IFMA launches sustainability certificate for FM

Ali Al Suwaidi, board member of MEFMA which has links to IFMA.

RELATED ARTICLES: IFMA's new board of directors announced | UK IFMA Chapter Closure | Does IFMA have a place in the UAE?

The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) has launched a new certificate, the Sustainability Facility Professional (SFP).

SFP will help facility managers to play a role in creating, managing and operating sustainable facilities by giving them the skills they need to help their organisations’ economic, environmental and social bottom lines.

The programme offers training and assessment in three areas: Strategy and Alignment for Sustainable Facility Management, Managing Sustainable Facilities and Operating Sustainable Facilities.

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

It will teach students how to improve the sustainability of their facilities in the eight categories: energy, water, materials and resources, workplace management, indoor environmental quality, quality of services, waste, and site impact.

"FMA is pleased to announce this assessment-based certificate program, which fills a critical void by providing facility managers with the tools they need to align sustainable FM practices with their organisations’ business models to impact the triple bottom line,” said Francis Kuhn, chairman IFMA.

“This goes beyond certifying sustainable facilities; it presents a shift in enterprise wide business practices for everyone within an organization, with facility professionals taking the lead."

The SFP programme allows practitioners to: integrate sustainability efforts with their organisations’ strategies, present a business case for sustainability initiatives, evaluate their efforts from a financial perspective, and track and report their progress.

Training consists of self-study or instructor-led classroom format. The self-study program will be available in mid-March and the instructor-led courses will start in the summer 2011.

The SFP is open to all professionals, and those pursuing the certificate do not need to have the association’s Facility Management Professional or Certified Facility Manager designation beforehand.