This informal CPD article, ‘Why facilities managers need to understand and evidence ESG’, was provided by Glass Aftercare, one of the leading commercial glazing specialists in the UK, with 150 years’ combined glass and glazing industry experience covering everything from maintenance to consultancy.
Why facilities managers need to understand and evidence ESG
Environmental, Social and Governance – ESG – focusses on how companies monitor and report on their performance across a wide range of areas. It is a framework for measuring a company’s ethical impact and sustainability.
ESG’s goal is to capture the opportunities and non-financial risks that are fundamental to a company’s daily operations and activities. It helps an organisation to make sure it is generating value for all its stakeholders and meeting the requirements for a sustainable company – from the way it is managed at a senior level to the way it operates on a daily basis. Understanding ESG, and actioning it, helps a business achieve positive results for efficiency, performance and growth, and is particularly important for facilities managers.
What are the three pillars of ESG?
The ESG framework is incredibly broad. That’s intentional, as it allows inclusion of a diversity of issues, from how personal information is processed to a company’s adherence to human rights laws. To help make this more manageable, ESG focusses on the commitments companies are making in three key areas:
Environmental: Evaluating how an organisation is committing to modern environmental practices. This includes things such as how it manages waste, how it uses natural resources and, of course, its carbon footprint.
Social: Looking at how an organisation treats its people, from clients and staff to every person in the supply chain. As well as considering overall conduct, this pillar measures diversity and inclusion, discrimination and anti-harassment, and asks whether working conditions are fair.
Governance: The third pillar addresses an organisation from the top, looking at its behaviours, values and culture. This includes structure, how issues are managed, finances and anti-corruption policies.
The importance of ESG for building and facilities managers
If you own, manage or develop buildings and facilities, ESG is particularly important. This is because, as a whole, ESG sets the standard for how to maintain a facility sustainably. Facilities managers know that meeting a building’s needs today while making sure it performs successfully in the future is a vital way to increase energy efficiency and reduce running costs. By making sure facilities are eco-friendly, and comply with regulations and local laws, managers can adhere to the standards set by ESG – as well as the high standards they set themselves.
Key considerations for compliant-conscious companies
Companies worldwide are increasingly aware of the importance and potential of ESG, and investing in it accordingly. Carefully considering your building’s sustainability takes all three primary ESG pillars into key consideration, and its vital to get this right. External consultants, who are experts in building maintenance, help clients to see the value of their property assets. So not only can they meet the ESG requirements, they can grow their business successfully and sustainably.
We hope this article was helpful. For more information from Glass Aftercare, please visit their CPD Member Directory page. Alternatively, you can go to the CPD Industry Hubs for more articles, courses and events relevant to your Continuing Professional Development requirements.
