IFMA Releases White Paper on Emerging Topics in Facility Management

The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) has announced the release of a new white paper, according to a news release. “Evolution is Never Finished: Insights From IFMA’s Emerging Topics Working Group on How Six Key Topics are Transforming the FM Industry” discusses the implications of six high-impact issues, drivers, and trends in the facility management industry.

The paper is available in IFMA’s Knowledge Library and covers six key topics: PropTech, AI and Generative AI, Contending with Climate Change, Circular Economy, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Reporting, and Workplace Wellness and Well-Being. The chosen topics are the result of extensive data analysis and expert opinions and are considered to be topics that could significantly affect the industry moving forward.

“The convergence of external influences such as climate change, the rapid diffusion and uptake of digital technologies, and post-pandemic societal shifts is expanding FM knowledge, skill and experience requirements. These factors have accelerated the industry’s evolution from traditional back-of-house operations and maintenance to a new data-driven, people-centric, climate- and resource-aware era of FM,” said Dean Stanberry, CFM, SFP, IFMA Board Chair and Chair of the Emerging Topics Working Group. “IFMA plays a crucial role in helping FMs navigate uncharted territory, delivering information and education to the FM community.”

The IFMA Emerging Topics Working Group debuted last year to help identify and explore the ramifications of high-impact emerging topics in the industry. The group includes 23 industry experts and seven members of IFMA’s professional staff. The process of analyzing and reporting on emerging topics will become institutionalized within the association, and the “Evolution is Never Finished” paper is slated as the first in a series of resources to be shared with the global facility management community.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Full Sail University Announces First Student Housing Facility

    Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla., recently announced that development has begun on its first student housing community, according to a news release. The university is partnering with Nvision Development for construction and long-term management of the facility, which will stand five stories and have the capacity for more than 570 beds.

  • Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

    Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500.

  • California School District Completes Elementary School Modernization

    The San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting for a whole-site modernization of Pacific Beach Elementary School, according to local news. The school first opened with one building in 1930 and added six more between 1938 and 1957.

  • Wold Architects & Engineers Acquires VPS Architecture

    Full-service planning, architecture, and engineering firm Wold Architects & Engineers recently announced that it has acquired VPS Architecture, according to a news release. The move will help strengthen Wold’s education and public-sector design expertise, industries in which both companies have strong pre-existing ties and relationships.