Written by Julie Sims | September 20th, 2016
Revised by Joseph Buschman | April 5th, 2023
The real-estate office sector is currently going through a transition post-COVID where smaller but upgraded offices are starting to be preferred. Underutilized space is losing value with many employees being hybrid or remote, while upgraded spaces with top-tier amenities are being highly sought after hoping that they will draw employees back into the office. One way to make your office space more attractive to potential lessees or employees is to ensure your space is efficient and minimizes impact to the environment.
When the growth of Essex forced us to leave a space we had occupied since 1998, we saw an opportunity to apply our expertise from years of sustainability and energy efficiency consulting to our own office relocation. If your organization is facing a move, these tips will increase the sustainability of your new office space.
Address Energy Inefficiencies
Essex’s new space was constructed in the 1980s and had ancient HVAC systems and little to no insulation. We added spray-foam insulation to the underside of the roof deck and installed high efficiency, variable speed HVAC equipment. We also employed Nest thermostats throughout to track and trend our heating and cooling consumption. Thanks to the rework, our new office reduces our electricity use by 33%.
Minimize Waste and Pollutants
Old fluorescent light fixtures and switch circuitry that required all the lights to be turned on at once were very wasteful. We replaced with LED lighting and zoned switching to light only occupied areas. To minimize emissions from employee commutes by reducing commute distance and time, the new office location is central and office hours are flexible. We kept the interior building spaces for adaptive reuse so our waste-to-landfill and consumption of new materials at Essex are minimized.
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