Convert your office into a green haven and reap the rewards

It is thought that the average office in the UK wastes an estimated 20% of the energy that the company running it pays for, this works out to 20p of every £1 spent being wasted which added up over one large bill is a hefty sum.

This translates the same in any other country and any other office that haven’t taken the necessary actions to make their work environment greener and more efficient. This is a shame when you consider the simple changes that would need making to get that 20% back each and every month.

The effects of a greener office don’t stop with money either, with the advantages being passed down onto the staff that work there, right down to the company’s image. Most nations are also clamping down on sustainability and it’s only a matter of time before requirements must be met.

The basics

Lighting is possibly the biggest cause of high energy bills in any office. There will be so many examples of offices having their lights turned on 24 hours at a time for little or no reason.

The best way to supress this is to install energy-saving lights, complete with low wattage bulbs and an on-off system that allows the lights to go off when nobody is in the room and turn on when some walks in.

Climate control and general ventilation is another concern in energy costs, with so many rooms being heated without having anybody in them. To prevent this from happening and wasting both heat pollution and money, it is useful to invest in a climate control that allow for the temperature to be controlled room by room and only heat the ones that are required to be warm.

Additionally, an inefficient boiler can also see your energy bill expand by up to 30% and so making sure you’ve got a modern boiler up to government standards can be a godsend.

Offices should be taking advantage of the latest technologies, ones that heat rooms in which meetings are scheduled for and ones that monitor the use of energy employee by employee to see where money can be saved.

In the UK, you can implement these ideas tax free if you can get your building recognised by the Enhanced Capital Allowances scheme.

Efficient building, efficient staff

The impetus in modern buildings is to focus on reigning in as much natural light as possible and honing in on how to make best use of daylight. Most agree that this increases productivity thanks to employees being more attentive thanks to daylight.

To make this work, offices need to maximise the possible amount of daylight entering the building and have the air being circulated around the office as clean and fresh as possible.

Greener laws

Government legislation is soon to come into effect in the UK that will make creating greener workplaces the law and have warned of fines if companies do not keep in line with the rules.

Companies will be required to monitor their carbon footprint in the near future and purchase credits for the government to cover their emissions usage.

Improve emissions to improve your image

One statistic that often surprises people is that around 47% of carbon emissions in the UK are accounted for by shops, factories and offices. If all of these incorporated green techniques and technologies this figure would almost certainly decrease sharply.

Not only that, but a company seen to be greener will likely reign in new customers who find such activities a positive sign that they are proactive and care about more issues than just making money.

It is also an element that would do a world of good in press releases and any exposure in editorials related to the business.

Sam writes for Kingsway-business-park.com who offer office space in and around Manchester, UK. Photo by Joel Bez