Agents4RM has always held that Facilities Management is about good husbandry – caring for the environment and the well-being of the people we serve – as well as extending the life of physical assets to maximise, or optimise, value. These basic principles are not new but appear to have been left behind relative to the focus on profit and financial performance. In our view the two goals of financial success and environmental responsibility are not conflicting.

Perhaps the most significant role Facilities Management can play in the quest for disclosure and understanding around ESG reporting is to explain FM best practice principles and bring into focus the wealth of available data we collate in the normal course of events.

Integrated Reporting’ and ‘Value Reporting’ are terms gaining momentum around the world as a means of facilitating the regulatory requirements to report on ESG matters. Whilst the regulatory requirement may be driving the need to find smart ways to report, there are benefits to an organisation for both management and investors to understand what the trends are showing.

Integrated reporting for ESG culminates in an accurate and timely periodic report usually incorporated within an organisation’s Annual Report. Rather than wait until the last minute to scramble the search for information to include in a structured report, regularly captured data from many sources can be streamed or captured into a specific repository for real time examination and automated analysis as well as for historic reference.