A new online training course aims to help facilities managers adapt to the demands of ESG and sustainability transformation.
New expert-backed training includes environmental guidance on hard services (buildings and their maintenance) as well as soft services (waste management, catering, cleaning services and more).
According to a study published by Climate Watch, commercial buildings emit more than six per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions, which is more than double the figure for aviation and shipping combined. In response to this, facility managers are beginning to implement actions to mitigate their footprint, but many are still unfamiliar with concepts such as adaptation, or on-site biodiversity for example.
The new training course has been launched by The Climate School, the e-learning arm of AXA Climate. Written in collaboration with a range of facilities professionals and experts, the I work in facility management course places the challenges and opportunities of the climate crisis in perspective, in the form of seven video chapters, aiming to empower professions with the tools they need to make a difference in sustainable transition.
Topics covered on the course include hard services: Everything related to buildings and their maintenance, including energy performance management, water consumption, lighting, and air conditioning, and soft services: Including collective catering, cleaning services, waste management, green spaces, and more.
The Facilities experts and change-makers whose experience and insights were drawn on to create the training include Noémie Feldbauer, head of energy transition at transport and logistics solutions leader Groupe Heppner; Christian Whitaker, head of sustainable operations at global real estate specialist Jones Lang LaSalle, and Sandrine Lefebvre, groupe kingfisher / Brico Dépôt à Brive.
The course is a key pillar of the Act part of The Climate School’s catalogue, where specific practitioners across a range of industries access guidance on actions they can take in their day jobs to respect planetary boundaries.
“An important part of the burden of steering today’s organisation to the sustainable one of tomorrow falls on the facilities specialist,” said Celli Lloyd, UK country launcher, AXA Climate. “The problem is that without the basics in place, this can seem like an overwhelming set of challenges. The good news is that practical, helpful, and actionable guidance that facilities teams can learn from now exists. The facilities management course is the perfect place to start your sustainable journey and help put the profession at the tip of the Net Zero organizational spear, where it belongs.”
