1-on-1 with Jan Jonker — Circularity
Prof. Jan Jonker about FM and circularity: “Don’t let yourself be fooled”
“We’re dealing with three huge questions to do with the environment and energy: climate change, energy transition and the circular economy. These changes play a role in many areas with the built environment being one of them. No matter what, facility managers and housing managers will come in contact with these transitions. So it would be wise to start thinking and dealing with them now.”
“Teamwork is necessary to build a solid business case.”
Sustainability and circularity: two halves of one whole
Sustainability and circularity are two halves of one whole, says Jonker. According to him this is the trend of the coming 10 years. The two are still however very different things: “Sustainability means: can we provide the same quality in lighting with smarter lamps and smarter systems? Can we make a car, which now gets 20 per liter, get 200 per liter? That’s sustainability. On the other hand circularity means: if we’re heating this space, can we find a way to trap that heat and use it again? That’s impossible with light, but with a bunch of different things like heat, water, chemicals and other things we can do that.”
This is also for facility managers
The fact that everyone has to deal with these transitions and spend time on them is as clear as day, according to Jonker. This also applies to facility managers and housing managers. It’s important that they ask themselves certain question when it comes to the buildings they manage. Such as:
· What can we do to change the “energy user” to an “energy supplier”
· Where can we make systems and installations smarter, and
· Where can we, together with others, like the neighborhood or companies in the area, collaborate more and implement changes?
“Facility managers, do not let yourself be fooled’
Asked if Jonkers has any tips for facility managers who want to get started with sustainability and realizing circular housing, he answered bluntly: “My most important tip is: don’t let yourself be fooled. If you open the mailbox just a little, you start getting all types of mail. You have to start buying eco-friendly vegetables, you’re not allowed to produce trash, you can’t flush the toilet, you have to create your own energy, and you have to do something about parking. The list just goes on and on. The danger is that you become like a deer in headlights and you can’t even move.’
His advice to avoid this situation: stay calm but try to answer these questions — what’s your strategy, what fits with your organization, which flows go in and out of your building and what kind of opportunities does your building present?
“In short, what’s realistic for my organization? And of course, what can you do by yourself and what do you need your neighbors for? You have to make a business case, and of course the only way to do that is to work together to scale up.”
“It’s all about the question: Where do you want to be in 10 years?”
Three-step approach
Jonker lists three steps that facility managers can make to hit the ground running with circularity in their organization.
Step 1: study up on the material
Look around, read articles, go to a conference, visit others and look at what they’re doing with sustainability. That’s how you’ll answer two things: what is it about and how are others working on it?
Step 2: start your own experiments
Jonker: “Start with a project and create a goal. For example: ‘We’re going to go from five per cent to 75 per cent sustainable energy over five years.’ So find a project that works and get started, with your neighbors of course.”
Step 3: combining subjects
Like energy with heat, or energy with logistics. “Be prepared for that,” says Jonker. “There’s a big chance you’ll be grappling with that because it’s really complex, but it’s going to happen. Think about that as well.”
Jan Jonker is professor of Corporate Sustainability at the Radboud Universiteit in Nijmegen. His work focuses on three related themes: the rise of the WEconomy, developing new business models, and developing transactional systems that function with multiple values also known as “hybrid banking”. In 2016–2017 he and his team undertook research into Business Models for the Circular Economy.
