How sustainability and technology go hand in hand in the facilities management world – including Melbourne, Australia

Facilities management is moving with the times and embracing technology and sustainability. More and more, building owners and facility management providers all around Australia are taking advantage of the Internet of Things to create sustainable buildings and facilities. At Fresh Start Australia, we understand that in order to create the best environment for tenants, building owners must be constantly learning to keep up with these advancements.

Why is sustainability so important?

One of the largest challenges that facilities management organisations around Melbourne Brisbane and Sydney are facing is the increasing worry about the environment and creating sustainable living environments. Not only are there simple technological measures that can be put in place to help your building become more ‘green’, but these measures help to save money and also keep tenants satisfied.  

For example, sensor lights are a simple addition to buildings of any age. These lights have obvious benefits— however saving power also saves money, and buildings that have implemented sustainable practices helps facilities management service providers set their buildings apart from those who haven’t embraced the needs of today.  

Of course, for older buildings, updating systems or replacing and implementing sustainable practices may be seen as a challenge or a costly endeavour. However, this can be made simpler and affordable with the use of new technologies and the Internet of Things that facilities management providers all around Australia are implementing.  

What is the benefit of the Internet of Things?

This concept allows for a hands-free approach when it comes to exchanging information between a building and its connected devices. We see this in our everyday lives in the forms of things like smartwatches, but the IoT can also be used to benefit facilities management, to drive down costs and to help your building implement its sustainability practices.

Using the IoT, buildings around Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and other regions of Australia can be easily retrofitted at minimal cost to enable them to run more sustainably and efficiently. IoT sensors can be used to monitor the energy consumption and efficiency of assets and to supply real-time data on their performance. More than this, assets draining more energy than normal can be reviewed and serviced to bring back to optimal performance, in turn creating a more sustainable building and reducing energy costs.

Facilities managers can take advantage of wireless sensors that monitor the performance and status of a building and it’s assets, helping to eliminate major damages and identify issues in real time. Instead of waiting for a leak or faulty wire to become critical and possibly affect tenants or workers or become a larger issue that becomes a harder and more costly to rectify, the IoT identifies problems fast.

Aside from identifying issues, there is also the benefit of delivering fast information to our clients through online portals. The online portals allow our clients’ to see in real time the performance of their building and its assets.

Many businesses want to embrace being green and tech-friendly but look at the transition to this as something that is expensive and too difficult. Fresh Start Australia can help deliver this to your business in a way that will improve your business and assets without costing you more than your current facility management programme. ‘

For more on how Fresh Start uses innovation, read here.