Feature
Why Facilities Maintenance Strategies Must Evolve For Hotter Summers
With increasingly prolonged and intense summer periods placing new pressure on building
services, facilities managers are having to rethink how they maintain performance, comfort and resilience across their estates. Overheating risk, cooling system strain and fluctuating occupant expectations are no longer occasional challenges but recurring operational realities.
In this article, Dean Skerratt, Business Development Director at Climate Centre, outlines
how facilities managers can adapt maintenance strategies for rising summer temperatures, focusing on proactive servicing, system resilience and early identification of HVAC risks.
From Predictable Seasons To Sustained Heat Pressure
For many facilities teams, traditional maintenance schedules were built around relatively stable seasonal patterns. Systems were serviced at set intervals, with issues addressed as they emerged – an approach that is fast becoming less effective as summer conditions shift.
Heatwaves across the UK are now more frequent, longer lasting and more intense, placing sustained demand on cooling infrastructure. This means maintenance can no longer be treated as a routine, calendar-led exercise. Instead, it needs to reflect extended periods of peak load and higher operational stress.
As a result, the pre-summer period has become a critical planning window, where preparation can directly influence how well buildings perform under pressure.
Cooling Systems Under Pressure
A key consideration for facilities managers is whether existing cooling systems still align with how buildings are actually used today. Occupancy patterns, internal heat gains and equipment loads often evolve over time, even when building systems remain unchanged.
This can result in systems operating much closer to their limits during hot weather than originally intended. When
20 fmuk
temperatures rise, any gap between design assumptions and real- world demand becomes more visible, often through reduced comfort or declining system efficiency.
A structured review of cooling capacity ahead of peak summer conditions helps ensure systems are still capable of meeting current requirements, rather than relying on historic design expectations.
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