New IWFM guidance helps workplace and facilities managers strengthen climate resilience
News
- Sustainability
19 March 2026
IWFM has published a new guidance note, Climate Adaptation for WFM, produced in partnership with Equans UK & Ireland. The resource provides workplace and facilities management professionals with practical insight into understanding, planning for and responding to the growing impacts of climate change on buildings, operations and people. The guidance will be available from Thursday 19 March.
Climate change is already reshaping the way organisations operate. Rising temperatures, more frequent heavy rainfall and an increase in extreme weather events are putting unprecedented pressures on buildings, infrastructure and the people who rely on them. Yet despite the scale of the challenge, many organisations have not begun assessing their exposure to climate risks. IWFM’s Sustainability Survey 2025 found that over half of respondents had not started evaluating climate-related risks or planning mitigation.
This new guidance note has been developed to help workplace and facilities managers bridge that gap. It provides clear direction on identifying and assessing climate risks, understanding their operational implications and making informed decisions that reduce disruption, protect asset value and safeguard occupant wellbeing.
A clear framework for a complex challenge
Climate adaptation refers to adjustments made to minimise the harm caused by existing or expected climate change. For WFMs, this includes everything from managing overheating to preparing for flooding and ensuring business continuity during extreme weather events. The guidance explains the difference between acute risks, such as flash flooding or storms, and chronic risks, including gradual temperature increases, subsidence or long-term water ingress.
It also outlines transition risks arising from policy, market shifts or reputational pressures, reminding organisations that climate resilience is not only a physical challenge but a strategic one, too.
Understanding impacts on buildings and people
The guidance highlights the growing effects of climate change on the built environment and building users. Heat stress, for example, is already affecting health, wellbeing and productivity in workplaces. Increased rainfall is also putting pressure on drainage systems and exposing ageing infrastructure to heightened risk. The guidance gives examples of recent climate-related incidents and explores how physical risks can lead to service disruption, insurance cost escalation and, in severe cases, asset devaluation.
Importantly, it notes that impacts will not be evenly distributed; location, building type, sector, demographics and socioeconomic factors all shape vulnerability. This deeper understanding helps WFMs plan more targeted and proportionate responses.
The essential role of workplace and facilities managers
FM teams are uniquely positioned to lead on climate adaptation because of their detailed knowledge of buildings, assets and operational dependencies. The guidance sets out how this expertise can shape forward planning by informing maintenance schedules, reducing reactive repair needs and strengthening organisational resilience.
Key principles covered include:
- Comprehensive risk assessment and vulnerability mapping
- Data driven decision making, using climate projections tools and site-specific asset information
- Robust governance and lifecycle planning, ensuring adaptation and decarbonisation strategies align
- Avoiding maladaptation, ensuring short-term fixes do not create long-term problems.
By adopting these principles, facilities managers can ensure that adaptation measures are cost-effective, strategically aligned and operationally sustainable.
Practical actions and next steps
The guidance provides a detailed set of physical, behavioural and procedural actions that organisations can take now, including continuous monitoring of vulnerable assets, early warning systems for flooding, improving ventilation and cooling systems and maintaining green roofs or permeable landscaping.
It also explores how to build climate resilience into procurement and supply chains and how to engage stakeholders effectively to create consistent and coordinated action.
A call for decisive action
The financial and operational risks associated with climate inaction continue to rise. Buildings that are unable to cope with climate pressures face the prospect of rising insurance premiums, higher running costs, more frequent maintenance and, in severe cases, becoming uninsurable.
The guidance reinforces that acting now is a long-term investment. Strengthening climate resilience supports occupant safety, protects business continuity and ensures that buildings can continue to perform reliably in a rapidly changing climate.
Climate Adaptation for WFM provides the knowledge and tools you need to take proactive, strategic steps towards resilience. IWFM, together with Equans UK & Ireland, encourages all professionals responsible for workplaces and estates to explore the guidance and begin embedding adaptation across their operations.