FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
By Meg Swanson, Chief Market Officer, Eptura
December often brings a noticeable drop in office occupancy, yet many building systems continue to operate as if every desk is filled. That mismatch is not only inefficient; it’s a missed opportunity. With smart-building data and real-time occupancy insights, facility leaders can right-size energy use, protect assets, and step into January with fewer breakdowns and stronger sustainability performance. This seasonal window aligns naturally with national net zero commitments and evolving reporting expectations. Holiday downtime is not a pause, but a strategic lever for greener, smarter operations.
Why Holiday Downtime Matters for Facility Management
When occupancy dips, FMs have a strategic opportunity to shift from supporting daily demand to orchestrating operational agility. This period presents a rare opportunity for targeted consolidation and proactive maintenance. By concentrating activity into select active zones and scaling building systems accordingly, leaders validate a leaner operating model. Doing so addresses a well-documented challenge: research from the British Property Federation found that 83 per cent of commercial buildings across seven major UK cities fall below the Energy Performance Certificate B rating required to meet proposed 2030 regulations.
Additionally, these data-driven December adjustments set up leaders for more credible sustainability reporting and progress toward UK net zero strategies focused on heating and powering buildings.
Smart-Building Technology and Occupancy Insights
Real-time occupancy data makes consolidation practical. By seeing where people are — and are not — facility leaders can keep only those floors, zones, and amenities online that are needed, while placing others into setback. Workplace management systems can combine occupancy analytics, such as data from bookings, badge scans, and sensors, with space planning and service requests. This integration enables FM and engineering teams to adjust heating, cooling, and lighting based on actual building usage instead of assumptions.
Building Habits for Year-Round Efficiency
The lessons from December should not end in January. Most organisations now see seasonal and weekly occupancy variability, the so-called “midweek mountain,” when attendance peaks Tuesday to Thursday, and use it to plan maintenance and right-size services across the work week. Embedding data-driven management as business-as-usual ensures decisions are rooted in measurable utilisation and equipment performance rather than fixed schedules. This results in lower operating costs, better comfort, and stronger ESG alignment. Equally important, tying asset maintenance to occupancy and location data improves first-time fix rates and reduces Q1 failures.
Actionable Recommendations for Facility and Asset Leaders
Facility leaders can effectively progress sustainability goals during lower-traffic periods with six key tactics.
1) Map and consolidate zones before the holidays
Before the holidays, identify which areas will remain in use and which can close. Designate active zones for staff, communicate clearly with signage and internal channels, and create a heat map of operational spaces.
2) Right-size HVAC and lighting to occupancy levels
With this occupancy insight, adjust temperature setpoints in empty zones, delay morning warm-up where arrivals are later, and switch lighting to motion triggers and limited hours in unoccupied areas.
3) Use the downtime for proactive maintenance
Schedule filter changes, boiler checks, chiller inspections, and sensor calibration while spaces are quiet. Link work orders to specific assets and locations so technicians can find equipment quickly and close tasks efficiently.
4) Establish an evidence baseline and communicate results
Don’t just track savings. Develop a holiday operational playbook and use the quiet period to make a business case for year-round optimisation. Record daily electricity, gas, and water usage during the shutdown period and compare against November and January. Share the resulting kWh, pound savings, and CO₂e avoided with leadership and occupants to translate technical wins into business impact and culture change.
5) Carry December practices into the “midweek mountain”
Do not revert to full schedules on Mondays and Fridays if occupancy remains light. Cluster deep cleaning and intrusive maintenance around low-demand days. Use desk and room booking patterns to align services and staffing, and automate manual tasks like searching for available workspaces, checking in visitors, or locating colleagues.
6) Unify workplace data to break down operational silos
Prioritise platforms that unify space planning, desk and room booking, visitor flows, and preventive maintenance. Integrating occupancy analytics with asset management provides the operational context to reduce waste and improve experience, while supporting net zero pathways.
Impact that Lasts
The future of FM favours organisations that embrace smarter, more sustainable practices. By leveraging holiday downtime to right-size energy use, prioritise proactive maintenance, and build evidence for sustainability gains, facility leaders can deliver measurable improvements for both their business and the people within it.
