Professional advice to reduce the operating cost, energy use and environmental impact of your new sustainable office space.
by Adam Freedgood | New York, NY
Buildings consume 40 percent of all energy in the U.S. By avoiding common green building design pitfalls, your firm can reduce environmental impact and financial costs over the life of your space.
Office design frequently falls on the shoulders of time-pressed senior executives who can articulate the firm’s brand, budget and functional considerations throughout a complex journey. Leaders of sustainable office design projects face hundreds of minutia decisions and competing priorities including energy systems, aesthetics and basic necessities such as where to locate staff.
Most facilities are designed for the lowest first cost, not for long-term efficiency, despite a slate of of well-established office sustainability measures that have fast financial paybacks. Over the life of a building or lease, the small details add up to a large impact on energy cost, environmental impact, staff productivity and thus your bottom line.
Discuss and debate these six common mistakes with your architect, general contractor and engineers early in your design process. Download the whitepaper to view solutions.
Mistake 1: Picking a green building standard for the value of the logo instead of actual results
Mistake 2: Your new office design is overlit
Mistake 3: Your new space is overventilated
Mistake 4: Vampire power loads waste energy and money
Mistake 5: Ambiguous, distant recycling stations kill your waste reduction efforts
Mistake 6: Overlooking your roof as a sustainability asset
