El papel de la formación y educación en la operación sostenible de instalaciones

Building operation accounts for 80% of total energy consumption over the entire life cycle, according to data from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, 2022), and the technical competence of maintenance staff largely determines the actual efficiency achieved. A study by Carbon Trust (2021) covering 400 commercial buildings in the United Kingdom showed that the gap between projected design-stage energy consumption and actual operational consumption — known as the performance gap — ranges from 15% to 70%, with an average of 34%. The report attributes 60% of this deviation to operation and maintenance errors stemming from insufficient training: incorrect HVAC scheduling, misconfigured setpoints, and heat recovery systems disabled due to operator unfamiliarity.

The facility management sector employs more than 1.2 million professionals in the European Union, according to the European Facility Management Network (EuroFM, 2023), yet only 23% hold specific qualifications in building energy management. In Spain, the Labour Force Survey (INE, 2022) records 187,000 workers in the facilities maintenance sub-sector, of whom barely 8,200 hold energy efficiency certification according to IDAE data. This training shortfall generates estimated excess costs of 4.5 billion euros annually in avoidable energy consumption across the European tertiary building stock, according to calculations by the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE, 2022).

Professional certification programs in sustainable facility operations have proliferated since 2010 in response to the training deficit. BOMI International, affiliated with the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), offers the SMA (Systems Maintenance Administrator) designation and the SMT (Sustainable Management of Technicians) certification, with more than 12,000 active certified professionals in 2023 and a 126-hour program covering HVAC systems, lighting, building envelope, and water management. The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) awards the SFP (Sustainability Facility Professional) credential, which requires 3 years of experience and the completion of a 150-question examination across 11 key competencies including energy auditing, waste management, and green procurement.

In Europe, the standard EN 15232-1:2017 sets out competence requirements for the operation of Building Automation and Control Systems (BACS), classifying the impact of active management into four efficiency levels (A through D). Training to achieve level A — which delivers energy savings of 30% in heating and 40% in lighting relative to level D — requires a minimum of 200 teaching hours according to the standards of the European Association of Energy Service Companies (eu.ESCO). In Spain, the Fundación Laboral de la Construcción trained 14,500 professionals in operational energy efficiency between 2018 and 2023, through accredited courses of 60 to 120 hours funded by the Fundación Estatal para la Formación en el Empleo (FUNDAE), with a cumulative investment of 8.7 million euros.

Empirical data confirm that training of operational personnel yields measurable energy and financial returns. A pilot program by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE, 2019), called Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines, trained 3,200 operators across 820 federal buildings over 18 months in recommissioning and operational optimization techniques. The outcome was an average energy consumption reduction of 18%, with savings of 47 million dollars annually and a training cost of 2,800 dollars per operator, yielding a return on investment in 7 months. Buildings whose operators completed the full program achieved reductions of up to 28%, compared with 12% for those who received only partial training.

The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid published in 2022 a longitudinal study covering 56 office buildings in the Community of Madrid, monitored over 4 years following the delivery of specific training to maintenance staff. Buildings whose technical teams received 80 hours of instruction in BMS (Building Management Systems) management reduced their electricity consumption by 22% and gas consumption by 17%, generating average savings of 3.8 euros/m² per year. The study found that the single most influential factor was the correct programming of start-stop schedules for HVAC systems, which alone accounted for 40% of total savings. The investment in training was 1,200 euros per technician, amortized in an average of 5 months.

Continuing education is indispensable given that building management systems incorporate technological upgrades on cycles of 3 to 5 years. The BOK (Body of Knowledge) model from ASHRAE stipulates that HVAC professionals must complete a minimum of 45 hours of continuing education every 3 years to keep their competencies current. Online learning platforms have democratized access: ASHRAE Learning Institute recorded 28,000 enrollments in online courses in 2023, a 340% increase over 2019. The BREEAM In-Use platform offers specific training modules for certified building managers, with 6,000 professionals trained in 2022 in operational techniques that sustain the performance of the 18,500 buildings holding active BREEAM In-Use certification worldwide.

Knowledge transfer between operational teams is structured through ongoing commissioning (OCx) and digital twin protocols. The standard ASHRAE Guideline 36-2021 defines high-efficiency control sequences for HVAC systems that require 40 hours of specific training for proper implementation. Buildings that have adopted these sequences after training their staff report additional savings of 15-25% compared with conventional controls, according to data from Taylor Engineering (2022). Digital twins, used by 12% of premium office buildings in Europe according to JLL Research (2023), allow simulation of operational scenarios and staff training without any risk to occupant comfort, reducing new operator training time by 35% and operational errors during the first year by 48%.