NEWS & ANALYSIS FMJ.CO.UK
WORKPLACE TRENDS
CHANGING IDEAS
As the Government is o en
keen on telling us: we are all
in this together. But if we are to
achieve the target of Zero Carbon
by 2050 then we do all have a part
to play. That was the point of a
new event for Workplace Trends
held at Herman Miller National
Design Centre in late February.
The message was clear. If you work
in any aspect of the workplace
and FM sector, then you can make
a di erence and do something
constructive about the climate
emergency.
But it does help to have the right
facts. That was stressed by the first
speaker, Alan Fogarty, a partner in
Cundall who heads up its specialist
environmental building physics group.
As a chartered Building Services
Engineer who has specialised in
passive building design and low
carbon systems, he has an eye for
detail, and he explained that one
of the problems facing us is that we
might not be using the right data.
Fogarty never strayed from the main
point – something must be done, as
soon as possible because the built
TIME FOR
ACTION One action anyone can take is to
sign up to the Climate Change
Commitment http://www.
betterbuildingspartnership.
co.uk/node/877, something
that was explained by Sarah
Ratcli e of the Better Buildings
Partnership. If we are to make a
change and move toward net zero,
then making a commitment is a
first step. Check out the link here
and for further details about the
presentations at the Workplace
Trends Climate Change event go
to: https://bit.ly/3ap1Jbk
10 APRIL 2020
environment is a major source of
carbon emissions. Targeting the idea
of reducing operational energy use
he set out a number of very practical
recommendations, each of which was
balanced against a likely cost, but he
did not once suggest avoiding acting
because of any perceived short-term
investment concern.
We still need to learn how buildings
perform and there was a call from
almost all of the speakers during the
day that FMs need to connect with
their colleagues in design, planning
and construction. Fogarty stressed that
we could design better, aim for natural
light not electric light, specify the right
heating systems that are low carbon
and change our cultural habits. And we
need to learn, beta test and apply the
solutions.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Fogarty, like David Cheshire, from
Aecom, both reminded the audience
about the concept of so landings –
embedding part of the building team
in a new facility when it is handed over,
so they learn how it performs. That
knowledge all adds up and will help
prevent linear thinking, something that
limits us as a society and therefore in
how we manage the space we use for
work.
Cheshire made a strong case for
closing the loop and embracing
the circular economy. Something
that gained popularity and profile
with Ellen MacArthur seems to have
slipped past many people in the built
environment but why not see waste as
a resource. We need to design for life,
design for purpose and seek to reuse
the spaces and assets we have and not
build new ones. Desai from UK Green
Building Council and Andy Stanton
from Atkins who spoke about the LETI
– the London Energy Transformation
Initiative emphasised again there is not
enough measurement of how buildings
perform now and how we use that data
to learn and reduce carbon emissions.
LETI has done a great job in creating a
guide – building on the RIBA stages –
for new buildings, but we have to work
harder with what we have got.
REUSE AND USE WISELY
One clear message to take away was to
limit how much refit and refurbishment
is delivered. We should not be limited
by the space in front of us. O ices,
hotels even factory units can be
converted and blurred to become
di erent workplaces. They are, o en
(as Antony Slumbers has said) just
boxes. Ann Beavis of Honeymaker,
agreed with Cheshire but highlighted
some very practical ideas for reuse of
materials and spaces. Her mantra was
pragmatism not environmentalism
and pointed to the BiTC circular o ice
guide as toolbox of ideas – “use less
stu generally but buy better stu and
use it wisely”. One story that resonated
was an organisation IT department
that had wiring, cabling and parts
stored they had no idea what do with.
Furniture too – why not repurpose
chairs and desks and so furnishings.
This was something that happened
at St. Bartholomew Hospital but not
delivered through the procurement
team who couldn’t or wouldn’t pursue
it. Instead, the project team, thinking
di erently worked directly with the
waste and recycling team.
Ian Baker and Clare Hawkins from
EMCOR – sponsors of the event- gave
practical FM oriented advice on
mitigating carbon in the workplace.
None of which is rocket science and
many of the ideas are not original
– but we choose to ignore them.
A er all, why not switch lights and
power o when leaving the o ice.
We do it at home. Why not at work?
Why not adjust the heating and hot
water to better reflects the usage of a
workspace?
ACTIVE TRAVEL
And why not encourage the users of
the spaces we are responsible for to
take an active and healthy route to
work? How we move around to and
from work and during work hours
and how services and products are
delivered can be moved to lower
carbon models. Elective vehicles,
bicycles and electric bicycles and
simply taking public transport and not
using traditional vehicles all makes
a di erence. Megan Sharkey, a city
change maker and Urban Studies
Research Scholar at the University of
Westminster made a clear argument
that organisations of all sizes should
be drawing up workplace travel plans
for sta . Ben Knowles, founder of
Pedal Me, the cycling taxi and logistics
business explained that anything can
be moved by bicycle across London
– even a complete o ice move. Neil
Webster, Property Consultant and
Cycling Pundit rooted the conversation
about active travel to practical
measures. It’s healthy, it improves
emotional and physical wellbeing and
cuts air pollution and congestion. Why
wouldn’t you?
Think diff erently was the overriding message of the Workplace Trends Climate
Change and The Workplace: Towards Net Zero Carbon event. Andrew Brown one of
the chairs of the day reports
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/3ap1Jbk
