EDC May 2012 : Page-38

TIPS ‘n’ Tricks BY WARD KOMOROWSKI WARD KOMOR OWSKI, PE, CPE, IS GLOBAL DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES AND BUILDING SERVICES, GLOBAL WORKPLACE SOLUTIONS FOR MILWAUKEE-BASED JOHNSON CONTR OLS. HIS AREA OF EXPERTISE IS IN FACILITY MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS, ESPECIALLY FOR LARGE COMMERCIAL PORTFOLIOS, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES AND WORKPLACE SOLUTIONS. 10 Tips to Create a Quality Building Environment HERE’S A STARTING POINT TO ENHANCE EMPLOYEE COMFORT, HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY. There’s no doubt that a quality building environment can promote occupant health, and obviously, people are more productive when they breathe clean air, have adequate lighting and comfortable workspaces. They also feel better about working in a facility where management demonstrates a desire to help improve the environment. But as a facility manager, where do you start to meet these needs? Here are 10 tips to help create a workplace that will enhance employee comfort, health and productivity — and also offer a boost to the environment. Promote sustainability and offer employees quality environment tips. Create a sustainability advocate team of employees to monitor, patrol and educate other employees on environmentally friendly behaviors. Celebrate Earth Day and World Water Day to raise awareness and promote involvement. Avoid “sick building syndrome” by improving air quality. Ensure an adequate supply of fresh air and moni-tor carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) levels to keep them within a healthy range. High CO 2 levels can cause fatigue, headaches, difficulty concentrating and lower productivity. Accord-ing to the USGBC, air pollution concentrations indoors can be two to five times higher than the air we breathe outside. Evaluate and control employee exposure to airborne contaminants. Consider banning smoking on your campus — including outdoors. Install permanent “knock-off” grates at all entrances to control unwanted particles from entering on shoes. interact with the outdoors. Design workspaces that provide unobstructed views of windows to help bring the outdoor environment inside. Perform an office lighting energy audit. Most buildings over-light their spaces. Make a list of how many lights you use and what they are used for, and then develop an efficiency plan. Provide quality indirect lighting that is uniform and easy on the eyes to reduce strain. Reduce volatile organic com-pounds in the office environment by implementing a green printing program. Centralize printers/copi-ers, use double-sided printing and promote secure-print options to significantly reduce the number of copies printed each day. It all adds up to dramatically lower print-ing costs and make a healthier environment. Add amenities that enhance employee comfort, health and productivity. Huddle areas and quiet rooms can provide an invit-ing alternative to meeting rooms. Acoustical spray-on ceilings and sound masking through white noise can minimize distractions in open office environments. Consider adding a fitness center to promote exercise and general wellbeing. Many of these tips cost nothing to imple-ment. Some, such as reducing or changing light-ing, can even save money on utility bills. Other tips need not be expensive to apply, and most often the costs will be more than recouped through higher employee productivity levels. Be aware that many studies have shown that green buildings implementing steps such as these report lower vacancy rates and command higher rents. In other words, taking care of your occu-pants by creating a quality building environ-ment is a win-win situation. edc tip tip 1 tip 2 tip 3 Promote recycling. Distribute recycling containers around your buildings or campus to encourage separation of waste and recyclable items. Did you know recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to watch TV for three hours? Think beyond cans, glass and paper. Consider composting food waste, including coffee grounds, from your cafeteria to improve the environment and reduce the cost of the waste stream. Make cleaning and maintenance greener. Reduce the environmental impact of in-building operations such as cleaning, pest management and maintenance. Use more envi-ronmentally friendly cleaning products and organic, synthetic filters for equipment. For pest management, use nontoxic or minimally toxic methods only in targeted locations and for targeted species. Create a more comfortable build-ing by helping individuals control their own environments. Install desktop personal environment systems for comfort and control at the fingertips. Doing so gives occupants the flexibility to adjust temperature, lighting, airflow and acoustic characteristics as often as necessary to maintain personal comfort levels. So instead of a source of frustration, the workspace becomes a productivity tool. Preserve green spaces. Secure green space in your facility design to protect our natural resources, especially in urban areas. Include courtyards, ponds, walking paths and decks that allow occupants to enjoy and tip 4 8 tip 9 tip 5 tip 10 tip 6 tip 7 38 edc may .2012

10 Tips To Create A Quality Building Environment

Ward Komorowski

WARD KOMOROWSKI, PE, CPE, IS GLOBAL DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES AND BUILDING SERVICES, GLOBAL WORKPLACE SOLUTIONS FOR MILWAUKEE-BASED JOHNSON CONTROLS. HIS AREA OF EXPERTISE IS IN FACILITY MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS, ESPECIALLY FOR LARGE COMMERCIAL PORTFOLIOS, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES AND WORKPLACE SOLUTIONS. HERE’S A STARTING POINT TO ENHANCE EMPLOYEE COMFORT, HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY. There’s no doubt that a quality building environment can promote occupant health, and obviously, people are more productive when they breathe clean air, have adequate lighting and comfortable workspaces. They also feel better about working in a facility where management demonstrates a desire to help improve the environment. But as a facility manager, where do you start to meet these needs? Here are 10 tips to help create a workplace that will enhance employee comfort, health and productivity — and also offer a boost to the environment. Tip1 Promote sustainability and offer employees quality environment tips.Create a sustainability advocate team of employees to monitor, patrol and educate other employees on environmentally friendly behaviors. Celebrate Earth Day and World Water Day to raise awareness and promote involvement. Tip2 Avoid “sick building syndrome” by improving air quality. Ensure an adequate supply of fresh air and monitor carbon dioxide (CO2) levels to keep them within a healthy range. High CO2 levels can cause fatigue, headaches, difficulty concentrating and lower productivity. According to the USGBC, air pollution concentrations indoors can be two to five times higher than the air we breathe outside. Tip3 Evaluate and control employee exposure to airborne contaminants.Consider banning smoking on your campus — including outdoors.Install permanent “knock-off” grates at all entrances to control unwanted particles from entering on shoes. Tip4 Promote recycling. Distribute recycling containers around your buildings or campus to encourage separation of waste and recyclable items. Did you know recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to watch TV for three hours? Think beyond cans, glass and paper. Consider composting food waste, including coffee grounds, from your cafeteria to improve the environment and reduce the cost of the waste stream. Tip5 Make cleaning and maintenance greener. Reduce the environmental impact of in-building operations such as cleaning, pest management and maintenance. Use more environmentally friendly cleaning products and organic, synthetic filters for equipment. For pest management, use nontoxic or minimally toxic methods only in targeted locations and for targeted species. Tip6 Create a more comfortable building by helping individuals control their own environments. Install desktop personal environment systems for comfort and control at the fingertips. Doing so gives occupants the flexibility to adjust temperature, lighting, airflow and acoustic characteristics as often as necessary to maintain personal comfort levels. So instead of a source of frustration, the workspace becomes a productivity tool. Tip7 Preserve green spaces. Secure green space in your facility design to protect our natural resources, especially in urban areas. Include courtyards, ponds, walking paths and decks that allow occupants to enjoy and Interact with the outdoors. Design workspaces that provide unobstructed views of windows to help bring the outdoor environment inside. Tip8 Perform an office lighting energy audit. Most buildings over-light their spaces. Make a list of how many lights you use and what they are used for, and then develop an efficiency plan. Provide quality indirect lighting that is uniform and easy on the eyes to reduce strain. Tip9 Reduce volatile organic compounds in the office environment by implementing a green printing program. Centralize printers/copiers, use double-sided printing and promote secure-print options to significantly reduce the number of copies printed each day. It all adds up to dramatically lower printing costs and make a healthier environment. Tip10 Add amenities that enhance employee comfort, health and productivity. Huddle areas and quiet rooms can provide an inviting alternative to meeting rooms.Acoustical spray-on ceilings and sound masking through white noise can minimize distractions in open office environments.Consider adding a fitness center to promote exercise and general wellbeing. Many of these tips cost nothing to implement.Some, such as reducing or changing lighting, can even save money on utility bills. Other tips need not be expensive to apply, and most often the costs will be more than recouped through higher employee productivity levels. Be aware that many studies have shown that green buildings implementing steps such as these report lower vacancy rates and command higher rents. In other words, taking care of your occupants by creating a quality building environment is a win-win situation.

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