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The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of knowledge about facilities management (FM), in particular, the management of FM services in practice, education and research. The paper questions whether we know more about optimal models for in-house or outsourcing FM after 25 years of applied research and development of best practices.

The paper is based on literature reviews, case studies and personal experiences from practice for over 25 years, concentrating on the public sector. The paper maintains an international focus on the FM development, with particular focus on the development in Norway and the Nordic countries. The knowledge development triangle, and its integration of education, research and practice, is used as an underlying theoretical framework.

The knowledge regarding management of FM services in both the public and private sector has been developed over the past two decades. The changes in both sectors is reflected in all the three aspects of the knowledge triangle. While the use of outsourcing increased significantly in popularity during the past 25 years, the Norwegian profile continues to have limited use of outsourcing.

The paper is based on a qualified selection of doctoral theses, research reports and scientific articles published in the period 1990-2015. The explorations include limited quantitative data.

The choice for FM in practice, whether fully or partly to produce services with internal resources or to make arrangements with external suppliers, is an important strategic decision regarding the choice of a procurement strategy for the company or the organisation. This decision is not necessarily about outsourcing or in-house but rather the strategic sourcing and management of the needed services.

A total of 25 years of research have shown that a simple solution and answer to the questions about in-house or outsourcing FM services is lacking. To find a good solution, it is necessary to understand the content of FM services with respect to quality and efficiency, and to understand the interaction between FM, the core activities and the users.

This paper aims to investigate the drivers and barriers for green leases and tenancies in sustainable “Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method” (BREEAM) and “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” (LEED) certified office and office buildings in Norway, the UK and the USA. This study focuses on the differing perspectives between owners and tenants. It is then considered as to how these issues are dealt with during different phases of a buildings life cycle. This research is based on existing literature and semi-structured interviews that studied qualitative and quantitative elements in the context of ownership and tenancy of single and multi-tenanted sustainable office buildings.

Using a mixed-method approach involving semi-structured interviews with both qualitative and quantitative elements along with desk research, this paper evaluates how green leases and tenancies in offices and office buildings that are BREEAM and LEED certified require a reconsideration and re-evaluation of the acquisition, operation and disposal of office buildings by building owners and their tenants. These stakeholder relationships are supported theoretically using a theoretical model that outlines the interrelation between the sustainable building and the relationships of the building owner, the user and the FM service provider.

The data gathered from the interviews justify and partly contradict some of the statements within existing literature, diminishing the importance of cost and the barrier of split incentive but instead illuminate the importance of less tangible considerations such as company policy or a sustainability strategy. The results also note the realisation of a changing market for commercial real estate driven by the sustainable business needs of tenants for the occupation of workspaces.

These findings have the potential to further develop theories and provide an insight into how the relationships between actors from a business, procurement and contractual perspective need to be developed to ensure more proactive development of green leasing of new and existing sustainable office buildings, along with where strategic attention is required during the building design, construction, operational and use phases.

This paper is based on original research through interviews and literature studies supported by an existing theoretical model. The results have been partly presented and initially discussed at the WBC World Congress 2016 in Tampere, Finland.

The purpose of this study is to explore how the discipline facilities management (FM) can be developed in a smart city perspective through considering the current and new FM services under the role of Urban FM, as well as governance structures that limit and enable it.

The approach is primarily theoretical by examining current literature around the ideas of Urban FM and Smart Cities linking them to observations in one city aiming to be a Smart City. This specific paper focusses on maintenance management, workspace management and energy management services in a Smart City perspective.

The results outline how Urban FM can fill the gaps that are apparent in city planning through connectivity to communities and neighbourhoods using the Smart City not only approaches of optimising data but also considers prominent governance structures of FM, Urban FM, City Planning and Smart Cities. The study addresses the limitations of what can be done when cities are not organisations, which make identifying the “core business” obscure and intangible but attempts to overcome this limitation by considering social value in communities and wider linkages to the city environment.

The paper sets out the potential of Urban FM in Smart Cities, but the findings are limited to primarily theoretical research and need further empirical examination.

The results indicate how facilities management can improve services in cities through the digitalisation of cities and the role of Urban FM. The study will be useful for municipalities in examining how to improve facilities, particularly in cities that aspire to be a Smart City and it is also important for policymakers in considering governance structures to meet sustainable development goals.

The study positions the discipline of facilities management in Smart Cities which has the potential to improve facilities in cities and the development of Urban FM.

Against the background of earlier publications on the future of facilities management (FM) and acknowledging digitalization and sustainability as two major shaping forces, the purpose of this paper is to place contributions to the special issue in the perspective of current opportunities for FM research.

After a review of publications since the 1980s, dealing with the future of FM, there is an analysis of how the forces of digitalization and sustainability have emerged over five decades. The articles of this special issue are introduced against this background. Opportunities for future FM research are identified, and the relation between research, education and practice is discussed.

Megatrends outlined in the 1980s still shape how FM develops. Digitalization supports sustainability not only through workplace change and building design but also through performance measurement, certification schemes and an awareness of the wider urban context.

Opportunities for FM research are created by digitalization and concerns with sustainability, combining environmental and social aspects. Relations between organizations studied in an FM context are important. Within organizations, employee issues and risk management are emphasized.

Policies and schemes for sustainable buildings should be linked to sustainable FM more clearly. The relation between research, education and practice needs to be consolidated as a basis for research and development, as illustrated by a number of studies belonging to this special issue. To reach the goals of sustainable development, we need to develop the knowledge and theoretical frameworks that can be applied to and used by practice. The recent ISO FM definition appears as narrow and should be extended to recognize facilities’ life-cycle issues as well as broader urban and social concerns.

This paper highlights the importance of basing FM research on an understanding of the fundamental forces that shape change.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how sustainable facilities management (SFM) and sustainable buildings (SB) can be designed and managed, bridging these gaps with a more integrated process. The need to bridge the traditional gap between design, construction and FM demands more effective solutions based on life cycle assessments. This also requires a coordinated approach with emerging environmental and sustainable initiatives in new and refurbished buildings. The solutions to these issues and aspects of the “Green Shift” need to be co-ordinated at the strategic and tactical levels of an organisation with an aim of further implementation at the operational level.

This paper takes the form of an exploratory approach based on six different case studies. The data have been sourced from cases studies involving interviews and documentation from large public institutions on how they manage and operate their existing buildings and how FM strategies are coordinated at all levels. A particular focus has been placed on buildings for higher education and research institutions. The authors have used a theoretical multidimensional framework for analysing the gaps based on models for sustainable development, life cycle assessments of buildings and recognised models for efficient FM. The case studies have been supported by literature research and documentation from a number of applied projects.

In conclusion, this study demonstrates that in the context of the Norwegian cases, there is currently little consistency in the degree to which the bridging of the gap between sustainable FM and SB is achieved or attempted.

This paper offers a contribution to the study of how public buildings approach the development of the building stock, whilst also dealing with the challenges associated with bridging the gap between the buildings and the FM that supports the building. The introduction and use of a multidimensional theoretical framework for analysing sustainability in buildings and FM creates a new platform for further research, development and implementation in practice.

The purpose of this paper is to develop the empirically tested framework about the knowledge and perception about sustainability of building materials in Prishtina, Kosovo from the perspective of users, construction industry and facility managers.

A survey of representative sections of the population was designed and carried out in the capital city of Kosovo to determine the knowledge and perception of the population about the sustainability of building materials and to determine the main criteria of selection of sustainable building materials. The study may be used as guidelines for sustainable real estate developers in Prishtina during the materials selection process. Qualitative interviews were conducted with architects, consulting engineering companies, construction companies and facility managers from the region of Prishtina with open-ended questions also being used.

Results of quantitative research find that embodied energy, durability and low energy consumption are used as key criteria that influence the materials selection process on the part of users. The results of the cross-case analysis of qualitative measure the perceptions of construction industry and facility managers, according to which durability to a large degree is the main criterion for selection of sustainable building materials followed by embodied energy and low energy consumption.

The study of measurement of level of knowledge and perception about sustainability of building materials in Kosovo focuses only on one pilot city; hence, further research is needed throughout Kosovo to validate the empirically tested tool within other geographical settings in Kosovo.

This survey represents the first quantification of knowledge and perception regarding the sustainability of building materials among users, construction sector and facility managers.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the advantages and disadvantages of introducing internal rent and to find the main success factors when introducing internal rent.

This paper’s analysis is based on experience from the introduction of internal rent models within four major Norwegian public organisations. The experience is documented after 19 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders representing the client organisations, property management and tenants.

The major advantage consist in that internal rent compels the different users to discipline concerning the use of space and make them adapt their use to fit the real needs and demand for space suited for their primary activities. The main disadvantage of internal rent consists in the temporary organisational noise that results from the introduction and the permanent extra bureaucratic burden it causes. The success factors for introduction of internal rent are: the users need to perceive the model as of real importance, the property management must take in enough funds to assure reliable maintenance and the client needs to avoid that the tenants think the model is constructed to seize funds.

The authors discuss a market-orientated approach to property management, namely, introducing internal rent models. It is more than a decade ago since internal rent was first introduced in the analysed public organisations. Now it is possible to identify the success factors – related to the advantages and disadvantages – from this introduction.