Facility management is now one of the main ways organizations control costs and meet compliance requirements.
According to Mordor Intelligence, the U.S. market will reach $365.93 billion in 2025 and rise to $422.8 billion by 2030. Yet many facility teams continue to face tighter budgets and staff shortages, making daily operations harder to manage.
In this guide, we’ll outline five facility management best practices to help teams reduce maintenance costs and meet compliance standards.
1. Use Smart Technologies to Improve Facility Efficiency
Adopting smart technologies is one of the most practical practices you can do. Here are some ideas you can apply right away:
- Install Internet of Things (IoT) sensors on high-value assets. For example, vibration sensors on chillers flag bearing wear early. Replace the part on schedule to avoid a shutdown that could take an entire cooling system offline.
- Adopt energy management systems. Track when HVAC systems or lights stay active outside operating hours. Adjust schedules to stop wasted energy and lower monthly utility bills.
- Feed asset data into your maintenance schedule. Connect sensors to a computerized maintenance management system so alerts trigger preventive maintenance tasks. Your facilities management team spends less time on emergency repairs and more time on planned maintenance.
Facilities that apply IoT technologies to monitor assets and energy use often cut maintenance costs by up to 30%. This helps reduce emergency repairs, extend equipment life, and keep operations predictable.
2. Prioritize Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
Energy efficiency is one of the most effective ways to cut expenses across building operations. You can improve energy savings by doing these:
- Schedule regular energy audits: Audits help you identify areas of high energy usage in building systems and create a preventive maintenance plan that targets improvements.
- Upgrade to high-efficiency HVAC systems: Modern units consume less energy, lower reactive maintenance costs, and extend the life of your ventilation systems.
- Improve facility lighting: Replacing outdated fixtures with LED lighting reduces operational costs and improves light quality for occupants.
- Improve the envelope of your building infrastructure: Installing energy-efficient windows or adding insulation lowers heating and cooling loads.
- Use energy management systems: Software solutions allow you to track key performance indicators, compare them with financial data, and measure the value of your sustainability initiatives.
Cutting unnecessary energy use reduces wear on equipment and keeps maintenance costs in check.
Recommended Reading:
Best Commercial HVAC Preventative Maintenance Tips
3. Improve Health, Safety, and Wellness in Your Facilities
Many facility managers place indoor air quality, sanitation, and staff preparedness at the top of their priorities.
Addressing these issues lowers complaints, supports environmental sustainability, and improves overall operational efficiency.
Try adding some of these practices to your facility’s work routines:
- Maintain ventilation systems consistently: Routine coil cleaning, filter replacement, and duct checks keep airflows steady and avoid costly emergency repairs.
- Invest in training programs: Safety courses on personal protective equipment (PPE), chemical handling, and emergency response prepare your facilities team to act with confidence.
- Practice effective communication: Share monitoring results and maintenance processes with stakeholders so they trust your facility’s operations.
Health and safety upgrades protect people while also protecting your reputation as a facility manager who delivers reliable operations.
Recommended Reading:
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4. Adopt Preventive Maintenance to Avoid Emergency Repairs
Preventive maintenance keeps equipment reliable and avoids emergency calls that disrupt facilities management operations.
Practice preventive maintenance with these steps:
- Create a preventive maintenance plan: Start with an asset inventory of critical systems such as chillers, boilers, and fire safety equipment.
- Match schedules to usage: A rooftop unit that runs all day needs more filter changes than one used only a few hours. Facilities management software like Trillium helps you coordinate maintenance activities and keep preventive tasks on schedule.
- Use building management data: Track downtime, repair frequency, and energy consumption to see how well your maintenance processes perform and where to adjust.
- Stay ready for inspections: Consistent care of emergency generators and fire systems reduces compliance risks and avoids last-minute building maintenance work.
- Work with trusted partners: Strong contractor and vendor relationships lower repair costs and keep facilities maintenance consistent across your operations.
5. Coordinate Services Under Integrated Facility Management
Integrated facility management brings different services under one coordinated program. Instead of contacting separate providers, you manage a unified plan that reduces costs and improves accountability.
Keep your facility organized with these integration practices:
- Centralize requests: A single service desk routes every work order to the right team. Staff waste less time figuring out where to send issues.
- Standardize performance measures: Use the same key performance indicators (KPIs) across services. This highlights weak areas and shows where contractor adjustments are needed.
- Unify asset inventory: Track equipment in one place to avoid duplicate purchases and improve asset management for long-term planning.
- Coordinate budgets: Central reports compare contract costs with response times and repair quality. This makes it clear where vendors underperform and where you can reduce costs.
Integration prepares your facility to handle tighter budgets and higher expectations for sustainability and compliance.
Improve Facility Processes With Trillium’s Vendor Network
Facility strategies only matter when they improve your facility’s processes. Maintenance schedules and integrated services can cut costs, but without reliable support, they’re hard to sustain.
Trillium solves that problem. It’s facility maintenance software that lets you submit and manage work orders in one place.
There are more than 6,000 vetted service partners in the Trillium network. With 58 trades covered, including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, doors, and locks, you get dependable service wherever you operate.
The team handles vendor coordination, compliance checks, and paperwork so staff can focus on keeping building systems reliable.
Traditional providers add markups and force restrictive contracts. Trillium’s software comes with no hidden fees, no minimum orders, and no long-term commitments.
FAQs About Facility Management
What are the four pillars of facility management?
The four pillars of facility management are people, process, technology, and place. Together, they guide how teams manage resources, improve the facility’s processes, and maintain cost savings.
What are the five main tasks of facilities management?
The five main tasks of facilities management are maintaining building systems, vendor management, space planning, compliance, and financial oversight. Each task helps managers make informed decisions that support operations and long-term investments.
What are the three Ps of facility management?
The three Ps of facility management are People, Place, and Process. People use the facility, the place provides the environment, and the process defines how operations run.
What are the 11 core competencies of a facility manager?
The 11 core competencies of a facility manager include maintenance, asset management, sustainability, communication, and leadership. They also cover finance, space planning, real estate, technology, risk, and project management.
