Taking Stock of Your Building: Essentials for Facilities Asset Management

Facilities management is a broad term, and if you oversee an office building or other facility, you know that in many ways, the role requires you to be a Jack-of-All-Trades to run things efficiently.

As a facility manager, several specific focuses add up to make a well-run facility. However, the most important of all of these focuses is asset management; examining and caring for the essential components of your property to ensure it works the way it should and serves the people who work there, while also staying on budget. 

One of the biggest current trends in facilities management is implementing sustainable practices. Asset management is a critical component of this, as it refers to maintaining the assets in your building; protecting them to extend their lifespan and limit wasteful consumption.

A well-thought-out asset management strategy has the power to optimize the way your building operates, keep costs low, and support your organization’s goals. Here’s what you need to know about facilities asset management.

What is Asset Management?

You may have heard facilities asset management also referred to as lifecycle planning. The goal is to create a working framework for the entire lifespan of your building’s high-value assets; acquiring, operating, maintaining, renewing, and retiring assets—then acquiring new assets to start the cycle again when the time is right. 

Managing the physical assets of your facility includes features such as:

• HVAC systems
• Lighting systems
• Appliances in the breakroom

This can also include assets like your floors, which have their own lifecycle and need care and maintenance, and from time to time, may also need to be replaced. These require careful maintenance from a commercial cleaning company to keep them in great condition for many years.

Generally speaking, asset management contributes to a more informed management of your facilities, operations, and finances as a whole. It helps you run your building better. Most facility assets fit three criteria. They are:

1. High-value
2. Depreciating
3. Essential

These assets require proactive, not reactive management. Planning for the entire lifecycle of these assets allows you to anticipate costs, plan proactive maintenance, and minimize the cost to own and use these assets. 

For example? Asset management will help you decide if an older air conditioning roof stack that needs repair is worth repairing, or if it’s time to replace it. You can weigh the total cost of ownership while also factoring in things like the life expectancy of the unit, its efficiency, and more.

COVID-19, Safety, and Asset Management

Shortly after the onset while many folks were working at home, facilities managers were hard at work in the building, prioritizing resources. They needed to decide which systems were critical to safety and required ongoing maintenance. 

Additionally, as scientists began to understand more about how the disease spreads, facilities managers needed guidance about how to help keep the people in their buildings safe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offered recommendations to mitigate the spread of the disease and help avoid facility-related issues. Facilities managers began reviewing this information to evaluate their needs from a safety standpoint.

One important element in the CDC’s recommendations regarded air and ventilation. Facilities managers had to look at the amount of air circulating in their buildings, whether this air was being filtered and how their building’s ventilation systems provided enough circulation and fresh air to keep occupants safe—down to the number of air changes per hour. Some facilities managers opted to replace their entire ventilation and HVAC system, which comes at a significant cost.

Depending on the age and condition of the building, there are several approaches for facilities to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Not every solution is right for every building based on its existing assets. Some air systems had already outlived their useful life and needed replacing, making this an ideal time to switch to a system that offers better ventilation. But this requires construction, downtime, and clean-up. Other newer systems may call for modifications, but based on asset management assessments, it doesn’t make sense to replace them entirely. What is a facilities manager to do?

How a Commercial Cleaning Company Can Help

All Building Cleaning Corp has been working with facilities managers for years, supporting their asset management strategies along the way. Whether it’s related to expert floor care, carpet cleaning, and routine maintenance as part of their commercial building cleaning to extend the life of the floors or ongoing janitorial services that are efficient and affordable, and protect a building’s physical assets, we understand asset management. 

Now, in this post-COVID-19 era, we also understand that our role in asset management is more than just commercial office cleaning. If your current asset management strategy does not involve new HVAC or ventilation systems, perhaps it makes more sense to implement regular, thorough disinfection services. Or? If you’re installing new air systems, we also offer post-construction cleaning services to eliminate downtime and get your building back in business quickly.

At All Building Cleaning Corp, we are more than just a reputable office cleaning company. We’ll be your partner in facilities asset management. To learn more, see what our clients have to say by reading their testimonials, then request a quote today.