Environmental and Facilities Management

Environmental and Facilities Management

 

All organisations and businesses face a continual risk in this increased environmentally challenging world. Environmental and facilities managers are faced with providing additional value for the organisation in which they operate; the creation, use, maintenance and deconstruction of facilities and their interaction with the built environment are key concepts for consideration of the environmental facilities manager.

 

Environmental facilities management is a discipline which looks into all these facts in a detailed way and includes property management under its purview. The concept has become broadened with the function of environmental facilities management also undertaking the measurement and performance of property, dealing with property disputes and property disposal.

 

This assignment aims to encourage the learners to provide relevant information regarding the concept of facilities management, its role in property and real estate corporations, its strategic functioning and the key issues which are taken care by it. Amongst the key issues, several concepts like safety and security, cost cutting, and maintenance is of prime importance in property handling.

 

Scenario,

A rubber packaging factory was almost destroyed after a fire erupted on an industrial estate.

Firecrews battled for almost 36 hours to extinguish the blaze, which broke out in the early hours of Saturday on the Chorley North Industrial Estate.

Thick black plumes of smoke could be seen over the M61 as flames engulfed Bailcast.

At its height seven pumps tackled the blaze at the firm, which packages rubber vehicle components in Drumhead Road.

Fire crews from Chorley, Leyland, Bamber Bridge, Penwortham, Blackburn, and an aerial ladder platform from Preston and the incident support unit from Chorley remained at the scene until the next day

Their job was made more difficult following the collapse of part of the warehouse building.

Police and the Environment Protection Unit and United Utilities were also on hand to ensure public safety and to monitor the surface run of water from the fire.

Lancashire Fire’s assistant divisional commander John Lund said: “It was a significant fire, 50% of the building was lost. The roof had fallen in and that building will have to be levelled and rebuilt.

“The initial crews worked extremely hard and made good decisions. Two surrounding buildings were saved.”

The single-storey unit consisted of two parts with a three-metre walk way in between.

Firefighters remained on site throughout the day as small blazes flared up as a result of the remaining pockets of heat located deep within the building.

Mr Lund said: “The fire investigation is still ongoing. Suspicious circumstances would appear to have been ruled out at this point. There was no signs of forced entry to the premises.

“It’s looking as though the possibility is it’s an electrical defect of some description.

“We will have to revisit the site. Due to the building collapsing we have not been able to get in and do a thorough investigation.”

Mr Lund praised firecrews whose prompt actions, which included putting up a water curtain, enabled them to save 50% of the building.

 

 

Task 1

Bailcast Ltd, a medium sized local company providing employment for up to 40 employees packaging rubber products for the car spares industry suffered major losses after the above disaster; although the company was well insured, financial, moral and environmental implications that were not covered by insurance became evident following the fire. Discuss and critically evaluate the responsibility of an organisation and the role the environmental facilities manager in respect of disaster mitigation and management.

 

Task 2

Following the above fire temporary accommodation was required for the storage and distribution of the rubber products core to the company’s business. Discuss the responsibility of an environmental facilities manager in this process

 

Task 3

Bailcast will require new premises for this sector of their business, describe the options available to the company taking into consideration the environmental implications of this venture.     

 

 

Where appropriate within the tasks, analysis and evaluation of alternative processes available to the environmental and facilities manager to provide effective management of an organisation’s estate should be considered.

 

Consideration of the issues below should be included within the assignment:

 

   – Appropriate legislation and standards;

   – Carbon reduction targets;

   – Energy assessment methodologies;

   – Technologies available for construction and refurbishment of building, including the fabric and services;

   – Alternative energy management systems;

   – Condition surveys and maintenance regimes;

   – Sources of funding.

 

 

 

   References to current innovitive issues are encouraged.

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