December 11, 2022

Lambeth plans major expansion in sustainable office space

by Jayne Smith • Company news, Environment, Property

Lambeth is set for London’s biggest increase in sustainable office space over the next decade with an estimated six million square feet of extra space for business set to be created. A report commissioned by Lambeth Council details this expansion, how it supports the borough’s growth priorities and delivers space fit for the future of work. The report ‘Lambeth: The Future of Sustainable Work’ sets out how expansion supports the council’s bold ambitions to foster well-paid jobs in growth sectors for the borough’s young people, to achieve its Net Zero by 2030 outcome and to create an environment for local entrepreneurs to flourish. More →

December 2, 2022

Office sector net zero targets require significant shift in thinking

by Jayne Smith • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

A new report, Delivering Net Zero Carbon in the Workplace [BCO members only] produced by University College London Consultants (UCLC) for the British Council for Offices (BCO), claims to identify the barriers that businesses are facing as they strive to drastically reduce the carbon footprint of their offices. The report, informed by over 100 office occupiers and building professionals, outlines the measures that those working in the office sector can take to overcome these barriers at what the report suggests is low or zero cost. More →

November 28, 2022

KI Postura+ chair reaches first milestone on journey towards 100 percent recycled content

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Works Magazine

KI has confirmed that Postura+ will begin its transition to a product for the circular economy, with all one-piece chairs manufactured from December 2022 set to contain at least 30 percent recycled polypropylene. Following over 3 years of trials and testing, this achievement sets an important milestone on KI’s journey towards taking a leading position in the circular economy. Over the coming years, KI will work towards increasing this percentage to future milestones 50, 80 and ultimately 100 percent, bringing all standard colours into line with the increasingly popular Jet Black chairs which are already made with 100 percent recycled content. More →

November 10, 2022

Summing up where the office now stands in the scheme of things

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working

The argument about what it takes to encourage people to come into the office more often seems to have boiled down to an equation. It’s now common to hear somebody argue that the office has to be worth the commute it takes to get to it. So, if you want people to spend more time in the building, you need to do the maths. O must be greater than or equal to C More →

November 8, 2022

Zero carbon tech for building materials gets $12 billion commitment at COP27

by Neil Franklin • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News

The World Economic Forum and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate announced today at COP27, the expansion of a coalition of global companies, to commit $12 billion in 2030 purchase commitments for zero carbon and green technologies to decarbonise the cement and concrete industry and other hard-to-abate sectors. The latest expansion of the First Movers Coalition – made up of 65 companies with a collective market value of approximately $8 trillion – focuses on cleaning up one of the world’s most carbon-intensive industry sectors through purchasing commitments for low-carbon technology. From construction and engineering to real estate and developers, newly announced First Mover companies have committed to purchasing at least 10 percent near-zero cement and concrete per year by 2030. More →

October 24, 2022

Offices remain largely unchanged in wake of pandemic

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

Most businesses are failing to invest in collaborative offices that could encourage people to spend more time in them and take advantage of new work cultures, a report claims. More than four in five UK workers (83 percent) surveyed by YouGov on behalf of Microsoft Surface find themselves still in the same office environment as before the pandemic. The majority of those surveyed believe that office work is better suited to both socialising with colleagues (57 percent) and strengthening relationships with colleagues (65 percent) compared to remote work. More →

September 23, 2022

Digital twin in Birmingham will drive innovation and clean energy in the city

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Technology

A digital twin that can comprehensively model and test pathways to clean energy and net zero emissions in East Birmingham is being planned in a partnership between the University of Birmingham, Birmingham City Council and Siemens. A feasibility study has been commissioned which demonstrates how a virtual representation of the energy and transport infrastructure within East Birmingham and Tyseley Environmental Enterprise District (TEED) will help to outline pathways for decarbonisation. More →

September 21, 2022

The twenty-five technologies that can help climate action

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Technology

A new report by the World Economic Forum’s Climate Trade Zero initiative calls for scaling up trade in 25 key technologies to support climate action and cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 to meet targets set out in the Paris Agreement on climate change. As many parts of the world face rising energy bills, reducing trade barriers can cut technology costs, as well as speed up availability, innovation, access and adoption. More →

August 4, 2022

ESG: only a third of people think their workplace has a positive impact on society and the environment

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Wellbeing

According to a poll from YuLife and YouGov, just over a third (39 percent) of people think their place of work has some sort of positive impact on society and the planet. This is in spite of the many announcements from organisations about how ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) can boost employee engagement and help them stand out from their competitors. With many businesses having upped their ESG investment in recent years, the new YuLife-YouGov report claims to shed light on what UK working adults want and expect from their workplaces, equipping businesses with vital insights into how to focus their ESG programmes most effectively. More →

July 28, 2022

Hybrid working success depends on the creation of ‘digital HQs’

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News

Around three quarters of people think that so-called digital HQs are fundamental to making hybrid working a success, according to a new report from Slack. The study also claims to reveals how both virtual and in-person office etiquette has changed along with new workplace habits. The survey of over 1,000 UK office workers suggests that the majority (73 percent) believe hybrid working is ‘here to stay’ and 53 percent think businesses should operate on a digital-first approach. Spending more time at home is a must for most with over 3 in 5 (66 percent) likely to start looking for a new job if hybrid or remote working is not offered. Over two-thirds believing hybrid work has helped them with the cost of living crisis, with less being spent on transport and lunches. More →

July 20, 2022

Toxic work culture continues to bedevil certain sectors

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Healthcare is among the worst industries in the UK for a certain type of toxic work culture, a new study by Delamere claims. The study claims to have identified the industries with the worst attitudes towards what it calls toxic hustle culture. Hustle culture refers to people feeling pressured to work tirelessly in order to constantly make money and be productive. More →

June 30, 2022

The fifteen minute city will transform the way we think about workplaces

by Wybo Wijnbergen • Cities, Features, Flexible working, Property

For most of history, there have been a small number of immovable truisms that formed the nature of what work is, and how communities form around it. While individuals have long held some agency around the structure and pattern of their work, being present in a communal workplace has been a non-negotiable reality. This need to work from an office comes wed with parallel requirements to help facilitate it. Employees have been willing to strike a compromise between where they wish to live and where they want to work through commutes, with the financial and time cost and associated stress that comes along with it. More →