36 SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS IN COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS
fewer replacements, savings on energy and water bills, and reduced cooling requirements. However more intangible benefits include employee satisfaction (although costs of recruitment and retention can be measured), company reputation and customer trust.
“What is the most important business case for mainstream workplace clients for investing in staff wellness and building sustainability?”
the importance of environmental factors for workplace efficiency.
Audience research
The increased interest in sustainability and wellness in the commercial sector is corroborated by an Industry Viewfinder audience survey ADF undertook (together with Edge Insight) of architects, 52% of whom were working on offices, as well as 25% in retail, and 23% in industrial projects. Also, 27% had been involved in a commercial project whose brief ‘explicitly prioritised sustainability,’ and 23% in one which ‘explicitly prioritised wellness.’
A key finding was that investing in employees' wellness was a priority for clients in bringing workers back to offices, post-pandemic, with over half of respondents believing that it was “crucial.’ Wider sustainability qualities of buildings were also key for clients in retaining staff. The research also looked at the importance being placed on sustainability, post-pandemic, in attracting workers back to buildings, versus that of more specific wellness criteria, across office, retail and industrial sectors. The study also revealed the biggest drivers for clients investing in their buildings’ sustainability and staff wellness, plus how those investments have benefitted clients’ businesses, as well as the key components for success, and their attitude towards current standards in achieving the goals.
The challenge With the explosion in demand for commercial space in urban centres like London in the early years of the 21st century, there was also a growth in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitments to increasing sustainability. In recent years, major commercial clients have continued to compete fiercely to find the best employees, including using their buildings’ attributes, and normally in major cities. Post-pandemic, this challenge has been compounded by staff preferring home working, or leaving their posts having reassessed their priorities. The UK’s net zero target, which was brought under a bright international spotlight recently as the country hosted COP26, is going to be the key challenge across construction for the next couple of decades. Sustainability is a very broad church, but how workplaces perform both against client criteria and user expectations, in a changing demographic scene where people are acutely aware of climate footprint, is one of the biggest factors for stakeholders including clients, workers and customers.
Sustainable returns There is a strong financial case for sustainability improvements in commercial workplaces; aspects that directly affect clients’ bottom line include reductions in artificial lighting and long-term maintenance, durable materials that need
Our survey of architects found that clients had some compelling business case reasons for investing in building sustainability and staff wellness. Top of the list was staff retention, possibly reflecting the current crisis in staffing and the need to persuade workers to come back to offices post-pandemic. In total, 53% of our respondents picked staff retention as the “most important business case for mainstream workplace clients for investing in staff wellness and building sustainability.” Not far behind, however, was energy
costs, in the context of a growing energy price crisis. Of our architects surveyed, 49% picked this factor, but interestingly a substantial cohort of 41% chose productivity as a key reason for their clients to invest in sustainability. Also, the ability of multinational clients to apply a single approach to their commercial buildings (with users’ needs being similar globally), was picked by 37% of respondents. Meeting and promoting CSR goals received 28% of votes, and recruitment 22%. Respondents reported that clients they had worked with in commercial schemes had seen productivity rise in new builds or improvements (53% saying this was the case), and only 14% said this hadn’t been found. In addition, staff happiness was reportedly improved according to 53% (versus 15% saying this hadn’t been recorded). As a result, retention was improved according to 40% (although 23% said it hadn’t been affected), and recruitment by 37%.
Clients investing in sustainability & wellness
The most striking finding of our architects’ survey was that 55% of respondents believed that wellness for staff was ‘very important’ for their clients in terms of attracting office staff back to cities, post- pandemic. A slightly lower number picked sustainability as ‘very important,’ but still a healthy 44%. However somewhat surprisingly, 14% of respondents said that
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
ADF FEBRUARY 2022
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108
