frst thing an FM business needs to defne
is its own sustainability policy. The BIFM report
found that 41% of the respondents had not
done this. Without leadership championing
sustainability, an organisation it will fnd it
diffcult to achieve any dialogue with clients on
the topic. After all, in the space of, say, 30 years,
the notion of a corporate sustainability policy
has gone from being seen as something on
the fringe to a mainstream concern. Drawing
a parallel to safety policy, the failure to
acknowledge and pursue sustainability issues is
now a reputational one and shareholders look
at such questions when they take investment
decisions. This is even before one starts to
consider the more conventional concerns of
environmental compliance, eg waste streams
and biodiversity.
Once an FM provider defnes its own
sustainability policies, this can help it select
the type of clients it wishes to become involved
with. Of course, some providers will go after
every opportunity that presents itself, but those
who have a selective tendering process can
use policies aligned to sustainability as another
factor in deciding whether to tender for business
or not. Equally, if the tender is for a second or
third tier contracting role then a similar shifting
approach can be taken; does the frst contractor
hold the same (or a similar) approach to
environmental compliances and sustainability?
Sometimes looking at what potential clients and
competitors do in these areas can also provide
inspiration for reviewing one’s own policies.
Where the FM provider is acting as consultant
to a client there are wider opportunities to offer
added value by giving advice on sustainability;
and where the FM provider manages the
procurement of the hard and soft services
contractors sustainability can be one factor in
selecting contractors. Of course, this assumes
the client has allowed suffcient margin for this
to be done. This is where, sometimes, an FM
provider already operating in more sustainable
ways can have a competitive advantage. This
is because additional costs may not need to
be generated at mobilisation, eg where agreed
protocols and trained staff are already in place
and can monitor energy consumption and
produce accurate recycling metrics.
One other policy driver is innovation. Some
landlords will want to experiment with
sustainable technologies, eg anything from
ground source heat pumps to more water
effcient plumbing sundries. While such
policies can be done on an ad hoc basis,
often it is better to have an overall strategy
not just in terms of investment and payback
but the innovations that are going to be
pursued. Innovation is all about choice and
the strategy behind the choices made. This
is often more than just a technical decision.
The FM professional can contribute to these
discussions, especially where maintenance and
other operational issues over different choices
can have an impact on reliability or reactive
maintenance budgets.
Green measurement
The BIFM refers to the importance of
performance measurement with sustainability.
Often it is the organisation without sustainability
policies that does not have metrics either.
Organisations measures what is important
to them but often they also want to test their
policies with these metrics. Sustainability
policies can generate the need for hard
measures, eg whether recycling targets are
being met. Softer targets such as improved
awareness of, say, biodiversity or energy

Contact us: 020 8247 1175 Page 18
conservation can be measured in a softer way,
eg reporting on the outcomes of stakeholder
consultations and toolbox talks. In short,
discussing and agreeing a sustainability policy
should provoke a desire to test whether the
policy is the right one for both the time and
place that has been agreed.
Sometimes, a performance measure devised for
one reason can have a positive impact on the
environment for another reason.
Life cycles?
FM professionals always need to be thinking
about what their clients want and also what
potential clients want. This, in itself, is a life
cycle. Landlords and managing agents are
thinking more and more about their potential
tenants’ clients, who want to be seen as using
carbon effcient buildings. The only way to
prove this is to agree the targets — or metrics —
that are important to establish to these client/
tenant groups. While sustainable options may
seem expensive, it can often be the commercial
return they will generate that will be an
important driver. Of course, not all estates will
generate such a driver but policy and metrics
should always take into account what the FM
provider is there to support.
Where the FM professional is acting as a
consultant, there could be two drivers for
advice. One relates to compliance. Many
landlords do not necessarily understand the
strict liability nature of some offences relating
to the duty of care and, as all FM professionals
are aware, waste management is the area where
these liabilities — and risks of reputational
damage to a client — are the greatest. In some
contexts, biodiversity can be equally important.
One bat colony, inadvertently disturbed by a
contractor, can create negative publicity for a
landlord seeking “blue chip” tenants who can
afford to be choosy where they take their real
estate business. Greater awareness of why it is
commercially important, both to landlords and
managing agents, to spend time on agreeing
sustainable policies and metrics certainly added
value to an FM consultant.
This in turn can lead to FM contracts being
awarded with a more focused connection
between being seen as “green” and providing
a commercial return as well as protecting all
parties from the risks of pointless and expensive
litigation.
Where the consultancy assignment involves
helping a client select FM contractors or
monitoring their performance, then defning
the sustainable policies that are expected both
assists selection and helps differentiate between
contractors who have put a professional team
together and those that have done this purely in
terms of cost effectiveness. More importantly,
it also helps the FM consultant to get into a
dialogue with their client as to what they really
want and expect, rather than what they think
seems a good idea.
Conclusions
The BIFM is right. Sustainable policies, and
performance measurements to support them,
are important to the FM professional. There are
many reasons for doing this — from trying to
future proof the business to keeping up with
competitors. The real reason for doing this
should be to look at what the business wants
to achieve and how better compliance and
sustainability awareness will help deliver this.
Further information
The BIFM’s report Annual Sustainability in
FM Survey 2015 www.bifm.org.uk/bifm/
knowledge/sustainabilityinfm/2015

Published by Wolters Kluwer (UK) Limited, 145 London Road, Kingston upon Thames KT2 6SR, United Kingdom. Tel: 020 8247 1175. Fax: 0844 381 4946. Web: www.croner.co.uk, email croner@wolterskluwer.co.uk
Copyright © 2015 WOLTERS KLUWER (UK) LIMITED All rights reserved. ISSN 2046-097X. Head of Content: Michèle Wheaton.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the publishers.
Although great care has been taken in the compilation and preparation of Croner’s Facilities Management Update to ensure accuracy, the publishers cannot in any circumstances accept responsibility for errors or omissions or
advice given in this publication. Subscribers should be aware that only Acts of Parliament and Statutory Instruments have the force of law and that only the courts can authoritatively interpret the law. Crown copyright material
is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland.
UP/FAC-EI15129
nn Degree day data
Weekly heating degree days (15.5°C base temperature)
Region 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
27/11/2015 78 77 64 52 66 82 80 75 64 80 80 84 62 79 83 54 70 62
20/11/2015 38 43 32 34 37 46 48 54 51 57 47 50 56 66 76 36 62 66
13/11/2015 24 33 28 26 24 33 38 48 44 42 37 37 40 50 62 28 44 54
06/11/2015 15 18 14 13 18 27 25 32 34 38 30 34 34 39 48 18 32 32
30/10/2015 23 27 20 18 26 30 29 30 28 37 33 28 29 35 40 18 33 31
23/10/2015 32 40 30 23 31 35 34 36 32 34 32 37 36 38 40 30 41 40
16/10/2015 33 38 30 28 36 41 41 46 36 40 36 34 37 44 44 32 42 36
09/10/2015 18 20 19 19 19 25 26 36 36 32 23 21 28 36 38 24 31 34
02/10/2015 18 21 13 13 19 25 28 29 28 33 24 22 26 29 29 21 31 20
25/09/2015 17 21 14 15 17 19 24 26 21 23 17 18 21 25 30 20 25 30
18/09/2015 12 15 8 14 15 18 26 24 24 22 19 18 26 32 28 16 28 26
11/09/2015 10 13 9 7 11 15 18 23 19 20 15 14 19 21 24 14 16 17
04/09/2015 15 15 10 10 12 16 20 27 14 21 15 13 23 24 23 16 21 21
28/08/2015 5 10 6 3 10 9 9 12 4 7 5 6 13 8 12 15 15 16
21/08/2015 4 6 7 9 8 6 9 13 11 8 5 5 11 15 10 12 18 13
14/08/2015 2 3 3 4 4 6 8 11 8 8 6 4 12 13 14 4 13 13
07/08/2015 3 4 5 4 7 6 11 11 5 9 5 4 14 13 12 7 16 12
31/07/2015 16 16 8 9 11 20 24 23 17 22 16 16 22 25 27 13 24 17
Monthly heating degree days (15.5°C base temperature)
Region 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Nov-15 712 193 158 141 162 206 211 235 221 242 218 229 216 267 306 156 235 244
Oct-15 116 136 106 95 120 145 146 162 144 158 139 133 146 167 180 113 165 152
Sep-15 63 74 48 52 64 80 98 109 92 103 77 74 96 114 116 73 100 100
Aug-15 19 27 22 22 33 31 44 56 33 38 25 23 57 57 55 43 70 62
July-15 34 34 27 19 33 50 61 76 50 61 47 44 65 78 89 36 76 76
Jun-15 58 63 46 49 57 77 86 102 97 97 80 78 100 119 125 60 100 135
May-15 121 132 105 113 125 155 164 193 176 175 148 152 178 192 208 139 190 194
Apr-15 156 168 144 139 160 183 191 226 211 195 184 187 208 215 225 165 210 217
Mar-15 252 256 239 222 250 283 290 298 273 289 273 282 268 282 288 248 284 254
Feb-15 298 305 279 248 285 324 327 318 271 320 313 316 277 296 307 258 289 249
Jan-15 347 338 264 244 316 369 389 343 310 388 368 378 302 358 346 263 322 278
Dec-14 319 303 234 228 298 334 335 308 290 359 338 334 268 332 325 226 299 257
Key to regions
1. Thames Valley 4. South Western 7. West Pennines 10. North Eastern 13. West Scotland 16. Wales
2. South Eastern 5. Severn Valley 8. North Western 11. East Pennines 14. East Scotland 17. Northern Ireland
3. Southern 6. Midlands 9. Borders 12. East Anglia 15. North East Scotland 18. North West Scotland
Data supplied by Degree Days Direct. Tel: 01531 822121. Email: vilnis.vesma@degreedaysdirect.com

Facilities Management Update Issue 129

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Facilities Management Update Issue 129