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CEE webinar-Green Deal review
Monday, March 1st, 2021
CEE webinar focused on “Green Deal“review
by David Reynolds, Immediate Past President, FMCC On February 22, I was one of 50 people who attended Green Deal activity in FM in EU Countries, hosted by Regional Director Ondrej Strup of the Facility Management Consulting Council of IFMA, FMCC and Jos Duchamps, President of the IFMA EU Advisory Board. Mr. Duchamps also brought the scope and point of view of the EMEA regions with respect to facilities and their management. IFMA EMEA Director Lara Paemen spoke about the evolving role of IFMA in Central and Eastern Europe. I followed up briefly with a focus on FMCC and its membership and constituencies. IFMA EMEA lobbyist Frederic Aertsens stressed that the presence of IFMA and its global scope and resources goes directly to up-skill FMs. World Workplace Europe on March 17-18 will demonstrate this emphasis in the region.
The entire program is available as a recording and individual presentations here.
HighlightsWhat follows are items that caught my attention particularly. This is not to say that they are key points, or that the entire session was not well edited, presented, rich in content, and unified in principles and progress. My morning went by quickly. Whatever I might not mention here does not detract from its strength, validity, and interest. I encourage you to page through the presentation PDFs and locate the corresponding passages in the .mp4 recording where the speaker expanded on the subject.Stijn Ceulen and Dirk Van Baval of Luminus in Belgium showed that, for existing buildings and systems, simply deploying inexpensive sensors to measure basic properties then analyzing the data can yield large results quickly. I thought at once of the number and variety of wireless instruments that can connect to a gateway, for example, and the practicality of the rule of thumb that a modicum of effort brings most of the results obtainable (sometimes called the “80/20 rule.”)Susanne Balslev Nielsen of Denmark emphasized life cycle assessment in choosing for sustainability, starting with the need and continuing with valid and substantial data. Missed opportunities, internal organizational barriers, green washing – are all distinct and prevalent hazards to results.Rinus Vader of The Netherlands pointed out that sustainability is represented by a great lot of rules and goals. This means that the FM can view the EGD (European Green Deal) as a wealth of resources, but end users may see confusing and oppressive provisions difficult to put to use. In this light, Mr. Vader and other speakers reflected that, for consultants especially, communication and social skills were a key resource in working in the region. Jaroslav Pasmik of Czech Republic reflected, in looking at the similar trajectories of his country and Sweden (where Sweden had progressed much further), that Czechs might think like Swedes or as Russians at any given time with regard to EGD and sustainability. Social skills, ways of thinking, and communication will continue to figure decisively.Dr. Duygu Erten of Turkey also reflected the observation made by Mr Vader. The extensive provisions of the EU toward sustainability are brought forward as strong economic considerations for Turkey, a large exporter. Funding from the EU under the Green Deal plan is available to help transform Turkey’s infrastructure, affecting areas like energy, environment, and transportation. Turkey has in place and underway a large and progressive set of policies and provisions that combine environmental technology, social, and financial aspects.Impressions – Friday February 26I am writing at the end of a work week that began with the conference on Monday morning. Now, on Friday afternoon, looking at my notes and the presentation slides, I am impressed with how far the region has progressed in what is a very complex space of science, policy, and process. I close by suggesting that FM consultants, clients, and providers peruse through the presentations. Every stakeholder in the built environment now has an outsized effect on the future. FMs are on stage for this performance.
The CEE webinar focused on “Green Deal“ was organized by the FM Consultants Council of IFMA Association (FMCC) collaborating with Jos Duchamps (President of IFMA EU AB) and IFMA EU.
The FREE webinar event took place on Monday, 22 February for 3 hours provided in the MS Teams virtual environment.
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