The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) have signed a memorandum of understanding between the two organizations outlining plans to collaborate as partners in promoting facility management education, credentials, and research for sustainable laboratories and related high-technology facilities. The agreement calls for a two-year period of collaboration where both parties will:
- Commit to work together to promote good facility management practices, education, and research and magnify the importance of facility management as it relates to sustainable laboratories and related high-technology facilities;
- Evaluate their existing educational programs and credentials to identify potential joint offerings;
- Actively participate in each organization’s facility management conferences;
- Offer facility-related knowledge and benchmarking information about sustainable laboratories and related high-technology facilities to members; and
- Look for opportunities for greater networking and collaboration between the members of each organization.
“IFMA has long recognized the important role sustainability plays in quality facility management practices,” said IFMA President and CEO Tony Keane, CAE. “Our recent facility management forecasting report recognized sustainability as one of the top trends impacting the profession, both today and in the future. With this memorandum of understanding, IFMA will have more opportunities to provide sustainability education and research to facility professionals working in laboratories and similar facilities.”
“I2SL is delighted to have entered into a collaborative agreement with IFMA,” said Philip J. Wirdzek, president and executive director of I2SL. “The agreement provides I2SL a strong partner with whom to pursue a number of common objectives that are key to the energy and environmental sustainability of laboratories and related high-technology facilities. Together, I2SL and IFMA will be able to address a variety of topics, from operations and maintenance training for high-tech facilities to using building information modeling as a facility management tool. I2SL is actively working with IFMA and its Research & Development Council, the National Institute of Building Sciences, and others to begin addressing these topics at the upcoming Labs21 2011 Annual Conference.”
