Our mission is to help Committee members keep up with fast-changing office market trends, give them professional guidelines, present emerging digital technologies to them, and to remain a general go-to knowledge hub for discussion of topics in Facilities Management, Enhanced Workspace Experience, Agile Working, and Employee Satisfaction Management.
The Facility Management Working Group was established in 2009 and the Board of AmCham upgraded it to a Committee in 2012. Since then, it has become a vibrant community of soft and hard FM experts, real estate developers and providers of office interior solutions. To reflect our diverse membership, we adopted our current name in 2019.
Highlights of 2023
ESG Focus
Throughout the year, the Committee placed a strong emphasis on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance), engaging in discussions with various experts to examine its prevalence in office real estate and facility management.
The first meeting on March 23 focused on the environmental (E) aspect, featuring Gábor Szarvas, CEO of Greenbors Consulting and Chair of the EU Taxonomy working group of the Hungarian Green Building Council, who presented on environmental sustainability and green building rankings in the context of the energy crisis and EU regulations.
On May 25, we explored the social (S) dimension, with a specific focus on creating accessible workplaces with Tamás Méri, Co-Founder and Business Development Director of Access4you.
The final ESG meeting on September 28 was dedicated to the governance (G) pillar, with guest speakers dr. Judit Budai and dr. Zoltán Balázs Kovács from Szecskay Attorneys-at-Law delving into the development and practical challenges related to EU regulatory governance within the ESG framework.
Office Visits
The Committee had the opportunity to visit two 'Office of the Year 2023' award-winning buildings this year. On May 16, the M12 Office, OTP Bank's HQ, and on October 2, the MOL Campus welcomed our members, showcasing their unique features, innovative and sustainable designs, as well as operational solutions.
Office Real Estate Trends
To conclude the year, on December 1 we invited Valter Kalaus, Managing Partner of Newmark VLK Hungary, to share insights into the latest office real estate trends and discuss expectations for the upcoming year.
Highlights of 2022
- Audi Factory Visit: Workspace and Facilities Management Committee Meeting
In November, we had an open committee meeting visit to the Audi auto factory in Győr and learned about the practical challenges of managing a hightech production plant from Pál Sutka, Technical and Construction Director at Kraft-FM. - Committee Meeting - Market trends and effects during the energy crisis
In October, we discussed the emerging effects of the energy crisis. Zsolt Kákosy, Head of Property Management, and Róbert Flück, Head of Facility Management, both of Icon Real Estate Management, analyzed the situation for us and proposed practical actions for coping with the situation. - Well-being and WELL office certification - Committee Meeting
The Committee organised a meeting in May to discuss well-being and the WELL office certification. Ida Kiss, Design Director of the DVM group, briefed us on what makes a WELL-certified office. This was followed by a series of presentations on well-being. Ottó Feuertag, owner and founder of Europa Design, talked about the quality of a working environment on employee performance. From the Wellbeing Alliance, István Faragó talked about stress prevention strategies to aid employee retention and Csaba Sipos, a financial consultant at Grantis, spoke about the financial aspects of well-being. - In January, Valter Kalaus, Managing Director of VLK Newmark, gave us a comprehensive overview of the office real estate landscape. Following his presentation, Péter Takács, Partner, talked about the status of the logistics and warehousing market. Closing off the online event, György Losonczi, Senior Advisor, spoke about trends in retail real estate.
