Facilities management in 2024 

Where to focus your facilities management strategies in 2024 

Facilities and asset management are going nowhere. They will be an integral part of operations for any organization that owns real estate in the future.  

Sustainability, energy consumption, cost-effective decision-making, and automation are becoming mainstays on the radars of business leaders.  

So, where do emerging trends lead the facilities management industry and real property? In the direction of more innovative technology, more efficient buildings, and workplaces that benefit from the following spaces. 

More information on IWMS and enterprise solutions: 

Automation and Smart technology 

Our timelines and news feeds for the last 12 months are filled with AI-centric storylines. This will continue as automation and intelligent technologies drive efficiency upgrades across industries. 

Smart building management and automation in real property are just getting started. Real-time sensor monitoring offers control over systems in the building that are reactive to occupancy. At the same time, automating processes in maintenance and energy consumption makes preventative action a breeze.  

Have you ever gotten a software update notification on your laptop or phone? AI and machine learning models that monitor facilities’ health and highlight inefficiencies bring those to facilities management. Knowing when work orders are needed in your building means more time can be spent on work that makes an impact and lowers expenses for your organization. 

Preventative maintenance strategies keep your systems running at optimal capacity while decreasing repair bills. Additionally, monitoring outputs can kickstart innovation and upgrades that elevate your workplace environment and overall energy efficiency. 

AI and automation are poised to impact our lives and operations significantly, and embracing this technology lays the groundwork for better buildings. Combined with tools like BIM (Building Information Modelling), giving your team digital insights into your entire building and assets streamlines building management decision-making. 

Cost-cutting efficiency upgrades 

  • ‘The Government of Saskatchewan, a Horizant client, has used energy bills to guide their sustainability practices. Their goal is to bring their operations within their target to achieve a 30% environmental impact reduction by 2030. This commitment works alongside best practices and has helped their over 50 BOMA Best facilities and 10 LEED certifications with platform and data support.’ 
– Horizant Client, Government of Saskatchewan

Sustainability, green buildings, energy efficient facilities, downsizing portfolios. All are more than buzzwords. The future of real property operations is efficiency and data-driven decision-making.  

With the ability to deliver real-time, actionable insights facilitating impactful KPI reporting, data from IWMS platforms and other digital tools fuel informed capital decisions. As more organizations put sustainability goals at the top of their priority lists, the demand for data to benchmark them grows.  

Track how your facilities and energy utilization change with occupancy and flexible work for quantifiable evidence that you’re on the right path. In 2024 and beyond, organizations will drive these decisions further, and technology must evolve to support them.  

Over time, asset management and workplace service delivery data give your team context to make investment decisions and see how space and physical assets perform. Seeing where certain assets sit regarding maintenance or repair history shows you where dollars and human capital are best spent. 

Many organizations are looking at space and their real property portfolio primarily when it comes to asset performance and efficiency. With hybrid work and flexible work solidified as the future, many are plotting the course ahead and making investment decisions.  

Having data on hand to make sense of workplace and office utilization trends will help transform your office space. Workplace design is a crucial focus for many going forward. Knowing if downsizing space or further investment in an existing space is the right approach starts with data to highlight areas of opportunity. 

Building the new-look office  

Leasing decisions and data that reflect changes in physical space use are carving the path for our workplaces. Visitor management tools and space planning software can streamline the road ahead.  

Organizations are trying to bring their space in line with what their utilization reflects, and the decisions that follow this data will impact how their workplaces function going forward. Leveraging technologies and IWMS that can capture said data in an actionable and accurate way. 

“The survey found that 40% of companies currently utilize half of their available space or less, with only 28% of businesses using 100% of their offices. While this is more than last year, organizations are split on whether offices will ever go back to pre-pandemic levels of activity — 42% of respondents say yes and 58% say “that volume of office attendance is long gone.”

– Facilitiesdive 

Workplaces are different, but the fluctuations we’re seeing in space utilization call for more informed decision-making in facilities management. Businesses must take data on space, occupancy, and assets and turn it into a concrete plan for the workplace. While an inevitable step, this can optimize operations and support employees with space that suits their needs and organizations’ demands over the past several months.  

In the future, alignment of business goals with facilities and workplace management is integral to the success of hybrid offices and the modern workplace. As tenant behaviours and space utilization rates change, so do lease activities. With more businesses gravitating toward flexible workspaces and hybrid work, short-term leases, as are office spaces that fit employee behaviour, are more attractive.  

As employee occupancy and space utilization change, so will asset and facilities management practices. Integrating smart technology and automation into building operations will elevate this transformation and keep expenses in line.  

Adjusting operations to match changing workplace behaviours and be more sustainable will bring efficiency upgrades to your organization.  

Tracking this data will become a foundational practice in 2024 and beyond as businesses want to get more from their leases and assets investments; with increased efficiency from IWMS technology like Archibus and trusted integrators like Horizant, the facilities management industry is poised for significant growth.  

Supporting the future of real property and facilities management starts with the right technology that fits your business goals. With decades of experience on our team and former Archibus employees, Horizant is proud to service more than 30 Government of Canada departments and prestigious North American Universities and corporations.  

Contact us to get your workplace and asset management up to speed with up-to-date Archibus integration and customized solutions that fit your organizational goals.