4 Strategies to Create a Sustainable Office Space

Sustainability in the office is one of the top trends in workspaces all over the world. From daily habits to building automation systems, the way that we work is changing more rapidly than ever before. That’s why we are looking at just a few of the many ways that offices are becoming more sustainable. In this article, we’ll be discussing everything from recycling to building lighting control systems. Let’s get started!

Why is it Important to Create a Sustainable Office Space

There are so many benefits you can access with building automation systems and lasting sustainable habits.

When you choose to make your office space sustainable, you are opting for the more efficient, less expensive, and greener operations. Even the smallest changes — which may not affect workflow — will help conserve energy. For example, installing a building automation system for lighting controls can shockingly cut your monthly power consumption. For large buildings, the yearly savings is normally thousands of dollars.

Though these reasons are enticing enough, there are more advantages of running a clean office than money and energy savings. Let’s learn about some more ways to create a sustainable office and how your business — and the environment — can benefit.

1. Automated Lighting Control Systems

When you use a building automation system to control your lighting, you access with more efficient and intuitive operations

One of the most important energy saving measures for your office space is building automation systems. You can use automation to control any operating system in your building, but today we are just going to be discussing the ones that use the most energy.

Automated lighting, for example, allows lighting to be controlled by pre-set commands or sensors. These features prevent wasted energy by automatically turning lights on and off according to the system input. That means no more wasted energy from leaving lights on after working hours. Though it may seem like automation is only capable of making small changes to the workplace, the yearly money and energy savings is staggering.

1. Get Rid of Your Incandescent or Fluorescent Lighting

Save even more money on lighting when you combine LEDs with building automation systems

If your office space is still using incandescent or fluorescent lighting, then your office is in need of an update. In recent years, LED lighting has become the industry standard for any large commercial space. Not only are they far more energy efficient and deliver better quality lighting, they also work best with building automation systems. Even without automation, the energy saved from using LED bulbs over other variations is enough to make your office significantly greener. 

2. Automated HVAC System

Without a building automation system, you are wasting energy on heating and cooling

Heating and cooling systems use an incredible amount of energy to control the climate in large office buildings. Too often, when they are not automated, these systems will run unnecessarily and drive up your monthly energy consumption. When you automate your HVAC system, you can optimize your building’s heating and cooling. Once again, with the help of sensors and preset controls, you can ensure that no energy is wasted on unnecessary climate control. 

3. Create a Sustainable Kitchen

Just by making a few simple adjustments, you can implement a green kitchen in your workspace

Another excellent option to make your office space greener is to start implementing environmentally friendly policies and appliances in the kitchen. There are a few very simple ways that you can start making your kitchen more environmentally friendly. For example you can cut down on waste by using silverware and coffee mugs instead of their disposable counterparts. From there, you can start recycling and composting waste in an effort to decrease the amount of trash that ends up in landfills across the country.

Finally, you can upgrade your kitchen appliances to reflect the green standards of today. Dishwashers, for example, are now being manufactured with sustainability in mind. If you have an old dishwasher in your office kitchen, there’s a good chance that it is wasting water and energy. Just by upgrading one kitchen appliance, you can start using less electricity in the office.

Interested in learning more about turning your office space into an energy efficient and environmentally responsible workplace with building automation systems? There are several resources available for even more ways that you can keep improving your office while also caring for the planet. Before you know it, green fixtures and habits will become universal in the workplace.