Office Space Advice
Green Serviced Offices: A 2009 Trend?
Published December 16th, 2008 by Jennifer LeClaire
With the appointment of his environmental team, experts are convinced President-elect Obama is signaling that the environment will be a serious priority in his administration. It does appear that the U.S. is taking a new direction, with the appointment of what amounts to a ‘green dream team.’
The Obama team has committed to creating 5 million new green jobs, to investing in renewable energy and to making significant reductions in greenhouse gases. Part of that commitment will manifest in a move toward green federal offices.
Will the U.S. serviced office industry get on the energy-efficiency and environmentally-friendly bandwagon Obama is assembling? If it does, it has an example to follow in the U.K. – one that shows there are simple things we can do to save energy and harmful CO2 emissions.
Avanta Models the Way
Avanta, a serviced office provider headquartered in the U.K., has recently introduced a computer power saving device that aims to help reduce CO2 use across its business centers in the U.K.
Dubbed the ecobutton, the illumination USB device acts as a reminder for office users. Here’s how it works: Whenever the computer is going to be left idle, the office user simply pushes the ecobutton. That sends the computer into ‘ecomode.’ In ecomode the computer operates more efficiently.
“As a company, we are always looking at ways to reduce our energy use and encouraging occupiers to ‘think green’,” says David Kinnaird, Avanta’s Director of Group Operations. “The ecobutton is the latest initiative which is geared towards reducing CO2 and of course there is the added financial incentive of reducing electricity bills. “
Avanta’s goal is to see the ecobutton installed in all of its U.K. centers. That would equal about 4,400 computers donning the green device. The results are potentially dramatic. Avanta figures a business running 500 computers could save over 34 tons of CO2 per year by using the ecobutton for just two hours a day. In total, Avanta could potentially save up to 2,992 tons of CO2 a year.
Switch It Off
This is not Avanta’s first effort to be energy efficient. Earlier this year the company launched a campaign to reduce energy use across its 17 business centers in London, the Thames Valley, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh.
The ‘Switch it Off’ campaign encourages office users to switch off all electrical appliances such as computers, photocopiers, fax machines and lighting at night and over the weekend. The results: Some serviced office centers slashed energy use by up to 10 percent.
Avanta has positioned itself as an environmentally-friendly serviced office provider in other ways as well. For example, the company makes recycling bins available in all break rooms and kitchens for recycling paper and mixed packaging. And a number of Avanta’s business centers have bicycle racks and shower facilities to enable and encourage people to cycle – or run – into work.
Avanta has set the pace. Will others follow? Should they?
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About the Author
Bill Brookshire December 16th, 2008 at 9:51 am
I think green offices are the wave of the future, or maybe even the present. Avanta is demonstrating that you don’t have to build a serviced office building from scratch to go green. There are simple things you can do every day to save energy and reduce carbon emissions into the environment. Kudos to Avanta for being one of the green executive office suite leaders.
Elizabeth Sanchez December 17th, 2008 at 8:15 am
It seems going green is the political correct color of the day and it is trickling its way down to executive office suites. It only makes sense to do what you can. Recycling bins aren’t a major expense and certainly cutting off the lights only saves money. I’ve heard of offices going totally digital, printing barely anything on paper, even real estate offices. That’s a great example of a green office, but there are many ways to go about it. I’d like to read more about green office rentals on this blog.
Maggie Correta December 18th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Obama has already indicated he’s going to work toward green federal office buildings. And I know Miami’s codes now call for green buildings as well. The U.S. Green Building Council has been preaching the benefits of sustainable offices from a variety of angles, including worker productivity, for more than a decade. It looks like the trend is finally trickling down to the serviced office sector.
Peter Chee December 23rd, 2008 at 11:06 pm
I’ve never seen the Eco Button, that’s one to look into. I’m not sure how much better it is to use something like that then just configure your computer to go into energy efficient mode when not in use. This button still requires someone to push the button, versus having it done automatically by the computer.
Fully serviced green offices are definitely the way to go to have a healthier and more energy efficient work space.
Thinkspace » A big green button to remind you to turn off your computer December 23rd, 2008 at 11:54 pm
[...] was reading an article about Green Office Space at A Better Office and read that a UK company which provides serviced office space is thinking of [...]
Rob Zeus December 24th, 2008 at 9:11 am
I see Peter’s point. I think Avanta is using the eco button as a reminder, of sorts. Sure, you could use the “sleep” mode on the computer. But apparently most people aren’t doing that.
Perhaps Avanta uses this as a eco-friendly gimmick, of sorts, to instill a mindset in the people and to make it easy for them. I think many of us are lazy by nature and that is part of the problem with the waste we see today.
It’s far easier, for example, to throw something into the garbage than to take it to a recycling center. Avanta makes that easy to with recycling bins. I think it’s a smart strategy all the way around. It becomes something to set Avanta apart, at some level — at least for now.