4 Key Elements Every Sustainable Office Should Include
Are you interested in ensuring that your business is focused on sustainability? If so, then you do need to consider the office environment and the best setup to focus on here. These are a few of the key points that you should be keeping in mind.
No Files
Your sustainable office won’t need space to store files. Indeed, with an office like this, there shouldn’t be any files lying around. You should focus on going paperless instead. The tech is available to do this. Office waste mainly documents with revision and updates. Some research suggests that this contributes to 90% of total office waste. Cutting office paper usage in the US by just 10% could
reduce gas emissions by 1.45 million metric tons
, according to experts. Going experts will usually require a business to rely on an outsourced printing solution. There are countless options like this available to small and large companies alike.
The Right Furniture
When you are purchasing furniture for your office, it’s important to make sure that you are completing the right research. Remember, eventually, even the best
office furniture
is either going to be recycled or trashed. You need to make sure that the office furniture isn’t just comfortable but eco-friendly too. While furniture like this can be more expensive, it’s often worth the investment.
Don’t Forget About Tech
You need to think about the technology that you are using in your office. The wrong tech could add a lot to your carbon footprint and your total energy usage. If you are worried about this, then you should make sure that you are researching the greenest tech. Using laptops in your office will often mean that you can avoid issues with high energy bills. Particularly, if you make the right choices here. Don’t forget, if greener tech is more expensive, you can always lease rather than purchasing it outright.
Keeping Things Natural
Finally, it’s important to try and keep things as natural as possible in your sustainable office. One key example here would be to add a few plants
around the place. This is a great way to improve the air quality of the building and bring some nature to the office. It can be used to build up a biophilic design. Don’t forget that a lot of office furniture does release chemicals into the air so you need to try and account for this.
You may also want to explore how you can use natural light more in your office space. This is often about the layout, ensuring that your team is working by the windows of the office. This is going to be beneficial to your business as a whole too. Research shows team members who work under natural light are 15% more productive!
We hope this helps you understand some of the key elements that should be part of your sustainable office design. Take the right steps here and you’ll unlock all the benefits of fully embracing sustainability in your company.
