In a changing climate, facilities managers are feeling the heat  

News

With sustained high temperatures forecast across the UK this week, the conditions serve as a clear reminder that extreme heat is no longer an occasional disruption, but a recurring operational factor for workplaces. 

For workplace and facilities management professionals, while there’s an obvious need for reactive health and safety measures in the moment, we all have a longer-term view on maintaining continuity, safety and performance as hotter conditions become part of the baseline. Established approaches to ventilation, building performance and workforce management are already being tested more frequently – across both indoor environments and outdoor operations. 

In offices and managed spaces, periods of prolonged heat continue to highlight the importance of building resilience – from passive design and shading through to the effective use of mechanical systems and flexible occupancy patterns. For teams working outdoors or across estates, the frequency of high-temperature days is placing greater emphasis on planning, scheduling, transport bottlenecks and welfare provision as standard practice rather than exception. 

The key shift is strategic. Heat events are no longer isolated incidents but part of a wider pattern of climate variability that requires a more structured, long-term response. Policies, risk assessments and operational planning need to reflect this evolving reality, ensuring they remain proportionate and workable as conditions change. 

This is where sector-led guidance becomes increasingly relevant. IWFM’s Climate Adaptation Guidance can support you in strengthening resilience across the built environment and the services that underpin it. The guidance, produced in partnership with Equans UK & Ireland, is designed to help organisations move from short-term mitigation to more considered adaptation. 

Further detail is available here. 

As high temperatures become more familiar, the challenge is not simply to respond, but to adapt – embedding resilience into everyday practice and ensuring workplaces remain effective, safe and sustainable over time.