SUSTAINABILITY
WEIGHING UP THE COST OF A GREEN AGENDA
Michael Page, Joint Managing Director of workplace consultant, Saracen Interiors, considers whether green credentials still earn their spot on the agenda for the offi ce environment.
‘Green’ and all that the colour stands for has become old news. It happened sometime between the new build crisis, in which many construction projects never made it beyond the drawings stage or, even worse, ground to a halt mid-construction. Then there’s the time they stopped handing out the Olympics contracts and the contractors had to just come to terms with it.
We all got a bit more enthusiastic after the Olympics, though. Team GB worked its magic and, in the last couple of years, there has been a degree of optimism which has infi ltrated industries, with construction setting its sights fi rmly forward as more projects are mooted for 2015. The future is indeed looking brighter, but is it necessarily looking green?
COST Cost has always rated highly on
clients’ agendas but now it topples most. Those businesses who have survived the last few years are more careful in their spending. If recent times have left any lasting legacy, it is one of caution. People are still looking to make short and medium-term savings and being green, for various reasons, is usually considered the more costly option – and it often is.
FLEXIBILITY There is a degree of fl exibility when
it comes to defi ning a green building
and so there is no set of guidelines that has been formalised by UK regulation; cost can still overrule sustainable options.
The ‘materials’ category, for instance, doesn’t have to be the most expensive remit to meet. There are different ways to interpret success for this particular green concern. You may not be able to afford materials that have been obtained from renewable sources and been harvested in a sustainable way but, by sourcing some of the materials locally and reducing the energy impact made via transportation, you can still secure some green Brownie points.
As well as looking outside of the box, designers and fi t-out specialists must get their clients looking further ahead. Given that more eco-friendly solutions and initiatives are designed with the long-term picture in mind, we now need clients to look forward with real vision in order to get them into that green mindset once again.
ECO-FRIENDLY
ALTERNATIVES The consulting contractor must outline the eco-friendly alternatives that are relevant to a project and draw attention to the long-term gains. It has to be sold to the client much as it was fi fteen years ago when ‘green’ was a lesser issue.
The CSR factor generally infl uences most parties once budget issues
have been overcome. If the company is public facing, being green becomes more problematic. What the company wants is likely to be driven by a desire to tick the right boxes and please its audience.
When it comes to commercial property, it is always worth it for the designer or the fi t-out consultant to appeal to the tenant/owner’s role as an employer. The upfront investment in sustainability will have a lasting effect on the users of any building and this is never more keenly demonstrated than in the commercial sector. Here, most employees still spend the majority of their working time in an offi ce and the way that their offi ce functions has to have an effect on the health and well-being of the staff.
STRIKING A BALANCE The economy has had an effect on
energy effi ciency and sustainability and in trying times, key messages tend to go out of the window, but there is now room for some balance. There doesn’t have to be an all-or- nothing approach.
By working with clients to ensure that they meet their green credentials in the most cost- effective manner, we can help to introduce good, corporate, environmental policies and create green buildings that make a difference now and in the future.
www.saraceninteriors.com
46 | TOMORROW’S FM
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