With carbon footprints and water footprints becoming more and more influential in everyday activities it is important to take into account how green your office is when being redesigned.
At Building Interiors we can provide you with a solution that not only makes your office greener but also impacts your BREEAM score.
We do understand that not all organisations are looking to radically change their offices to improve its eco friendliness so we have created a list of top tips on how you can make your office greener.
Mental Actions First – Before making any physical changes within your office you need to get the mental buy-in from your staff or co-workers. Even if you aren’t a key decision maker within your company you can still influence decisions. Gather research, and point out financial benefits to management and directors to encourage them to invest in a green office.
Switch it Off – By simply Switching off electrical appliances your office can save thousands of £’s. The average office in the UK wastes £6,000 each year by neglecting to turn off equipment over weekends and holidays. As well as switching off appliances lighting makes up 15% of an offices energy so by switching to more eco-friendly lighting like LED’s your office will save money.
Go Paperless – the best thing your office can do is to digitise all the documents you use, however we understand that this isn’t very easy to implement. Try to start implementing different processes online and save them on your server and not in your office storage. There are now pieces of software available to help with this transition. If you can’t go paperless then why not try to use recycled paper for your documents as a half way point increasing the environmentally friendliness of your office.
Recycle Where You Can – As well as using recycled paper for your documents why not start recycling within the office. The majority of people recycle at home but it often goes out of the window once they get to work. Start to recycle not just paper but lunch cartons, plastic containers and other recyclable products.
Share the Commute – By introducing a car share scheme you won’t just reduce your carbon footprint but it will save you and your colleague’s money on fuel.
Stay at home – another way to reduce your carbon footprint is to work from home, commuters sat in traffic equate to a huge amount of fuel wasted each year so if you can work from home then you should.
Green Clothing – This is more of an individual change than an office based change but why not look at purchasing clothes from a second hand shop or even materials made with eco-friendly processes to lower the carbon footprint created by fashion houses across the world.
Office Design – If you’re looking to take a green office to the next level then re-designing your office to be more eco-friendly is the best way. When re-designing your office the possibilities are endless, but ensure your design team start with good air, office lighting and furniture. Look for furniture manufacturers that produce office furniture using eco-friendly processes. By changing your lighting from the traditional LG7 lighting to LED lighting you can see big reductions in your electricity bills.
These tips can save your office up to 20% in energy costs which is equivalent to about a 5% of an average company’s gross profit.
For more information on how Building Interiors can help you in making your office greener and more eco-friendly get in touch.