Eco-friendly office spaces – Environmental control in commercial spaces
We all know the importance of taking care of our environment, but implementing effective eco-friendly practices isn’t always so simple – especially when it impacts your business. And yet, eco-friendly office spaces in cities like London are more popular than ever. Forward-thinking companies everywhere are leading the way by reducing their carbon footprint through more environmentally-conscious business practices.
So, if the target is net-zero, how do you get there? Environmental control is a great place to start your eco-friendly transformation. This article will discuss environmental control, how it can positively impact your business, and how embracing modern technology can save our planet.
What is environmental control?
Environmental control refers to a broad spectrum of methods and measures to regulate indoor conditions to meet specified environmental requirements. These requirements can include everything from temperature, humidity, and ventilation to lighting and noise levels.
When it comes to increasing productivity in the workplace, you need all the help you can get.
In most cases, employees spend more than 50% of their waking hours at the workplace, and a growing body of research shows strong links between environmental control, employee performance, and business outcomes.
80% of office workers said that having good lighting in their workspace is important to them (Staples)
According to recent studies, using intelligent systems to automate your office lighting, heating and cooling systems to create optimal working conditions can increase productivity by up to 20%, enhancing your company’s bottom line.
How does environmental control work?
Although you may not realise it, the temperature and lighting levels within your office spaces are likely already controlled by some form of environmental control – it’s probably inefficient if you’re in an older building. It regulates heat, air quality and humidity levels using timers or sensors placed around your office to ensure employees remain comfortable despite external changes, like the weather.
Workers exposed to cold temperatures at work made 44% more mistakes (Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory)
Older systems offer rudimentary controls, inaccurate sensors, and separate panels for control. Newer and more innovative environmental control systems work autonomously to monitor your environment in a much more advanced manner, offering a single point of control, an increase of data (including energy usage and costs), and greater accuracy.
Types of office automation:
Lighting
Using photo-sensitive sensors, lighting automation can turn lights on and off and adjust lighting levels to save energy and money and boost productivity. Infrared presence detectors can also turn lights off if a room remains unoccupied after a set period too.
Temperature
Occupancy sensors are great for controlling temperature throughout your office spaces by reacting to whether or not someone is in the room. And, with intelligent calendars, you can adjust temperatures based on the time of day, the day of the week, and even the season.
Ventilation
Carbon dioxide sensors adjust ventilation to increase air quality and create a comfortable atmosphere within your space. Air filtration systems can remove any allergens or pollutants, and ionisers generate an atmosphere that keeps employees alert and ready to work.
Humidity
Humidity sensors can monitor humidity levels and adjust them to ensure your employees remain comfortable and productive. High humidity levels can cause discomfort, while low humidity levels can cause dry skin and eyes, nosebleeds, and other irritations that reduce productivity.
Which brands offer environmental control systems?
While several brands operate within the environmental control sector, we’re dedicated to installing trusted, tried, and tested products like those developed by industry leaders, Crestron.
Crestron’s environmental control systems allow you to regulate your office space using a wide range of sensors and devices. Their din-rail mountable heating, cooling, and relative humidity thermostat provides control of radiant floor heat, forced air, and heat pump HVAC systems, alongside humidity sensors to ensure comfort and health. And, what’s better, it can be integrated with their lighting and locking systems for total control from a single device.
Environmental control helps the planet, too.
Environmental controls aren’t just great for your bottom line, they’re great for our planet. These systems allow you to monitor all aspects of your energy use easily and actively manage your environmental footprint. Using high-performance hardware that minimises energy consumption, your environment can seamlessly transition between scheduled settings for when your office is not in use or when employees are away from their desks.
For example, by adjusting your heating system’s schedule to reflect peak/off-peak times, you might not need to turn your workplace heating on as frequently or turn it up to the maximum temperature – so you save money and energy.
And, by using smart technology to adjust your lighting levels, like automatically dimming lights as workers, you’ll be saving even more energy that would’ve been wasted if those lights were left on all day.
Start making a difference.
Modern environmental control has never been more effective or affordable. By embracing innovative technology and automating your office systems, you can save money while protecting our planet for future generations. With environmental concerns at an all-time high, taking action is as simple as upgrading your building control system to one that’s eco-friendly and reduces carbon footprint without sacrificing comfort.
If you’d like help with your building control system or any other aspect of turning your office spaces into an eco-friendly haven, give us a call today.
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