Light Green
Think sustainable; there is no other future
Reduce your (workplace) occupancy costs
Jun 13th
You play a role in running your office, however big or small it may be. As you may have realized, there are various costs which go into running an office. One of the biggest costs in any modern office especially in a city is the Rental that you are paying for our office. The Rental, along with the Operational Costs of the office is what is typically termed as the Occupancy Cost of the office, right? Wrong.
If you are calculating Occupancy Cost as Rental +Operational Cost, you may be off mark by a large extent. Occupancy Cost is the sum of capital cost of interior construction as amortised over the lease period and the rental plus outgoing cost of the running of the facility. Today most organizations spend a considerable sum of money in doing the interior fit-out. On an average, they are spending about Rs. 1300 per sq ft in Interior Construction alone. Amortise that over your Rental period and you will realize that it forms a large chunk of your Occupancy Cost.
Typically, when your organization expands and you are looking at new property acquisitions, it is rent which is often benchmarked during real estate acquisition time. Interior construction cost is not considered till the property is secured. This is the mistake we make.
Rental cost is not necessarily the ultimate measuring stick to determine the suitability of the property. You have efficient buildings and inefficient buildings. Efficient buildings are those which lend themselves to easy space planning and very little wastage of space. Often inefficient buildings command low rental prices. But such buildings will cost a premium to do the interior fit-out. This will happen as the Architect will need to allocate a larger tenancy space due to more space necessary to allocate for the extra circulation.
The other thing which could happen is that an inefficient space may be able to fit-in less people than a more efficient space. Whichever is the scenario, you end up spending a premium per sq ft (Occupancy Cost).
To keep your Occupancy Costs on the lower side, I suggest:
Consider benchmarking occupancy cost for all new property acquisitions. You could do this for the final short listed properties in your city. For example, the following are some test results of a Benchmarking Exercise for major cities in the Asia Pacific region;
The Median Occupancy Cost in this exercise turned out to be 4.95!!!! Now that immediately gives you an idea how your home city compares with the Benchmark.
So you can actually do a similar exercise (it’s a simple MS Excel sheet) for your short listed properties within a City and trust you, it will help you achieve big-time savings!
This exercise is becoming increasingly popular in the competitive West and we are sure organizations in India are doing that and/or will make this a regular part of expansion plans in the weeks to come. As they say, money saved is money earned.
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO MAKE WORKPLACES GREEN?
Feb 23rd
Workplaces use enormous amounts of electricity, paper, water, plastic and other resources and organizations spend a tremendous amount of money on them. Healthy and efficient workplaces save money for an organisation, benefit the environment by reducing pollution and the demand for resources. Such workplaces also make employees feel healthier, which in turn has a positive impact on employee productivity.
Some of the resources which can ensure a green workspace would be :
Timber: Sustainable timber is now available for both bulk timber uses (like particle board) and for high end uses such as veneers. Careful specification at the start of the project will ensure there are no adverse cost or programme implications for a project.
Flooring: There are several options to consider with flooring. What are you taking out? Is the flooring coming out of use elsewhere in your organisation, does it have a recyclable content? Carpet can often be recycled and reused, perhaps look at charities that have recycled carpets from previous projects. What are you putting in? There are lots one can do to make flooring more sustainable. One can choose carpets that have high levels of recycled content (these are now commonly available), ceramic tiles that clip together (no nasty solvent use) or naturally sourced materials like sustainable timber or bamboo.
Lighting: Incandescent lights and halogen down lights can be well avoided. These days LED light fittings come in smart designs meant for the modern workplaces and such lights can effect substantial savings in the monthly power bill. Elsewhere fluorescent lights can be used. In addition, locating motion sensors in the right spots will also save loads of electricity and ensure lights are on and off at the right time. There are hundreds of energy efficient lighting products available easily.
One can be smart with lighting by:
* Making sure appropriate luminance levels (in lux) are maintained
* Using zoned lighting, with separate controls
* Propagating use of task lighting
* Choosing light fittings with built-in daylight sensors, to make the most of natural light
* Installing infrared motion detectors for automatic lighting control
* Installing timers to shut off lighting on weekends and at night
Waste: There are really two areas to consider here.
During construction
The first is the minimization, removal and recycling of waste from the construction work involved in the project. This is the responsibility of the contractor and it is worth checking their track record and their supply chain when dealing with waste. A good contractor will be able to log and report the amount of waste produced, how it is collected and what proportion has been recycled.
During occupation
The second area is dealing with ongoing waste when the facility is occupied. If the organisation makes it easy for people to recycle, they will. Designing attractive labelled containers in the pantry and other places people drink and eat helps. Although radical, it is worthwhile to think about removing rubbish bins at people’s desks. There are companies who will collect and recycle office waste.
Heating & Cooling: Improving the all round energy efficiency of the heating and cooling systems probably provide the biggest opportunity for impacting environmental performance of the workplace.
Some highlights
* Installing insulation whenever possible – it will help keep the facility cool in summer and warm in winter
* Boilers can waste lots of energy and money – spend some time choosing the right boiler for your building needs
* Clever air-conditioning systems use heat exchangers to capture surplus heat to warm incoming air. There are many good products that can pay for themselves in less than 3 years. Getting specialist advice can ensure significant savings on energy bills. The architect and the services consultant can provide specific tailored advice on the exact situation. There is also money to be earned from carbon credits by way of reducing one’s carbon footprint and there are quite a few CDM (‘Clean Development Mechanism’) consultants in India now, who can assist with this.
Furniture: One must not forget about the furniture. Depending on the design, an Architect/Designer can specify sustainable timber and natural fabrics like wool or those with a high recycled content. One should consider buying furniture from manufacturers that have a good track record of protecting the environment and have minimized the amount of packaging their products need.
Water: Almost every part of India has a problem of not getting enough water for daily use. In such a scenario, prudent use of this scare resource is a responsibility at every level. One must install water efficient taps, showers, toilets and kitchen appliances. Besides this, it is important to consider the following:
* Wasting less water
* Choosing low water flow fittings
* Using low flush toilets
* Using waterless urinals
* Using rainwater or grey water systems
* Fitting a reliable leak detection system
* Including proximity detection shut-off to the water supply for all WCs
iDream Advisory Services Pvt Ltd is an architectural and interior designing firm with a strong commitment to building sustainable built environments. The firm has delivered green solutions to organisations across all corners of India.
DESIGNING GREEN WORKPLACES
Feb 16th
Designing workplaces with a “green” tag is an initiative which allows businesses to drastically reduce running costs. The ongoing volatility in the market coupled with the nature of high costs associated with running a workplace compels most businesses to be prudent with their financial control.
As Anirban from iDream points out “A ‘Green’ workplace is one which encompasses concern for energy efficiency, the environment, water conservation, use of recycled products and renewable energy”. Some of the salient features are;
• Minimal disturbance to landscapes and site condition
• Use of recycled and environmentally friendly building materials
• Use of non-toxic and recycled/recyclable materials
• Efficient use of water and water recycling
• Use of energy efficient and eco-friendly equipment
• Use of renewable energy
• Quality of indoor air for human safety and comfort
• Effective controls and building management systems
HOW SUCH A WORKPLACE HELPS BUSINESS
Workplaces use enormous amounts of electricity, paper, water, plastic and other resources and organizations spend a tremendous amount of money on them. Fortunately, smarter products and technologies are available, and they can be used to build, furnish, and operate better workplaces. Healthy and efficient workplaces save money for an organisation, benefit the environment by reducing pollution and the demand for resources. Such workplaces also make employees feel healthier, which in turn has a positive impact on productivity.
iDream Advisory Services Pvt Ltd is an architectural and interior designing firm with a strong commitment to building sustainable built environments. The firm has delivered green solutions to organisations across all corners of India.