[Closed] Tips for a more 'sustainable' office.................

If you still use fax machines, then ditch them and use something computer based.

Install an auto shut down function for your pc's - say after 6pm pc can go on auto shut down after a certain amount of inactivity.

Do you have a building management system?

Low energy light bulbs/lighting.

As a practice you could use the go-to meeting software and have on-line meetings with consultants (if you don't already) resulting in less car journeys etc.

Architects practice here so doing similar stuff.

Fax machine is redundant (but some old school contractors still send info from site)

10 people max in office so we all shut down anyway.

No management system in place.

I saw an email lying printed out on the laser's out-tray yesterday and had a little chuckle.
It was a 2 page email, the first page had the useful email stuff, the second page contained nothing apart from a single email footer paragraph extolling that XYZ was a green company and to think carefully before wasting paper printing emails.

So my tip would be to cut paper waste by not adding eco footers to emails 🙂

Look at reducing other waste, we have a wormery for food waste, separate out other recycleables, reeductions in power used for lighting, water useage, energy costs in getting to/ from work, energy certification of the building, how what you design affects others, keeping up to date with current legislation, etc etc.
Oh, and making sure you don't specify green walls.

Look at ISO 14001.

ISO14001 just tells you what you need to do to get accreditation.
Look at various practice's websites - RSP, SNFP, FCB etc etc.

Turn your heating down.

Not meaning to be negative, but why are you bothering? If I was (either as client or an architect)looking for an architectural practice that could really produce 'sustainable' (sic) design, I sure as hell wouldn't look for one that needed to look for advice from a forum like this. If it's just a window-dressing exercise then don't bother. There will always be clients around who are naive or shallow enough to not care/swallow any line you care to feed them about your 'eco-credentials', without you needing to change a thing, and architects willing to spoon feed them crap that keeps them happy. The last thing the architecture profession needs is more people jumping on the sustainability bandwagon with no real idea of what 'sustainability' really means or how (if?) it can be achieved.

If you were serious about producing a more socially/environmentally responsible office, then presumably you'd already have some of the skills and knowledge you'd need from your design work that would translate directly through your working practices. Surely that's the best place to start? Treat it as a design project, if you can't design your way out of the problems your office currently has, the work you produce for clients is unlikely to be much better. Invest some time and resources into training your staff well and it should be pretty difficult to stop them working smarter, reducing consumption and waste, as well as producing better projects for the world outside your office, the combined impacts of which, (assuming you are a successful practice) will far outweigh any measures taken in the office.

Ok, that started out negatively (sorry), but hopefully you can see what Iäm trying to get at.

Amazes me the amount of paper folk waste by printing off every document in full.

If you need to reference a paper copy then only print the pages you need (or select the text and then choose "Selection" on the print dialog).

Also, if your eyes are okay, always print 2-up (2 pages per sheet) and double-sided.

BREEAM for offices has some guidelines.

http://www.breeam.org/page.jsp?id=17

try the pre-assessment estimator for management and operation or the BREEAM offices manual

agreed with full stop, there are a lot of "parasitic" energy uses in offices such as servers, computers and pretty much anything with a transformer, which use power even when they're off. You probably can't switch the server off but might be able to run it more efficiently, or cool it better.

Also look at things like draughts, though that really depends on what kind of office you have. Most architects I work with have old leaky buildings!

Other than that lighting is always big, use flourescent tubes and light to a lower level, then use task lights for individuals who need it (though these obviously need to be compact flourescent or perhaps LED)

Your best start is to find out where yourr energy is going, nowatt can be useful, and record your gas meter readings.

Thanks for all the 'tips'

Thanks for nothing Crouch_potato. Hope you feel better soon.........

[i]Turn your heating down. [/i]

key to this is sacking all women who work in your office. Otherwise it just gets turned up to 'hotter than the sun' setting as soon as nobody is looking.

maybe he should change his name to Grouch_potato

"key to this is sacking all women who work in your office."

I'm saying nothing...

The Fuel and Electricity (Heating)(Control)(Amendment) Order 1980 prohibits the use of energy to heat non-domestic buildings to more than 19 deg C.

Not a lot of people know that...

Might sound horribly 'Management' but use a 'top down' approach. If senior partners have not 'bought in' then it can be very difficult to implement.

Take meaningful measurements to show benefits (cost vs savings). Put procedures in place to be adhered to by all. Then audit those procedures at regular intervals to review their effectiveness. Use a PLAN, DO, CHECK, ACT methodology.

Plan: establish the objectives and processes necessary to deliver results.
Do: Implement these processes.
Check: monitor and measure the processes against objectives (are the processes delivering the desired results?).
Act: Take action to continually improve performance of the implemented processes.

It takes a commitment to achieve an effective system/policy otherwise you'll end up 'tinkering round the edges'.

I have to agree to a certain extent with crouch_potato. And this comes from writing an environmental policy for an environmental consultancy !! I should imagine that your organisation isnt particulalry un-environmentally friendly in the first place, so any changes you implement just arent going to make much difference. The main changes you can make are implementing more 'sustainability' into your designs and recommendations. This takes a lot more commitment than just preparing a policy which can be attached to tender submissions.

Hi Ransos
[i]"The Fuel and Electricity (Heating)(Control)(Amendment) Order 1980 prohibits the use of energy to heat non-domestic buildings to more than 19 deg C."[/i]

That's well worth knowing, thanks. Perhaps that's another string to my bow.

I'm forever complaining about the heat in this place. It tops nearly 25C at times, and is worse in winter than summer. We have a lot of test kit running also, which doesn't help.

Of course every time I make inroads, it's generally the secretary who complains and gets it turned back up whilst I sweat!

see...QEfrickin'D, assuming mountaincarrot's secretory is a lass..?

Like it or not, crouch potato is right.
How can you try to project yourselves as "sustainable" engineers when you have no ****ing idea about sustainability?

The Fuel and Electricity (Heating)(Control)(Amendment) Order 1980 prohibits the use of energy to heat non-domestic buildings to more than 19 deg C.

Thanks for nothing Crouch_potato. Hope you feel better soon.........

Hey, that wasn't the way I intended it to come across Alek, so sorry you feel like that. My post was slightly tongue in cheek, but the general sentiment behind it remains. What I was trying to say was that architecture really suffers from a lack of understanding what 'sustainability' can, or might mean. Particularly in the UK recently a lot of practices have been keen to 'greenwash' (excuse the crap term) their image as it's seen as a massive advantage in the current scene. The results are often cynical, badly resolved, and at worst counter-productive.

The basic principles that you might apply to a 'sustainable' design project are surely the same as those you'd try to enact in your own work environment- if they are not already in place then you have to question why. In my opinion, the most effective way to ensure that your office is actually capable of producing good design [i]through[/i] everyday practices is to try and keep everyone personally motivated to work (and produce work) in the way you hope them to, and skilled enough to produce work of quality that can make the most of their motivation to produce architecture.

If the staff aren't motivated, then it can be difficult, however many architects I know do have a real will to create 'sustainable' architecture, even if they don't have the training or knowledge (or senior partners) that enable them to put it into practice. If this is the case, good employers will value having a skilled workforce that give them a competitive edge- hence why I reckon resources put towards having a team capable of producing really good work is very good value.

Let's say your practice works on one project a year, and for the sake of argument itäs an office with similar requirements as your own. Within a decade, you have 10 times the number of offices. The resource and energy use (etc) of these 10 will be far more significant than your single office. If you take time to invest in knowledge that enables 'sustainable' design to be produced, the environmental benefits will be far greater felt in these 10 projects than a few measures taken in your own office, no matter how well intended. Clearly, a viable practice is likely to have a far greater output than this, so the effects are multiplied again.

Anyway, hope that makes my point a little better, and good luck with it. Hope I came across as less off a **** than before this time, it'd be interesting to see what you come up with.

(edit) and JacksonPollock is right on the money- good post.

Remember you only occupy your office for around 20% of the total hours per year, so keep an eye on the stuff that's powered 24/7.
Our place uses more kWh outside office hours than during office hours 🙁

But as an architectural practice you should be telling us what to do 😀
I assume you've read Cradle to Cradle?

How can you try to project yourselves as "sustainable" engineers when you have no ****ing idea about sustainability?

WTF? Where did the OP say that's what he wanted to do?

He just said he was "looking into ways to make our office more 'sustainable'" - not trying to change the world or re-invent his company as eco warrior architects.

Why do you think they're trying to do it?
A sense of moral responsibility?
If they're serious about this, they'll send staff on training or employ a good engineer.
On the other hand, if they're just wanting to demonstrate green credentials to a client with the minimum effort and cost possible....

If you want to do the job properly then it'll be worth going for an environmental management system. That'll give a framework to make sure that you target your efforts. Perhaps consider something like the Acorn scheme to implement this in bite size chunks.

I agree entirely with JP that you need to sell the idea to your management to make sure that it's implemented wholeheartedly. I shouldn't be too hard to make a business case based on cost savings. Also try the Envirowise website for case studies, advices and possibly free consultant visits.

Otherwise the suggestions which you've made are a start. Good luck 🙂

"Thsi was bought in after the last energy crisis and nobody has bothered to change it and it is never enforced."

Yes, I know. That doesn't mean that it couldn't be enforced, or that it couldn't be given as a reason for turning the heating down.

Why do you think they're trying to do it?
A sense of moral responsibility?

We have a few basic "eco" measures here, such as recycle bins for paper, shred&recycle bins for confidential stuff, power-saving settings on PCs etc - but all were brought in by staff suggestion. Or a "sense of moral responsibility" if you like.

There is no company bollocks claiming that we're eco (because we're not).

But architects should be leading on this.

stop using concrete as a building resource.
refuse to use construction materials sourced over a certain distance from building project.
use passive and active thermal/solar design to reduce HVAC loads.
increase use of natural ventialtion on projects.
never build a data centre.

any 'monitor turns itself off BS' will pale into insignificance compared to almost any construction project you work on...

But architects should be leading on this.

Agreed, but the OP may not be in position to completely re-invent the entire ethos of his company.

If he'd asked "I'm a CEO of a company of architects. How should we try to change the world?" then maybe...

'The Management' are working on the policy.........

We 'the working staff/technicians' have merely been asked to contribute to any 'other' slightly more obscure ways in which we can/are sustainable.

So apologies for any confusion but all I was after was 'simple' ways to be 'more' sustainable in the work place.

Yes, I know. That doesn't mean that it couldn't be enforced, or that it couldn't be given as a reason for turning the heating down.

It is unenforcable and rightly so, 19degC is insufficient for most people in winter.

?? Is 19°C a bit colder in winter than in summer?

As an architect you could make a much bigger impact in the designs and specifications you pump out. An office of 10 people is pretty much as CP was getting at - a token exercise.

Get everyone riding to work.

Graham, have you studied comfort?
EDIT: in fact, have you ever managed a building or designed HVAC systems?

Oh, and are you in a multi-tennanted building? Get some ‘green clauses’ in the agreement with your Landlord, make sure he’s on board. Especially make sure energy use is monitored and displayed amongst other occupants.

Forget about all the other stuff, just work from home more. Job done.

Graham, have you studied comfort?

No, but I consider myself an expert in lounging around if that helps. 😀

in fact, have you ever managed a building or designed HVAC systems?

Err. no.. I'm a software engineer.. hence my ?? at your statement.
I suspect if I was a highly trained HVAC specialist I would have just nodded sagely instead.

A few for consideration. Unlikely that they will/can be implemented but demonstrates a thought process.

Abolish overtime working - Prevents the need to heat and light a building for just 1 person working late.
Closure of the office at set times of the year (ie during christmas) - No more of this 1 person coming in to work because hes used all his holiday up. - this could be extended to assigning defined holiday periods when all staff take Anual leave - not disimilar to a 'factory shut down'.

"Forget about all the other stuff, just work from home more. Job done."

Probably not. The extra demand for home heating outweighs the saving on commuting, unless you're driving a reasonable distance.

Probably not. The extra demand for home heating outweighs the saving on commuting, unless you're driving a reasonable distance.

Depends if there's already someone else at home or not, in my case there's already 2 other family members here all day

"Get real. It is unenforcable and rightly so, 19degC is insufficient for most people in winter"

So it's sufficient in the summer?

I have my home thermostat set to 19 degrees, and it's perfectly adequate. Put a jumper on and MTFU.

Anyway, as I'm sure you're aware, the legislation does not prevent office temperature from rising above 19 degrees.

To be a littl emore constructive, I would suggest buying you're electricity from a green (renewable) tariff. Look at the control of your heating (timers, optimisers, deadbands etc as well as the set points). 21degC is usually ample for IT suites. Do not allow heating on weekends for the odd joe who works. Recycle obviously and look at composting food waste if you have a cafeteria. Put signs up for staff to turn off lights (this actually works!). Record your energy usage weekly from the meters and aim to reduce it every year, you cannot quantify what you do not measure.
Personally, I'm comfortable at 20degC which is cold in comparison to most people. I have absolutely no requirement to "MTFU" thank you.

"Depends if there's already someone else at home or not, in my case there's already 2 other family members here all day "

I appreciate that it depends on individual circumstances, but in most cases there's going to be an extra home heating requirement. My house is unoccupied from 9-6pm every weekday, so uses no heating at all in that period.

What about TRVs? You're only working in 1 room, so why heat the whole house? Why have the heating on at all? Just MTFU and get in your sleeping bag.

Probably not. The extra demand for home heating outweighs the saving on commuting, unless you're driving a reasonable distance.

We don't maintain permanent offices either, just serviced offices that are used as and when we need them.

I can't imagine why any information based enterprise would need permanent offices.

Motion sensors for the lights in toilets, server rooms etc. That way the lights will come on/go of when needed. Eliminating the chance of leaving lights on.

Not really viable in the main office though!

Personally I wear one of these at all times:
[img] [/img]

Saves a fortune on heating bills 🙂

Don't employ old(er) people. I have a guy in the office who it would seem is incapable of reading from a screen so he prints off everything. Drives me nuts.

Architect being eco? Join AECB. Listen and Learn.

[i]Looking into ways to make our office more 'sustainable' so currently working on a green policy[/i].

[i]Recycling paper, photocopying in booklet form, cycling to work, car sharing........all seem obvious inclusions but do you have any others[/i]

OP above. After reading it again I don't really understand how some responses were so 'off the mark'. Generally most of the STW'ers got the question 'tips on how to' make staff and they're use of office a little more enviromentally friendy.

But I did not expect some of the responses at all!! And I thought this was a [u]chat[/u] forum where other friendly forum users would happily give out advice as they see fit for the question, and also some banter along the way (Cheers GrahamS).

As for the Eco Warriors of the forum and those a others who are so highly strung that they mis-read the question......!!!! lighten up, just a little bit pls.

C_P - I appreciate your second response but again back to my OP and suggestions quoted which were Recycling paper/printing in booklet form/cycling to work/car sharing. I thought this might give everyone an idea of where the question was going. Obviously not. At no point did I mention Heating (we have M+E consultants for this) insulation, sourcing local materials, use of timber, enviromental impact and all other aspects associated to a Sustainable Report for an individual project. Which are not subjects for bike chat forum. Chill.

And your point about greenwashing I would say has had an impact on every business (not just Architecture).

[b]Must[/b] pay more attention on the wording of my 'posts' in future.

With being architects, you'll need some fairly hefty graphics processing power, however, there may be some thin-client solutions available? this could cut down the cost of your computing bill?

heating? hard floors and UFH - a more comfortable environment and generally a little more cost effective to run

energy suppliers that are green (already mentioned)

BMS solutions, control your lighting, heating - integrate it, tie it in to the alarm system to 'shut down' when the alarm is set.

I went to see a chap a while ago who's property was built from polystyrene building blocks, tied together internally with rebar and then backfilled with concrete, he advised that the heating costs of the property would be so low (it had 50mm kingspan as well) that the CO2 used in the concrete would be offset by absolute minimal heating costs - which was done with ground source heat pump and heat exchangers.

Good luck with doing your bit 😉

jt 😉

I went to see a chap a while ago who's property was built from polystyrene building blocks, tied together internally with rebar and then backfilled with concrete, he advised that the heating costs of the property would be so low (it had 50mm kingspan as well) that the CO2 used in the concrete would be offset by absolute minimal heating costs - which was done with ground source heat pump and heat exchangers.

Hmm, someone's been suckered then....

Being a HVAC designer, low carbon consultant and registered Offices BREEAM assessor I'd say if you are in an existing building you've left the sustainability thing a little late.

Sustainability is about energy efficiency in your services (primarily minimising the requirements by the use of natural light, ventilation, etc, regardless of its generation) and sustainability of materials. You need to read up on the CIBSE Guide to Energy Efficiency and and The Green Guide to Specification.

Oh and UFH and offices with computers are not a good mix (especially in a well insulated building) as the internal heat gains (compounded with any solar) will lead to excessive overheating during the mid season due to the high thermal mass IMHO.

🙄

🙄 +1

😮 x 2...

OK.....[b]MAYBE[/b] [u]sustainable[/u] is not the correct wording (obviously as the question is still lost in translation)

Lets re-phrase it - Any common sense ideas to stop wasting resources or unnecessary land fill dumping. Does that sound more 'correct!'

Again I think I'm going to have to answer my own question, just so that you get the idea of the 'tips' I'm after.

Filling out online application forms (no paper)
Not printing every e-mail for the file - use laptop
Web-site facility to download PDF's for client/contractor use (no paper/no postage)
Use second-class mail for letters where applicable.
Recycle teabags/paper. Disposing of old electrical equipement correctly.
Walk to work/Cycle to work/Car share.
Turning the heating down.
Use of motion activated lighting.

Do the STW massive have any other 'simple' suggestions to add?

And breathe...............................................................

From an energy point of view use benching marking to ensure you are not over lighting (you should be <15 W/m2). Switch lights off when there is sufficient daylight or not occupied. Dont switch on those tungstens that are just display... A 'proper' lighting control system dont come cheap you know!
Ensure you don't have the heating on and the windows open (or worse AC on) at the same time.
Electronic e-mail filing?
And dont change your designs 5 times a day so people dont have to print out new drawings/send e-mails/etc as a result...

No offence but half the above seems more about saving money. Not printing drawings only pushes it on to other consultants/contractors no?

make buildings that last, age well, use renewable materials if and when possible. reckon that'll do far more than cycling to work, but do that also if you can.

Darkness-is-Golden......if in saving the environment the firm saves money so be it. Everyones a winner. Is that not the point of common sense too?

Construction drawings are always issued. Not trying to off-load costs as you mentioned. But design drawings/minor alts for approval etc.....you get the point.

The Building is window-less with heating/air con progammeable and on a timer. Building is rented. Heating etc on a contract with local technicians who check and adjust etc. This will not and can not change.

Lighting is open plan office specific. Again this will not change. No tungstens.

I feel this post is now .....exhausted and in the end completely pointless.

you're all talking dry bulb temperatures.

20 in summer isnt really 20 in winter in terms of feel.

need to do a load of mean predictive vote BS, and you will end up concluding that there is always someone who isnt happy with the temperature in your office. maybe a sustainable office policy would be to silence the whiners and glue the dial to 19?

In our office we bagged up rubbish/recycling and counted the bags out. gives you a good measure of how much waste you are making, thus you have a figure to reduce and can feel good about yourselves, rather than just 'lets reduce waste'

also why not get a pulse meter to measure electrical consumption and have it on display in reception. tis all about getiing people involved IMO so put it on display and make some charts!

Somebody has been studying fanger 😀

vital?!

trying to emulate the tash for november/charity.

<nods sagely>

ahhhh the quietly disgruntled life of an HVAC design engineer.

"Nope. Our heating comes on for a couple of hours in the morning and again in the evening. I don't use heating at all in the day.

We don't maintain permanent offices either, just serviced offices that are used as and when we need them.

I can't imagine why any information based enterprise would need permanent offices. "

As I've already said, the impact of homeworking depends on individual circumstances. But on average, it isn't a green solution.

20 in summer isnt really 20 in winter in terms of feel.

Can you (or backhander) explain what this "feel" thing is all about in simple terms to a non-HVAC layman? 😕

Is it a psychology thing? (i.e. when it's miserable outside we want to feel warmer than normal indoors).

Or is it just a problem with measurement? (i.e. only one thermometer/thermistor used for large area so need to take account of colder bits near windows and doors)

There's a whole series of lectures for this graham.
Thermal comfort is affected by a number of factors; mean surface temp, wet bulb temp, dry bulb temp, RH, air velocity, clothing, metabolic rate etc etc.
These change according to the season and the temperature of a building has to adjust accordingly. Having said that very few buildings have adequate zoning of heating.
There was a prof called Fanger whos work provides the basis of most modern beliefs of comfort. Interesting stuff if you like that kind of thing

Thermal comfort is affected by a number of factors; mean surface temp, wet bulb temp, dry bulb temp, RH, air velocity, clothing, metabolic rate etc etc.

Right.

tracknicko: Can you [s](or backhander)[/s] explain what this "feel" thing is all about in simple terms to a non-HVAC layman? 😉

key things (IMO) as picked up above are mean surface temp, dry bulb, and wet bulb.

generally the moisture content in the air in the summer is higher, leading to a warmer 'feel' / and conversly lower in winter, leaving a colder/drier feel. this is the basics of wet bulb/Relative humidity i guess.

surface temp is about the radiant effect of your walls etc. think of the whole building as a radiator. in the summer its on warm and radiates warmth at you, on the summer its on cold and consequently radiates 'coolth' (if there is such a thing - i HATE the word coolth)

easy? maybe?

Cheers Tracknico, you've explained it better than me.
I also ****ing HATE the word "coolth"

as a brief disclamer - i quit the world of HVAC in april. so anything that i say may have 6 months of inaccuracy built in 😉

Thanks both. 😀

When I read this thread it prompted me to email the team to stop wasting paper / energy / mostly money by needless printing. I came in from a meeting yesterday and somebody had printed the email off and left it in the printer tray!

[b]crouch_potato's[/b] comments are alarmingly accurate.

MTT [i]BA.Hons BArch RIBA JSA[/i] ❗

radiates 'coolth'

From my recollection of the laws of thermodynamics I thought heat flowed from a hot surface to a cold one, no, so how can you radiate backwards?

Also satisfying >85% counts as a result. You always get whiners. Usually the ones in short sleeve shirts...

tracknicko - what do you think has happened in the last 6 months thats rocked the HVAC world?