Investing In Sustainable Infrastructure

By Katie Gramajo
From the December 2024 Issue

Climate change and natural disasters are reshaping our environment and challenging the nation’s infrastructure. As of November 2023, the U.S. has incurred over $1 billion in losses¹ from various natural disaster events, including damage to commercial infrastructure. As a result, organizations are facing a deluge of disruptions that ultimately lead to lost revenue and growing operational expenses. 

As infrastructure continues to be disrupted by the effects of climate change, it can also be a part of a longer-term solution. Specifically, building operations have a direct effect on the environment, underscoring the need to prioritize environmentally friendly operations. To effectively withstand climate-related challenges, facilities must adopt a proactive approach that prioritizes future-proofing and sustainability initiatives.

Public Perception: Infrastructure Versus Sustainability

Sustainability in facilities management goes beyond just “going green”; it’s an opportunity to enhance existing facilities and infrastructure. As sustainability initiatives are increasingly prioritized by organizations, public sentiment is more interested in the integrity of their existing infrastructure than in implementing new initiatives. A recent report² found that 53% of Americans believe local governments should prioritize infrastructure improvements over sustainability initiatives.  This is not a surprise, especially given the pressing issues posed by aging infrastructure, which can disrupt immediate business operations.

Organizations should avoid the trap of viewing sustainability and infrastructure improvement as an either-or mindset. Proactive facility management involves finding ways for both solutions to work together. Relying on quick fixes may provide immediate relief, but such solutions often lead to temporary outcomes that fail to address underlying issues. Instead, facilities professionals must focus on sustainable, long-lasting results that are attainable with some pragmatic and strategic thinking.

Sustainability = Efficiency

When developing an asset management strategy that prioritizes sustainability, it’s essential to first pinpoint areas of inefficiency. This allows facility managers to tackle the underlying issues such as outdated systems or inaccurate data, ultimately leading to cost savings. Leveraging technology to gather real-time data on all aspects of facility performance and consumption—from HVACs to energy usage—enables maintenance and operations leaders to gain insight into the state of their assets, providing evidence to inform decisions about asset health. A thorough understanding of the current state of infrastructure is crucial; organizations should conduct comprehensive inventories of their asset portfolios, evaluate the condition and lifecycle of each asset, and document maintenance activities.

Capital Planning Is Critical

Ensuring that businesses and communities operate sustainably at their maximum potential goes beyond short-term efficiency gains. Facility managers must streamline operations and incorporate capital plans to enhance productivity and profitability through long-term investments in equipment, facilities, and technologies. By considering asset health, prioritization, costs, and timing, managers can make decisions that benefit both the organization and the environment.

Capital planning enables proactive budgeting and long-term forecasting, supporting institutions in anticipating and planning for construction projects, infrastructure improvements, or asset replacements. Having the right technology and methodology in place brings data and insights together to inform budgeting discussions and decisions, directing the right funds toward important projects at the right time.

Making The Case For Sustainable Planning

Despite the common public perception that sustainability and short-term upgrades are opposing forces, forward- thinking infrastructure planning is both effective in the short term and inherently sustainable. All new projects, capital plans, and construction initiatives should align with established sustainability standards from the onset, incorporating best practices early for long-term results. This approach enables organizations to have a clear and actionable plan for initiating and achieving their goals.
Effectively communicating the correlation between sustainability and short-term upgrades involves integrating insights from often siloed data sets to create a cohesive narrative. Facility managers should collaborate across teams responsible for energy management, maintenance, and capital planning to build a unified sustainability strategy. These areas inform one another and serve as foundational pillars for sustainable operations that balance both short and long-term upgrades.

Pragmatic Sustainability On Campus

Wake Forest University, founded in 1834 and established on its current campus in 1956, has a long history of operational excellence. As with any complex collection of infrastructure, it requires ongoing upgrades, prompting facility leaders to seek an integrated solution for comprehensive tracking and reporting of asset and facility work. This approach combines computerized maintenance management, asset investment planning, and energy management capabilities to streamline operations and enhance data efficiency. By implementing systems that allow facility leaders to effectively monitor asset usage and costs, as well as track energy consumption, Wake Forest continues to fulfill its commitment to students and uphold its sustainability goals, while preserving the integrity of the facility.

As the above example shows, improving sustainability and integrating it into everyday facilities management practices is achievable, making now the time for sustainable upgrades to any organization, no matter the vertical.

While we can’t predict when the next natural disaster will strike, proactive steps can mitigate climate change’s impact on our infrastructure. Facility managers should engage with teams across sectors to cultivate a comprehensive understanding of their infrastructure’s condition. By balancing timely updates and making the link between short-term improvements and longer-term sustainable solutions such as tracking energy consumption, facilities professionals can enhance management practices and contribute to broader sustainability goals. Furthermore, all future facility upgrades and capital planning efforts should explicitly incorporate sustainability standards policy, ensuring that each decision not only addresses immediate needs but also supports long-term resilience and environmental stewardship.

References

¹ www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/
² www.brightlysoftware.com/blog/american-infrastructure-and-capital-planning-study-education-consumers-unwilling-fund-aging

Gramajo is an APPA Certified Educational Facilities Professional, currently serving as the Senior Industry Marketing Manager in Education at Brightly Software by Siemens. Prior to her current position, Katie spent almost seven years at The Windward School with multiple campuses in White Plains and Manhattan, New York, where she served as the Director of Operations. During her tenure, she played a pivotal role in advancing the goals of the facilities master plan, contributing to the growth and improvement of the school through major renovations and construction projects.

Do you have a comment? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below, or send an e-mail to the Editor at jen@groupc.com.

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