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Sustainable Office Design - Unlocking Performance & Productivity

By Beatrice K Otto

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AIR

BREATHE EASY

Fresh Air, Perfect Temperature

Maintaining or improving air quality and thermal comfort can have a striking effect on staff health, alertness, well-being and productivity through:

  • maximising individual control
  • reducing heat gain, by using lighter coloured exterior surfaces to reflect sunlight from the building, shading devices, or increased daylight
  • buildings that breathe - using natural ventilation as far as possible
  • low-emission furniture, materials, paints and so on
  • greenery, both indoors and outdoors for shading and air purification
In Morgan Lovell's London headquarters, heating and ventilation is zoned, giving more individual control, and thus ending the need to heat a whole floor based on one cooler spot. The office also uses a heat recovery system, using extra hot air from one part of the office to heat cooler parts.

Maximise Individual Control

West Bend Mutual Insurance Company in Wisconsin found that productivity rose by 16% due to a new sustainable building, of which 4-6% was attributed to allowing individual control of temperature, air flow, lighting and white noise. Energy costs dropped 40%. Complaints about temperature levels dropped from 40 per day (calculated to cost US$25 per call) to two per week.

Energy use drops and productivity rises when people have more control over temperature and lighting levels. This can be as basic as allowing people to open and close windows, as well as more sophisticated sensors and controls.

The new DEFRA Alnwick headquarters is a "zebra" (Zero Emissions Building Renewing Alnwick), aiming for BREEAM's new highest rating of Outstanding. DEFRA staff made clear they did not want an automatic system deciding when to open and close windows; rather they will have a system that guides them on when to open or close windows to create the best environment. Information combined with individual autonomy.

Reduce Heat Gain

Materials can reduce the need for air conditioning, whether due to their physical form, their chemical composition, or their colour, since lighter colours reflect the sun's heat. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has shown that roofs painted in pale pigments can strongly reduce heat gain and air conditioning needs of buildings.

You like your employees to multitask, so ask the same of materials used in office (re)design. Degussa's Radiance is an interior paint that helps keep interior temperatures steady, reducing energy consumption for cooling and heating by up to 15%. Other wonder-paints include exterior paints that reduce heat gain from the sun, and Millennium Chemical's Ecopaint which helps reduce outside pollution by working with sunlight to neutralise smog.

Buildings that Breathe

Maximise natural ventilation and thermal regulation, such as through rooftop stack-assisted ventilation, or displacement ventilation, which allows air to pick up heat at floor level, taking it out the building via ducts or vents as it rises. Or look into wind towers mimicking ancient cooling systems in the Middle East, such as the Monodraught Windcatcher.

In the spirit of biomimicry, Loughborough, Cambridge and SUNY universities are studying termite mounds. Even in the desert, these mounds are models of self-regulating heat and ventilation. Tunnels and air conduits retain stable temperatures and moisture levels while wind energy drives air through the tunnels from the outside.

Go Green to be Cool and Clean

Greenery, inside and outside, can have a dramatic effect on air quality and cooling.

  • Green roofs - Chicago's City Hall has a 20,000 square foot green roof which has reduced air conditioning and heating costs by about US$6,000 per year. It keeps the building cool in summer beneath a moist layer, and in winter provides additional insulation. Green roofs such as the Ford factory in Dearborn also have a role to play in storm water absorption, preventing drainage systems from being overwhelmed.

  • Hanging gardens - the Aichi Expo 2005 planted a four-storey high vertical garden, called the Bio-lung, with roses, moss, vines and other plants to absorb CO2, release oxygen and help cool the surroundings, reducing the so-called 'heat island' effect of built up areas.

  • Leafy shading - planting deciduous trees near buildings can help with temperature regulation. Their summer leaves provide shade from the sun, while in winter the sun's heat can reach the building. Trees also lower the ambient outside temperature.

“A tree planted near a city building saves ten times as much carbon dioxide as a tree planted in the forest because it reduces the energy used for air conditioning and helps to cool the city. Trees provide shade and soak up groundwater which then transpires through the leaves and further cool the air. A single properly watered tree can transpire 40 gallons of water a day through its leaves, off-setting the heat from eg 100 100-watt bulbs burning 8 hours a day.”

Joseph Romm, Cool Companies

Tax Incentives

The Enhanced Capital Allowance Scheme allows you to claim 100% capital allowance for the first year of an investment in energy (or water) efficient technologies or products, including:

  • automatic monitoring and targeting
  • boilers
  • combined heat and power (CHP)
  • compact heat exchangers
  • heat pumps for space heating
  • HVAC zone controls
  • warm air and radiant heaters

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