IWFM Sustainability Survey 2022 Report: net zero off target, circular economy confusion, and wellbeing in good health

News

Just 53% of end user organisations have net zero targets and around a third (34%) of workplace and facilities professionals understand the circular office, but almost all (90%) have a grasp of workplace wellbeing, findings in the new IWFM Sustainability Survey 2022 Summary Report reveal.

Now in its fifteenth edition, the research saw a strong representation of workplace and facilities management professionals from across the industry share their experiences via mini surveys on three key areas of sustainability: carbon and net zero, the circular economy, and wellbeing. A group of industry experts discussed areas of particular interest in a workshop format designed to derive deeper insight from the initial findings, published as a set of infographics, which are also available to download: Carbon and net zero in partnership with Inenco; Circular economy; Wellbeing.

The report shows that wellbeing remains high on the agenda of organisations with 90% of service provider respondents reporting an increase in clients’ wellbeing activities in the last 12 months. Less promising for people’s overall health, however, was that high upfront costs of installing technologies are the biggest barrier to setting net zero targets and reducing carbon emissions.

IWFM CEO Linda Hausmanis has called for the profession to take a collaborative approach to overcoming the evident challenges:

‘What these findings underline is that for real progress in improving sustainability outcomes, organisations’ intent must be matched by action, with a prioritisation on education and awareness at all levels, as part of holistic strategies.’

‘IWFM is taking action to ensure that facilities professionals can play their unique and pivotal role in delivering sustainability outcomes and impacts. This includes: updating the Sustainability functional component in the IWFM Professional Standards Framework; collaborating with Inenco to develop a toolkit to bridge the gap in the area of holistic sustainability strategies; and supporting research on Scope 3 which will demonstrate the impact of operations on a building’s emissions.

‘We know that workplace and facilities professionals play a unique and pivotal role in delivering sustainability outcomes and impacts, bringing together the needs of landlords, end users and the supply chain. Let’s continue collaborating in building skills, knowledge and tools so that together, we can see promises turned to action, and good outcomes for all.’

 

Find out more on our webinar, Thursday 30 March

Sign up to our webinar where we will discuss the findings in more detail.