INDUSTRY COMMENT: BCIA
Absent faces, empty spaces
BCIA President Graeme Rees looks at the varying ‘back to work’ policies that businesses have adopted since coming out of lockdown and what the ever-increasing empty workspaces mean for the commercial building sector
F
igures by the Labour Force Survey have shown that around 5.8% of the working age
population is inactive and, in an attempt to address this, Jeremy Hunt’s Spring budget included measures aimed at tackling the UK’s labour shortages and encouraging people back into work. The unprecedented lockdowns brought about by the covid pandemic interrupted businesses in a number of ways, with early retirements, forced redundancies and furlough schemes severely affecting staff levels across multiple sectors.
The effect of the lockdowns on commercial buildings has been discussed extensively by the BCIA and the building controls industry at large, with many agreeing that it was a wake-up call for building managers who were suddenly left with large, unoccupied premises using the same amount of energy as they were during a normal working day. While there was widespread relief as the lockdowns were lifted and we could start going to shops, pubs, restaurants and theatres again, a more gradual return to the workplace in some sectors has created an abundance of empty business premises as people continue to work from home.
Relaxed approach
While some businesses have enforced a back to work policy, others have adopted a more relaxed approach, either happy to trust their staff to work from home and only come into the office when needed, or operate a hybrid approach when their staff have a 50:50 split between home and work. What the best policy is will depend on who you ask. People who have (or had) a long commute to work, or find they are more productive working on their own or have children to look after, are more likely to prefer working from home, and employers who are generally happy with their staff’s output will be keen to keep their staff happy and therefore may be reluctant to ‘rock the boat’ by ordering them to come in. On the flipside, there is also a strong argument for businesses having their staff on site regularly. Telephones, virtual meetings, email, Whatsapp and social media have allowed us to be more connected than ever before, wherever we are in the world. However, none of these things can truly replicate the healthy social interaction of a fully-occupied workplace. There is no right or wrong answer, but it does pose a headscratcher for the bosses who pay the rent – what is the point of keeping a building open if it is not being used? Is it worth the cost? Some companies have taken the decision to realistically downsize the scale of their building stock, closing some, merging others and generally rationalising down to a more meaningful and useful size/capacity. But it remains a challenge that many premises are still quite sparsely populated, and only busy when there is a particular event or meeting going on, or at times when there may be a staff-arranged social gathering (which remain important from a team-building angle).
Knock-on effect
With so many businesses downsizing, does this then present a knock-on effect and create a challenge for developers trying to let out their commercial premises? In such cases the obvious answer – and one which is being realised more and more – is to improve the quality of the space you are building in order to make it an appealing place to spend a working day. This means more facilities, better décor and greater comfort, which of course includes good controls. There is also much greater demand now for commercial properties to be super-efficient and low-carbon as we push towards the net zero target. Increasingly all of this ‘change’ is driving a greater refurbishment project outlook. Decarbonising existing stock is a little trickier than something built from scratch where it can be designed that way but, in both cases, controls will play an ever more significant role.
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May23.indd 1 03/04/2023 15:25 4/4/23 08:02 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER MAY 2023 7
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