Design A More Environmentally Friendly Office

By Erik Braunitzer, and courtesy of Douglas Elliman Real Estate Company, agents for NYC Apartments.

Designing an environmentally friendly office demonstrates social and financial wisdom.  By caring for the earth’s natural resources, you impact the environment in a positive way.  You also save money by consuming less energy. 

Before starting an office design project, educate yourself and others.  Research local sustainable offices, and find ideas and techniques that work for them.  Invite your employees and clients to share their favorite eco-friendly tips.  Write a press release that outlines your environmentally friendly design plans.  Work in partnership with the office community to reduce your carbon footprint in various ways. 

Lights

By replacing traditional light bulbs with eco-friendly bulbs, your office remains well-lit and environmentally friendly.  Available in all sizes, shapes and watts, LED light bulbs allow you to transform existing or new ceiling fixtures and desk lamps into eco-friendly lighting. 

Water

Conserve water by installing a water sensor system that notifies you of water leaks.   Install low-flow toilets and infrared faucets to reduce the amount of water office personnel use.   

Waste 

Encourage employees to recycle.  Place recycling containers alongside trash cans, and post signs that list the types of materials that can be recycled.  Designate a collections area for used ink cartridges.  Purchase rechargeable batteries, and rely on computer files rather than printed paper. 

To protect the landfill and water sources from harmful chemicals, separate and properly dispose of hazardous or chemical-laden items used during the design process and in daily office use.  Batteries, foam, tile, and paint should be disposed of separately from the regular trash.

Materials

Whether you replace the office furniture, repair the floor or repaint the building, purchase materials with low VOC ratings.  Use secondhand or recycled building and furniture materials whenever possible. 

Electricity 

Reduce your office’s energy consumption and your electric bill by turning off electronics and all lights overnight.  Instruct employees to unplug non-essential technology tools before leaving the office for the weekend.  When purchasing new printers, computers and other equipment, choose options with high energy efficiency ratings.

Temperature

Investigate geothermal options when choosing a heating and cooling system for your office.  Geothermal choices utilize the ground’s energy and decrease your energy consumption.  Alternatively, purchase an energy efficient system or install additional insulation to aid the existing system in maintaining a comfortable office temperature. 

Air

Install air purifiers to reduce allergens that aggravate asthma.  Clean the air and provide a healthy work environment for employees and clients.     

Design an environmentally friendly office, and save natural resources and money.  While the initial cost may be high, the long term savings to the environment and your budget make installing eco-friendly products worthwhile.  Choose to invest eco-friendly equipment, materials and practices for positive, long-lasting results.   

Comments

[cheap ink cartridges]

Nice tips to make our offices green. By using these tips we can save bunch of dollars and use them for other purposes also. it makes us free from budget disorders also. great post,