Recently I was able to tour a building that has achieved LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification. What a great experience! This building has incorporated many great features that reduce its energy usage and impact on Mother Earth. While not everyone, including small businesses, have the opportunity to build a new building every day, we all have things in our office interiors that we can control that will help reduce our businesses' energy usage and make them more "green."
Rather than using vinyl or PVC when creating an office design, I prefer to use linoleum. Why? Linoleum is made of natural linseed oil, cork dust, tree resin, wood flour and limestone with a jute backing. None of these products are toxic or have negative environmental impacts. Plus, linseed oil is made from flax, which is naturally antimicrobial.
Linoleum is also very durable and can stand up to the rigors of commercial applications, which can't be said about Vinyl. However, unlike vinyl or PVC, once it is worn out or its owner has tired of it and wants a change, linoleum can be shredded and composted.
In the building I toured, one of the ways they achieved their LEED certification was by not using materials where they didn't need to do so. No carpeting or tile was installed in the hallways and other areas of high traffic. Instead, the concrete was stained with an attractive color and pattern. In almost every office there are opportunities to eliminate materials, especially on the floor if planned creatively.
Traditionally, fluorescent ceiling lighting has been used to provide general-purpose lighting. Today, as we move toward higher-efficiency and green office design, there are better options. Moving to T5 lamp fluorescent fixtures can improve the energy by as much as 28 percent. For example, a 35W T5 lamp puts out 3650 lumens with an efficacy of 104 lumens per watt. This compares to a 40W T12 lamp at only 3,050 lumens and an efficacy of 81 lumens per watt, or a 32W T8 at only 2,700 lumens and an efficacy of 89 lumens per watt.
If your office design makes use of can lighting rather than tube, replacing the lamps with compact fluorescents (CFL) or LEDs is a great way to reduce your energy usage and "green" your office. LEDs generally score 92 on the Color Rendering Index (CRI) as compared to 80 to 85 for other light sources, giving off a "truer" white light. By comparison, the sun is measured at 100 CRI. As far as efficacy goes, LEDs can generate as many lumens at 15W as a fluorescent produces at 35W. That's more than a 50-percent reduction in energy usage.
Another green design advantage LEDs have over incandescent and fluorescent lighting is that they contain no hazardous chemicals. Most fluorescent and CFLs contain mercury, lead, sodium or other hazardous materials that can end up in landfills and leach into the water supply.
Lastly, in addition to reduced energy usage, LEDs last a long time. Since they don't really burn out, their life is measured in lumen depreciation, and most LEDs can last 50,000 hours or more before their lumen output depreciates to 70 percent of its original output. This is the point at which the Illuminating Engineering Society says they should be replaced.
In the LEED building I toured, the lighting along the exterior walls was installed with daylight sensors to dim the lights gradually based on the amount of sunlight that was coming into the room. This keeps the volume of light steady throughout the day, but on a bright, sunny day, the electrical lights might be almost completely off, greatly reducing the energy usage. While this strategy can't be used for interior spaces, this is great in reception areas and other spaces along the outside walls of the office.
Another example that can be used in most build-outs, especially in retail spaces, is to eliminate the installation of acoustical ceiling tiles everywhere. In the LEED building, the drop ceiling and tiles were only installed where sound dampening was most needed. Elsewhere, the steel roof panels were left exposed with a layer of sound absorbing insulation above it to keep sound from echoing. If you can't install insulation above the steel roofing panels, there are insulating materials that can be applied to these panels that can provide a similar effect.
Lastly, the parking lot of the LEED building was paved with semi-pervious pavers to allow rainwater to pass through rather than letting it all run off into the storm sewers. Parking spots were reserved close to the front entrance for those visitors driving alternative fuel vehicles. Both strategies can easily be employed by a business that has control of its own parking lot.
If you don't have the ability to change or control the parking designations or surfacing material in your parking lot, think about whether there are ways to offer bicycle parking for your employees and clients who may want to ride their bikes to your business. This year I've been trying to ride my bicycle more for running errands and getting to appointments around town. Perhaps I'm more sensitive about locking my bike since I've recently had a bike stolen, but what I've been finding is just how few places have bicycle racks or any form of reasonable accommodation to lock a bike anywhere near their facilities.
So as you're sitting in your office today, think about what your business could be doing to reduce its energy usage, promote alternative transportation and generally become more "green." With just a bit of thought, opportunities exist for every type of business, whether you're located in an office building, retail center, strip mall or free-standing structure.
James Kuester is a LEED Green Associate and home-furnishings designer at his Indianapolis-based certified LGBTBE, Küster Design.
