How IFMA’s 2025 Awards of Excellence Winners Are Shaping the Future of FM

IFMA’s annual Awards of Excellence recognize the outstanding achievements of facility professionals, IFMA chapters, councils, communities and partners. From researchers at the forefront of ESG in FM to a CEO serving as an IFMA Chapter President while leading CFM and FMP courses to authors exploring the synergy between FMs and Real Estate Management and their potential to optimize organizational strategy, IFMA’s 2025 award winners are exemplifying what it means for facility professionals to go above and beyond to push our industry forward.

Though IFMA’s Awards of Excellence represent more than just individual achievements. Our global community of over 25,000 members regularly achieve what many consider impossible every single day: preventing chaos by anticipating future issues and solving them on the spot and completing work orders all day while simultaneously analyzing building data and trends and researching new upgrades to optimize your operations. FMs are always juggling so much – it’s a part of the job! Which is why it is so important to recognize those taking the extra time and effort to not only achieve the impossible as an FM, but to engage with our global community in deeply meaningful ways.

So, what sets this year’s winners apart from the rest?

Research That’s Redefining the Future of Facility Management

Aligning FM and CRE to Deliver Strategic Value

Co-authors Jan Gerard Hoendervanger, Theo van der Voordt and Jaap Wijnja were recognized this year for publishing “Corporate Real Estate Management: Integrated Organisational, Individual, and Social Values and Needs,” the first follow-up to what has become a standard reference book since 2012. This new edition scientifically explores how facility managers can team up with corporate real estate managers to transform an organization’s strategy into an actionable, optimized plan that adds value sustainably and socially responsibly. The authors integrate knowledge from a myriad of different disciplines, including corporate real estate and facility management, environmental psychology, ergonomics, business administration, organizational behavior and more.

Making ESG Actionable for Facility Managers

Co-authors David Karpook, Planon Corp.; Efrie Escott, Schneider Electric; Eric Hall & John Galbraith, Gilbane Building Co.; Phil Wales, EBUSINESS STRATEGIES, LLC; Candace Todd, HOK, were recognized in this year’s Awards of Excellence for their groundbreaking research into Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) in FM. Their report, “ESG by the Numbers: Key Findings & Resources to Help You Strengthen Your ESG Strategy,” achieved the crucial goal of serving as a guiding document for facility professionals to align their organization and building operations with modern ESG standards. The report includes an ESG readiness checklist, a glossary of important terms and noteworthy new standards and frameworks. The report also dives into different professions’ views of ESG, pushing FMs to broaden their perspective on what ESG means to the industry and the larger built environment ecosystem, including financial implications and its affect on long-term business strategies.

Leadership That Goes Beyond the Job Description

Educating, Connecting and Elevating FM Globally

This year, the Distinguished Member Award went to Edward Kacal, MBA, BSc, CFM, SFP, PMP. Edward is not just the CEO of Servus Ltd., a facility maintenance company in Trinidad & Tobago, he’s also serving as the IFMA Trinidad & Tobago Chapter President while teaching all seven of the Certified Facility Manager (CFM) Competency Courses, the CFM Exam Prep Course, Facility Management Professional (FMP) courses and the Essentials of FM as an IFMA Qualified Instructor. Edward is dedicating his 9 to 5 and his 5 to 9 (and probably weekends too) to uplifting fellow FMs around the world and in his Trinidad & Tobago community through knowledge sharing, training and making connections.

Raising the Bar for FM Through Service and Standards

IFMA’s 2025 Volunteer of the Year Award is Lisa Vanderheyden, CFM, FMP, SFP, PMP, LEED AP O+M, CFT. Lisa is an experienced Facilities Project Manager with over 20 years’ experience. She dedicates all of her time to pushing FM to new standards through speaking at IFMA’s Facility Fusion and World Workplace, being an IFMA Qualified Instructor for all offered courses, serving as a member of the IFMA Competency Model Advisory Committee, participating in development and review of education content, co-chairing the Education Committee for the Denver Chapter of IFMA. She is also the past-president of IFMA’s Public Sector Council. Feel free to say ‘hi’ to Lisa at IFMA’s Facility Fusion 2026 in San Francisco, California, USA!

United by Purpose, Driven by Impact

The path to winning an IFMA Award of Excellence comes in all shapes and sizes. Our winners didn’t follow a singular method to make these great achievements – in fact they are incredibly diverse in their subject matters, their industry, geography, age and even in the square footage of their facilities.

That being said, our award winners do all share one single quality in common. They are all united in their dedication to uplifting the FMs around them. Their unending pursuit of making positive impacts in our world is what sets them apart and what makes them worthy of our reverence.

“Here’s to those who blazed the trail and pointed the way forward. Here’s to every FM who creates better experiences for everyone who walks through their doors. And here’s to every member, partner, leader and employee, past and present, whose dedication and drive grew and sustained a community of colleagues and friends with the power to positively impact our world.” - IFMA President & CEO Michael V. Geary, CAE.

View the entire list of IFMA’s Awards of Excellence 2025 winners.