Investigating the common practice of higher education institutions’ facility management Available to Purchase

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are an indispensable part of the UK society. In 2011, the Higher Education Funding Council for England set a carbon reduction target of 43% by 2020, which most HEIs failed to meet. HEIs have a clear interest in improving student experience/comfort and their sustainability credentials. However, this research found that space management in HEIs is clearly inefficient. This research represents the first phenomenological study in this field and identifies current practices in HEIs regarding their space/energy management. First, a traditional thematic literature review was completed, which found a clear gap on what data are collected and used to calculate the ventilation/heating/cooling by facilities managers at HEIs. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted with facilities management experts (n = 10) based in HEIs. This study concludes that HEIs should calculate ventilation, heating and cooling loads working in geometry and real occupancy, as this will improve occupant comfort, enrich the student experience and increase energy efficiency. A building information modelling platform could be adopted to integrate different systems so that building management systems have enhanced access to time-sensitive space/energy data.