Facility Management: As It Used To Be
Picture this: once upon a time in a building not so far away, a custodian worked out of a cramped office in the basement—and I mean a real basement, the kind where you’d hit your head on the low-hanging pipes if you weren’t careful. The air was thick with heat radiating off the boiler, and dust particles danced in the single bare bulb that provided what little light there was. That custodian managed everything facility-related, which, if we’re being honest, wasn’t much to manage at all.
Back then, you didn’t need certifications or fancy credentials. You needed a wrench, some elbow grease, and the phone number of a good plumber. Training? Maybe someone showed you where the main shutoff valve was on your first day, and that was about it. Ongoing education? Why would you need that when nothing ever changed? The equipment was built like tanks—simple, reliable, and destined to outlast us all.
Indoor environmental quality wasn’t even in our vocabulary. We opened windows when it got stuffy. Lighting meant replacing burnt-out bulbs. Cooling was a luxury, not an expectation. As for inspections and preventative maintenance schedules? Those were foreign concepts. We lived by a simple creed: run to fail, fix it when it breaks. If it ain’t broke, don’t touch it. And you know what? That approach worked just fine for what people expected from their buildings back then.
The Ground Started Shifting
But somewhere along the way—gradually at first, then all at once—everything changed. I remember when I first saw a building automation system and thought, “Well, that’s overkill.” Famous last words, right? Turns out that was just the beginning. Technology didn’t just knock on the door of facilities management; it kicked the door down and set up camp.
Suddenly we weren’t just keeping buildings running; we were optimizing them. Energy codes got stricter. Occupants got pickier—and rightfully so. They wanted their workspace at exactly 72 degrees, with fresh air circulation, proper humidity levels, and lighting that didn’t give them headaches. Gone were the days when “the heat’s on, quit complaining” was an acceptable response.
Where We Stand Today
Fast forward to today, and that dark, dusty basement might as well be ancient history. Now we’ve got entire Facilities Management teams—plural—each with their own specializations. We’ve got HVAC technicians who can troubleshoot a variable air volume system in their sleep. We’ve got energy managers who speak fluent kilowatt-hours and can tell you exactly how much we’re spending to cool the third floor on a Tuesday afternoon. We’ve got sustainability coordinators building business cases for solar panels and calculating our carbon footprint down to the last metric ton.
And the tools? Don’t even get me started. That custodian from the basement had a wrench and maybe a pressure gauge. Today’s FM professional carries equipment that would make a NASA engineer nod with approval. We use handheld devices for diagnostics, calibration, and system integration that cost more than that entire old boiler room. We communicate through smartphones that pack more computing power than the entire Apollo 11 mission—and yes, I know I sound like someone’s grandfather when I say that, but it’s true and it never stops amazing me.
The complexity has increased exponentially. We’re managing systems that talk to each other, adjust themselves, predict their own failures, and send us alerts before problems become emergencies. It’s a far cry from waiting for something to break and then scrambling to fix it.
The Learning Never Stops
Here’s the thing about modern facilities management: the finish line keeps moving. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on everything, someone invents a new building standard or the government passes new regulations or a global pandemic completely rewrites the playbook on air quality and touchless systems.
I’ve learned that ongoing training isn’t just recommended—it’s survival. You’re either a lifelong learner or you’re becoming obsolete, and there’s no middle ground. The field doesn’t stand still long enough for anyone to rest on their laurels.
Let me throw some buzzwords at you—and these aren’t just buzzwords, they’re real initiatives that cross my desk every single week: sustainability programs, ESG reporting requirements, carbon neutrality commitments, energy efficiency mandates, green building certifications, artificial intelligence integration, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, smart building technology, occupant wellness programs, pandemic preparedness protocols. Each one of these could be—and often is—a full-time job unto itself.
And here’s the kicker: implementing these initiatives isn’t cheap. We’re talking significant capital expenditure projects. You can’t just flip a switch and suddenly have a net-zero building. You need to build the business case, secure the funding, manage the project, and then prove the ROI. It’s enough to make you nostalgic for those run-to-fail days—almost, but not quite.
Drinking from the Fire Hose
So how do we keep up? How do we separate the signal from the noise? Every day my inbox fills up with webinar invitations, industry newsletters, podcast notifications, and conference announcements. LinkedIn is full of thought leaders sharing their takes on the next big thing. Trade publications stack up on my desk faster than I can read them. It’s like trying to drink from a fire hose while someone keeps turning up the pressure.
I used to try to consume everything. That lasted about three months before I realized I was drowning in information but starving for wisdom. There’s a difference, and it’s a big one. Information is everywhere—wisdom is knowing which information actually matters.
That’s when I got serious about IFMA—the International Facility Management Association. And yes, it’s pronounced as a word, like “IF-ma,” not the individual letters. I mention this because I once sat through an entire conference call where someone kept saying “I-F-M-A” and it drove me up the wall. Small things, right?
Why IFMA Became My North Star
Here’s what sold me on IFMA: they listen. And I don’t mean the corporate-speak kind of listening where someone nods politely and then does whatever they were going to do anyway. I mean real, genuine listening to the community, to vendors, to the technical experts who are actually in the trenches doing this work every day.
IFMA takes all that input—the good, the bad, the complicated, and the contradictory—and they filter it down to what’s real versus what’s hype. In an industry where everyone’s trying to sell you the next revolutionary solution, having a trusted source that separates substance from salesmanship is worth its weight in gold.
They’ve also figured out that not everyone learns the same way. Some people love sitting in a classroom. Others need to learn on the go. IFMA meets you where you are: email newsletters for the quick-hit learners, blogs for the readers, podcasts for the commuters, seminars and webcasts for the traditional learners, in-person events for the networkers, and Facility Management Journal for those of us who still appreciate a good magazine. Whatever your learning style, they’ve got you covered.
The Credentials That Open Doors
But IFMA doesn’t stop at education—they’ve built the credentials that actually mean something in this industry. I’m talking about certifications that major corporations are now writing into their job descriptions. These aren’t participation trophies; they’re proof that you know your stuff.
The Facility Management Professional (FMP) is where many people start. It covers four of the eleven core competencies we need to master: Operations and Maintenance—which is the bread and butter of keeping things running; Finance and Business—because you can be the best technician in the world but if you can’t justify the budget, good luck getting anything approved; Leadership and Strategy—which is about seeing the bigger picture and not just fighting today’s fires; and Project Management—because in FM, everything is a project, whether you realize it or not.
I remember taking the FMP prep course and thinking I knew most of this stuff already. Wrong. There’s what you pick up on the job through trial and error, and then there’s structured knowledge that gives you the framework to understand why things work the way they do. The difference is night and day.
The Sustainability Facilities Professional (SFP) is where things get really interesting. This credential takes you through twelve principles of managing sustainable facilities. And before anyone starts thinking this is just tree-hugging feel-good stuff, let me set the record straight: sustainability is about the bottom line. It’s about reducing operating costs, increasing property value, attracting and retaining tenants, and future-proofing your building against increasingly strict regulations.
The SFP teaches you how to build the business case—and in my experience, that’s where most sustainability initiatives fail. Someone has a great idea about solar panels or a green roof, but they can’t articulate the financial benefits in language that executives understand. The SFP fixes that problem. It gives you the tools to translate environmental benefits into financial terms that get board approval.
Then there’s the Certified Facility Manager (CFM)—the gold standard, the credential that makes recruiters’ eyes light up when they see it on your resume. This isn’t something you can just study for over a weekend. To even sit for the proctored exam, you need either a degree in Facility Management or at least five years of real-world experience in the field. They want to see that you’ve been in the trenches, that you’ve dealt with the late-night emergency calls and the budget battles and the impossible deadlines.
The CFM tests your knowledge across the remaining seven core competencies, but it’s more than book knowledge. It’s about demonstrating that you understand the complex, interconnected nature of modern facilities management. You need to show that you can think strategically while managing tactically, that you can balance competing priorities, and that you understand how all the pieces fit together.
And here’s something I really respect: the CFM requires continuing education units and recertification every three years. They don’t let you coast on what you learned five or ten years ago. The field moves too fast for that. If you want to keep that CFM designation—and trust me, you do—you need to prove you’re staying current. It keeps us all sharp and honest.
More Than Just Letters After Your Name
I won’t lie—getting these credentials takes time, effort, and yes, money. But here’s what I tell younger FMs who are on the fence about pursuing them: these certifications are an investment in career insurance. The industry is professionalizing, and that’s a good thing. The days when anyone with a toolbox could run a building are over. Today’s buildings are too complex, the stakes are too high, and the expectations are too demanding for anything less than trained professionals.
Those credentials don’t just prove to others that you know your stuff—they prove it to yourself. There’s a confidence that comes from being certified that you can’t get any other way. When you’re in a meeting defending your budget or your project timeline or your operational approach, and someone questions your expertise, you’ve got the credentials to back up your claims. It changes the conversation.
Walking the Talk
Look, I could talk about IFMA all day from an abstract perspective, but let me get personal for a minute. I’m not just a member who pays dues and gets the magazine. I’m deeply involved in my local chapter because that’s where the rubber meets the road. That’s where you build relationships with other FMs who are dealing with the same challenges you are. When I’m stuck on a problem, I’ve got a network of people I can call—people who’ve been there and done that.
I’m involved with the Facility Management Consultants Council because I believe in giving back to the profession that’s given me so much. I support the IFMA Foundation because investing in the next generation of FMs is how we ensure the profession continues to grow and improve. And I participate in various other IFMA initiatives because being part of something bigger than yourself matters.
But here’s where I really put my money where my mouth is: I make it non-negotiable that I attend World Workplace and Facility Fusion every year. I don’t care what else is on my calendar or what projects are demanding my attention—these events are sacred on my schedule. Why? Because in our field, if you’re not moving forward, you’re falling behind. There is no standing still.
World Workplace is where I see what’s coming down the pike before it becomes mainstream. It’s where I connect with vendors who are developing solutions to problems I didn’t even know I had yet. It’s where I sit in sessions led by FMs who are three steps ahead of where I am and take notes like my career depends on it—because in many ways, it does.
Facility Fusion is where I dive deep into specific challenges and come away with actionable strategies I can implement immediately. These aren’t theoretical discussions about what might work someday; they’re practical sessions about what’s working right now in real buildings with real budgets and real constraints.
The Partnership That Matters
At the end of the day, that’s what IFMA is to me—a partner. Not a vendor trying to sell me something, not an organization I belong to because it looks good on my LinkedIn profile, but a genuine partner in my professional development and success.
Could you ask for more from a professional organization? One that actively surveys its members to find out what keeps us up at night, and then develops education and resources specifically designed to address those pain points? One that connects us with peers facing similar challenges? One that advocates for the profession at the highest levels? One that continuously evolves to meet the changing needs of the industry?
I’ve been in this field long enough to remember when facilities management was seen as just “the building guys”—the people you called when something broke. IFMA has been instrumental in transforming that perception, in helping establish FM as a strategic function that directly impacts organizational success. They’ve helped elevate the profession from the basement to the boardroom, literally and figuratively.
Looking Ahead
The facilities management landscape will continue to evolve—probably faster than any of us would like. New technologies will emerge, new challenges will arise, new regulations will be passed, and new expectations will be set. There will be times when it feels overwhelming, when you wonder how you’re supposed to keep up with everything while still doing your actual job.
That’s when having IFMA in your corner makes all the difference. They’re doing the heavy lifting of monitoring trends, vetting new approaches, and curating the information that actually matters. They’re providing the education, the credentials, and the community support that helps us not just survive but thrive in this rapidly changing environment.
So thank you, IFMA, for everything you’ve done over the decades to build this profession. Thank you for what you’re doing right now to help FMs navigate increasingly complex challenges. And thank you in advance for what I know you’ll continue to do as the profession evolves into whatever comes next.
You’re not just my professional association—you’re my competitive advantage. You’re the reason I can confidently say I’m prepared for whatever the future of facilities management holds. And in a field where the only constant is change, that kind of partnership is priceless.
Here’s to the journey from that dusty basement to where we are today, and to wherever we’re headed next. With IFMA as a partner, I know we’ll get there together—better educated, better connected, and better prepared than ever before.
