June 30, 2015

Is the environment now a non-issue for building occupiers and managers?

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Environment, Facilities management, Workplace design

This week, I took part in a series of debates in London and Manchester. The discussions, led by Rob Kirkbride of the US workplace design trade journal Monday Morning Quarterback, focused on workplace trends in North America and Europe, based on the issues that dominated the recent Neocon show in Chicago. This in turn is based on the premise that what suppliers talk about when they present their products in public reflects what their clients are saying to them. However, one subject we didn’t cover in any detail was the environment, because nobody was talking about it very much at Neocon. Indeed nobody seems to talk about it very much at exhibitions anywhere these days. While few would deny that sustainability is an important subject, could it be that it is now something of a non-issue for building occupiers and their suppliers?

June 28, 2015

The latest issue of Insight weekly is now available for you online

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, Furniture, Newsletter, Work&Place, Workplace design

In this week’s issue; Mark Eltringham on the challenge for FMs in managing buildings not of their own making; and why Charles Eames came to tire of his association with his famous lounge chair. Douglas Langmead explains how the patterns of work and place in the Middle East evolved differently from the west and Lee Parsons warns that not enough thought is given to creating workspaces that support knowledge circulation. We provide a gallery of the winners of this year’s RIBA awards; the CIPD and BIFM identify ways the office environment influence workplace performance, construction begins on the UK’s “greenest commercial building” and new DOH guidelines on creating a productive and healthy workplace. Subscribe for free quarterly issues of Work&Place and for weekly news via the subscription form in the right hand sidebar, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

June 24, 2015

Construction work completes on UK’s greenest commercial building

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Environment, News, Property

Morgan Sindall has completed construction of what is claimed to be the UK’s greenest commercial building, the Enterprise Centre at the University of East Anglia. The building boasts record-breaking sustainability credentials including both BREEAM Outstanding and Passivhaus accreditations. It has been designed to maximise the use of low embodied carbon materials over a projected 100-year life span. The building incorporates an innovation lab, a 300-seat lecture theatre, flexible workspaces, teaching and learning facilities, as well as business ‘hatcheries’ and incubator units for small businesses and start-ups in the low carbon sector. The developers believe that by placing like-minded academic and private sector occupiers side by side, the centre will foster innovation, stimulate smarter ways of working, promote industry standards and create new sustainable supply chains.

June 17, 2015

Eight sustainability megatrends that will impact on UK real estate

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The ‘Big Eight’ sustainability megatrends that will impact on real estate over the next 15-20 years have been identified in a new report by JLL. Analysing a total of 40 themes, JLL’s Upstream Sustainability Services team claims to have pinpointed eight interconnected trends which are most critical. These are the low carbon economy; technological innovation; urbanisation; land and resource scarcity; workforce transformation; changing demographics; health and wellness; and transparency and social value. According to the report these trends present opportunities as well as risks. Forward-thinking companies which are able to unpick and manage climate change and extreme weather risk, build resilient supply chains, exploit the latest developments in technology, and anticipate the needs of the modern office worker or consumer will stay competitive and succeed.

June 15, 2015

‘Tree office’ coworking space opens in an East London Square

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace design

A new kind of workplace has been opened in London…an office built around a tree. The pop-up office designed as a coworking space is based in Hoxton Square in the first initiative from the Park Hack project, led by Groundwork London and Hackney Council, set up to test new innovative models that sustain and enhance public open spaces. It is designed to operate as a working office and will be available to hire over the next seven months for businesses, creative workers and community groups. It is equipped with a power supply and WiFi and has the capability to also host small meetings or intimate events. Those who hire the space will be directly supporting the local environment, with income generated being reinvested into Hackney’s parks and green spaces. TREExOFFICE is also featured in the London Festival of Architecture that is taking place this month.

June 12, 2015

‘Trailblazing’ firm wins Gold Award for sustainable buildings

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

Environmental engineers Max Fordham have been named Gold Award winners in the 2015 Ashden Awards which champion sustainable buildings. The firm, which was the recipient of the Ashden Award for Sustainable Buildings, works with architects to minimise the energy requirements of new buildings. This results in buildings that can meet many of their own lighting, heating and air conditioning needs through measures such as harnessing natural light and ventilation. Its work on new buildings – such as the Hive [pictured] can cut carbon emissions by up to 50 percent. Demand Logic, a clean tech company that helps large buildings make big savings on their energy bills, won the 2015 Impax Ashden Award for Energy Innovation for a cloud-based system which plugs into the management system of commercial buildings and detects what it calls ‘energy insanities’ where, for example, energy sapping systems such as boilers are left on when not needed.

June 11, 2015

Government urged by top organisations to combat climate change

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

In an open letter to the Financial Times, 80 UK businesses, including Willmott Dixon, Cisco, E.on, Kinnarps, UK-GBC and BT have joined with the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) to call on the government to take action to combat climate change. It calls on the administration to; seek a strong global deal in Paris in December which limits temperature rises to below 2°C; set an ambitious 5th carbon budget to drive forward UK emissions reductions (covering period 2028-32) and establish a long-term framework for investment in the low-carbon economy. WWF-UK Chief Executive David Nussbaum said: “British business is ready to step up. From construction and energy to retail, the best British enterprises know that green growth is the future. They take on board that it’s no longer credible to base a sustainable economy on fossil fuels, so the Government should put us on track for a low-carbon world.”

May 21, 2015

Over two thirds of UK staff care about energy efficiency at work

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News

New research claims that 68 percent of UK workers care about energy efficiency at work and of these, 22 per cent said they care a great deal. The survey by YouGov for British Gas Business found that Hospitality and Leisure workers care the most – 82 percent – about saving business energy. Other industries that ranked highly were Financial Services (77%) and Manufacturing (76%). With almost two thirds (62%) confirming that their workplace invests in saving energy, it is clear that it is important for companies and organisations to be energy efficient. Yet, less than half (43 %) of workers said that their company or organisation ensures that all lights and computer screens are switched off when not in use and less than 1 in 5 (18%) said they conduct a regular energy audit.

May 2, 2015

The latest issue of Insight Weekly is available to view online ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, Newsletter, Property, Technology

In this week’s issue; Mark Eltringham lists the three workplace issues that could influence the general election, Maciej Markowski cites some examples of how companies are using Gamification and Sara Bean reports on a global career success survey which found staff rate happiness and flexibility over performance. In news; the first building to be certificated under the new BREEAM Refurbishment and Fit-Out standard and HSBC’s move to a new landmark building in Birmingham – not abroad – is given speedy assent. A new study warns of a growing number of European employees going rogue with their own digital devices and apps and Gartner urges organisations to draw-up a ‘manifesto’ that of digital best practice. Sign up to the newsletter via the subscription form in the right hand sidebar and follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

April 30, 2015

Many UK SMEs are falling short on green credentials, claims report ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, News

Many British small and medium sized businesses are putting their competitiveness and reputation at risk because they are not doing enough to improve their environmental credentials, according to a new report from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking. The findings show that one in five (19 percent) of the firms surveyed for the study accept they are not doing enough to take on environmentally responsible practices and that although a quarter (25 percent) of SMEs say green issues are a top three priority for the year, the vast majority (71 percent) admit they do not understand the positive impact environmental responsibility can bring. The report also highlights the mismatch in perceptions of environmental issues between those who have successfully implemented green policies and those yet to do so.

April 29, 2015

First BREEAM standard for refurbishment and fit-out awarded to Bristol office ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

An office at Bristol’s Aztec West Business Park has become the first building to be certificated under the new BREEAM UK Refurbishment and Fit-Out standard. Legal & General Property’s building at 740 Waterside Drive has been awarded design stage ‘Very Good’ ratings against Parts 2 and 3 of the scheme for the refurbishment and fit-out of its core and local services. The £5 million, 51,000 square feet project took 30 weeks to complete and includes an extensive range of refurbishments and improvements. These include fully replacing the mechanical and electrical systems, installing photovoltaic panels on the roof, enhancing the airtightness of the building and improving its EPC rating to achieve an EPC A. BREEAM UK Refurbishment & Fit-Out 2014 has been developed to assess a wide range of project types.

April 24, 2015

Are these this year’s ten most sustainable buildings in North America? ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected what they claim are the nation’s top ten examples of sustainable architecture and ecological design projects. The COTE Top Ten Awards program, now in its 19th year, claims to be the profession’s most rigorous recognition program for sustainable buildings. The program highlights projects that are the result of an “integrated approach to architecture, natural systems and technology … which make a positive contribution to their communities, improve comfort for building occupants and reduce environmental impacts through strategies such as reuse of existing structures, connection to transit systems, low-impact and regenerative site development, energy and water conservation, use of sustainable or renewable construction materials, and design that improves indoor air quality.”