Many offices and businesses have been taking steps to be more environment-friendly and sustainable in recent years.
Office interior design that is sustainable minimises the negative effects of buildings on the environment by using methods that support long-term ecological balance, such as sustainable materials, energy-saving technologies, repurposing, and recycling.
Earth Day is just around the corner, so there's no better time to start thinking about how you can make your workplace environment-friendly. Therefore, we decided to dedicate this blog to all things eco-friendly and demonstrate how to improve sustainability and eco-awareness in your office interior design.
Why Go Green with Office Interior Design?
Best sustainable design practices aim to reduce energy and natural resource consumption, as well as improve the well-being of employees and everyone who works in the space. Here are some reasons for going green at your office:
Save up on energy: Green buildings offer smarter, more environmentally friendly lighting, HVAC systems, and indoor air quality solutions. As a result, energy costs in these buildings drop significantly. For instance, options such as LED lights offer high lumen output, longevity of light, and reduce the general carbon footprint of these buildings.
Long-term sustainability: Long-term sustainability implies that a business develops relationships, practices, and procedures that become a long-term part of the community by managing and conserving its resources appropriately. Many businesses today realise that the best way to minimise long-term environmental impacts is to promote ecological balance by taking responsible actions to avoid resource depletion. Companies have become increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability, and working out of green buildings can help them demonstrate their value of eco-friendliness.
Healthier and happier employees: Buildings designed to rating systems like the IGBC report higher immunity and less burnout among their employees. This includes conservation efforts, site preservation and restoration, and building adaptability to reduce the impact of commercial buildings and improve accessibility to non-toxic environments for employees. Our government has introduced this rating system to encompass a wide range of sustainable practices and solutions that would reduce the impact of infrastructure on the environment and lead to healthier work atmospheres. In addition, rating systems like Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) also focus on improving the environmental performance of buildings.
These ratings recognise companies that implement user-centric and sustainable designs which encourage a healthier lifestyle within their offices.
5 Ways to Make Office Interiors More Environment-Friendly
It is important for businesses to recognise that their operations have an impact on the environment and thereby work towards a shared value of reducing the carbon footprint and meeting the requirements of employee well-being and productivity. Here are some of the ways you can go for an eco-friendly office interior design:
1. Eco-friendly Furniture
Making good environmental and socially responsible decisions about office furniture can be a great place to begin.
Modular, multi-use office furniture can be reconfigured as needs change, extending the life of the furniture and creating flexible working spaces in communal areas. Thus, more functionalities can be achieved without having to furnish, light, and air condition a larger area.
Typically, bio-based products consume less energy and utilising materials like wood, straw, and bamboo can help reduce carbon footprint as compared to hazardous chemicals such as toxic flame retardants, PVC, and PFAS, which are found in furniture coatings, carpets and paints, among others. While researching materials for sustainable furniture, you can consider factors such as transportation options, labour conditions, and the carbon footprint of your manufacturers, distributors, and vendors.
2. Upgrade your Cafeteria
One of the most used areas in the office is the kitchen and cafeteria, which can also accumulate a lot of non-recyclable waste. If you want to curb this, you need to take important steps in identifying and removing substances that add to environmental damage.
You can consider energy-efficient water-saving devices like low-flow faucets, usage of bamboo-based furniture and removing walls that enable cross-interaction and promote a co-working space.
3. Insulate the Office Area
It is important to achieve optimal energy performance in commercial spaces, and insulation plays a key role in it. Insulation is primarily used to provide thermal comfort, but there are other goals of energy performance programs, including making spaces more peaceful, healthier, and safer. Thermal insulation reduces the transmission of thermal energy through walls, saving energy and improving comfort in commercial buildings.
Adding workstations along the perimeter lets employees benefit from natural sunlight while reducing the need for electricity. For eco-friendly lighting in your office, compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) and LED lights are the best choices.
4. Have Green Office Supplies and Equipment
You can replace traditional office essentials with eco-friendly alternatives. Consider design strategies like incorporating motion-detector switches in the office break room and using eco-friendly paint such as low-VOC paints. In addition, opt for recycled paper products, such as paper towels and tissues. Consider choosing compostable cups for coffee and water to reduce the usage of plastic.
5. Have Indoor Plants to add Greenery
The chromatic office interior design gets a touch of nature through plants. Studies have concluded that plants reduce workplace stress to a considerable degree. The presence of beautiful plants increases workplace productivity. For the eco-friendly office environment, plants such as spider plants, peace lilies, bamboo palms, or English ivy are suitable.
Plants produce enough oxygen to offset any chemicals released into the air by new office furnishings. In addition, indoor plants have a similar effect on employee wellbeing and productivity as natural light.
Moss walls and green walls can also improve the air quality by cooling spaces and reducing the need to turn up the air conditioning. Cafés and work nooks with plenty of greenery can be great places to work when employees need an alternative to closed, air-conditioned workspaces.
So, if you are ready to go green, get the right help you need to improve the sustainability of your office fit-out with Hipcouch. For advice on how to adopt sustainability in your workplace and look to the future of office design, contact our expert interior designers today.