It’s hard to miss the message these days that the effect of global warming is becoming ever more apparent and that it is having a devastating effect on the environment.
From the latest technologies in the home designed to be sustainable to recycling to conserving water to the latest hybrid car which burns less fuel and doesn’t release as many harmful pollutants as petrol powered cars, trying to be eco-friendly has become an integral part of our day to day lives.
As we spend a large portion of our lives at work it’s easy to understand why there’s a push towards being eco-friendly office design at work too and why going green is playing a role in new office design and refurbishments as companies look to become more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.
So what does it truly mean to be eco-friendly? Eco-friendly literally means earth-friendly or put another way – not harmful to the environment. It most commonly refers to products that contribute to green living or practices that help conserve resources like water and energy. Eco-friendly products and practices also help prevent air, water and land pollution.
How to Go Green With Your Eco-Friendly Office Design
There many ways that a new refurbishment can enable a workplace to become more environmentally eco-friendly and move your work environment towards an eco-conscious model with the added benefit of saving your company money.
In general terms you will want your office to use less energy, reduce the amount of unnecessary waste created, incorporate natural features into the design of an office and bring greenery into the space to provide a healthy environment for your employees to work in. In this article we look at some of the ways this can be achieved.
Using Less Energy – Becoming More Energy Efficient
When it comes to eco-friendly office design and making your office more energy efficient it’s not just about having a policy in place to “turn off or power down equipment” although this can play an important part in reducing the amount of electricity being used when equipment is not required or not in use. It’s about considering your business’s overall energy consumption and how energy efficient your office and your processes are, day and night.
Office Lighting
A case in point is your office lighting. Many companies forget to consider how much their office lighting is costing them. Many companies leave lights on during the night. How many offices have you seen with light blazing from every window during the evening and night even though there are no office staff present?
A simple solution is to encourage staff to shut off the lights if they are the last to leave the office. Take Innocent, the smoothie maker in London who has fitted a second circuit on every floor and a giant leaver at the exit which is labelled ‘last leaver pull the leaver’ to power down the whole building – a great way of incorporating energy saving into the office design as well as a fun way of reminding staff to turn off the lights without having to constantly play big brother.
Other ways of regulating lighting is through daylight dimming controls and occupancy detection/motion detection lighting systems which can be set to monitor the lighting in a building.
It’s important to use natural light wherever possible as natural lighting can play a very important role in staff health and wellbeing. However where natural light is not available e.g. in an internal office, recessed LED lighting can be installed into a suspended ceiling. LED lighting although initially more expensive can offer 50% or more energy cost savings which will lead to a reduction in a company’s energy bill, potentially saving by hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.
Flooring
When it comes to flooring there are a great number of eco-friendly office design options. Eco-friendly flooring falls into two categories – flooring made from sustainable materials and flooring that’s been reclaimed.
Wood is the flooring of choice for many companies as it’s hard-wearing, low-maintenance and it looks good. Nevertheless there are certain environments where wood is not suitable e.g. areas where there is high humidity and where hygiene is of the utmost importance.
Carpet is also a popular choice for flooring in office environments as it’s hard-wearing and is capable of withstanding a lot of wear and tear. Fitted carpet is being replaced by carpet tiles in many businesses as replacing one or two carpet tiles rather having to replace a whole carpeted area is more costs effective and causes less disruption. However unless the carpet is made from recycled material it will not be environmentally friendly.
There are a host of other options including cork, concrete and bamboo if you want to be more adventurous.
Furniture
Sustainable office furniture can be made from high quality sustainable materials.
Many pieces of office furniture are primarily made of wood but for it to be environmentally friendly the wood needs to be reclaimed or FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified.
Natural fabrics, such as wool (or other natural fibres) as opposed to man-made fabrics or materials with a high-recycled content can also be used. Recycled PET (bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate) can be used to make soft fibre material which can be used to make office chairs.
One thing to look out for is whether the furniture adheres to the Cradle-to-Cradle certification which looks at how a product is designed and made and whether it’s eco-friendly.
Waste Management
When planning your office layout don’t forget to take into account the need to recycle your office business waste. Think about installing a central recycling/scrap paper bin/box for any paper that can be recycled or reused.
Use recycled paper if possible and encourage staff to print double-sided or duplex copies and only use colour when it’s absolutely necessary.
Alternatively use digital copies online that you can email to colleagues rather than printing them out. Additionally think about putting a message at the end of your emails saying something like “Before printing, think about the environment”.
There are many ways for your office to become eco-friendly and by doing so you’ll not only be playing your part in helping the environment and reducing your carbon footprint but you’ll save your company money too.
To find out more about eco-friendly office design and refurbishment contact JBH Refurbishments on 0333 207 0339 or via out contact form.
