FEATURE
THE VALUE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
Facilities Managers are key to driving the change that can see existing green assets flourish explains GRITIT‘s Grounds Maintenance Team.
The past decade has seen a paradigm shift in the public policy and planning arenas that has placed a spotlight on the vital importance of ‘Green Infrastructure’ to both society and the environment. Natural and built landscapes are coming to be understood as playing an active role in addressing social, environmental and economic challenges – often simultaneously.
The Landscape Institute, one of the principal advocates and drivers for the Green Infrastructure (GI) concept, describes landscape assets as being multifunctional: On the one hand they can work to reduce the pressures of urban development by alleviating flood risks, mitigate urban heat islands and can contribute to carbon capture for cleaner air. However, there are also more immediate benefits to be gained and developers, businesses and local authorities are now seeing green spaces in terms of biophilic design, building landscapes that – according to psychological research – offer a cost- effective way to actively drive better productivity, physical and mental health. This year’s Ecobuild conference was a case in point, with a whole track of the three-day agenda dedicated to Green Infrastructure. In other words, there is a broad range of reasons (going far beyond the aesthetic) as to why green spaces can and should be understood as an asset that can deliver much more value.
FM can be a driver for change All this could seem academic to FM professionals, but arguably, it’s the assets that already exist where the biggest gains can be made. A useful parallel can be drawn with reducing our national energy consumption. Developers of new builds will contribute through better design, but the real prize is ensuring our current stock of properties is retrofitted to be better insulated or use lower energy lighting and appliances. The exact same is true when creating more valuable and effective landscapes and facilities managers will be key to driving this change.
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It all starts with a shift towards a more strategic view of green spaces as assets that can deliver opportunities to your organisation or clients’ businesses. Can the green spaces you are responsible for help support wider CSR objectives, environmental policy, or make a business more attractive to customers or employees? Asking such questions is all part of a process that is key to rethinking how you use and maintain landscapes. However, for many organisations this process represents a real break from business as usual.
Understanding the cost Naturally, the immediate question is whether a more ambitious approach will inevitably cost more to achieve. You may think that an enriched landscape will also come with a premium price tag, but often this is more a question of priority than budget.
“It all starts with a shift towards a more strategic view of green spaces as assets.”
For example, landscapes that improve biodiversity can be implemented with no increased budget or investment and can actually be delivered at no added cost through a design-by- maintenance regime, followed over an agreed period of time. When carrying out an assessment of your site, consider if there are areas that are less used. These can be repurposed to provide a real opportunity for wildlife havens such as urban woodlands, offering far greater visual interest while also encouraging biodiversity. Such areas require some investment to plant initially, but compared to a lawn than needs frequent visits to mow, particularly at this time of year, ultimately require far less ongoing intensive maintenance – hence, swapping one for the other can be cost neutral.
Tomorrow’s FM Yearbook 2017/18
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