Top sustainable trends to make your office more eco-friendly

Millennials and Gen Zers often consider eco-friendliness an  important lifestyle choice. So, the folks at MatchOffice have put together a list of some simple changes you can make to your office to encourage sustainability. This will not only keep your employees happy, but it will also help reduce the negative impact of your office on the environment.

With a growing number of young professionals taking action against issues like climate change, employers and landlords have started to make their workspaces more adjustable to these needs. Sustainability strategies have become more and more common in offices in cities worldwide.

Making the workspace more eco-friendly can have long-term advantages for business success. Foremost, the shift to sustainability influences the construction and design of the property, which in turn impacts the tenants’ attitude towards utilising the workspace.

Top five sustainable office trends

The #sustainableoffice hashtag continuously appears in Instagram and Pinterest searches as people want to discover green office trends to make their own workspaces more environmentally friendly. With so much information to consider, we've put together this list of some of the top sustainable office trends and practices - useful both if you want to reorganisae your workspace, or want to know what to pay attention to when choosing a new one. 

1. Use recycled materials

An environmentally friendly office has tools and equipment that can be recycled when needed. Using furniture made of sustainable materials leads to less waste and lower carbon emissions. Not only do features like recyclable furniture or tech equipment play an essential role in defining the sustainability of the office, but pens, notebooks and utensils also matter. All these things, if recycled, can help keep toxic chemicals out of landfill.

Unfortunately, the amount of so-called e-waste that is recycled nowadays is not high enough to save our planet, but if each person is conscious of the consequences of environmental pollution caused by broken tech devices, the situation will change for the better. By the way, shutting down just one computer, rather than leaving it on, saves approximately 300 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

2. Make the switch to paperless

Going paperless can be a real challenge, especially if you have got used to using paper for years. The average office worker uses about 10.000 sheets of paper per year, causing significant damage to the environment as well as creating clutter.

The cost of paper is continuously increasing, which is leading many offices to consider alternatives. Thanks to digital technologies, it is possible to lead business correspondence, sign contracts, and organise meetings and work schedules without paper. You can upload your contract and send it to everyone who needs to sign it; electronic signatures can also be stored for future use. Paperless billing can also be done via an online service. Recycling unnecessary paper, as well as scanning and saving important documents, can help you make your workspace more efficient, well-organised and clean.

3. Go green

Adding plants to your office helps clean the indoor air by reducing bacteria, mould, and dust. According to research, one plant for each three people increases the quality of air by neutralising toxins. It can also improve you and your colleagues’ mood and increase work productivity. An office with plants feels cosy and more home-like. Most importantly, plants are a pretty stylish addition to any office space.

4. Energy-efficient improvements

Companies that invest in small improvements like LED lights can see a long-term return. LEDs last longer than fluorescent bulbs, they don’t contain toxic chemicals and they are more energy-efficient.

Energy consumption also depends much on the availability of natural light in the office space. Choosing an office with a good number of windows is one of the best ways of achieving an eco-friendly workspace. By allowing natural daylight through windows, you will reduce the need for artificial lighting, and people who work in well-lit offices tend to have lower stress levels.

Additional methods of making an office more energy efficient include things like solar batteries and sensor-activated lights.

5. Organising a commute

Travelling to and from work is another crucial factor in the lives of office workers. Certain forms of transport contribute heavily to air pollution, which is why large corporations, especially Fortune 500 companies, often organise shuttles for their employees. It helps reduce employees’ carbon footprints and reduces the time lost waiting in traffic jams. Many offices also have simple devices like bike racks, which encourage employees to cycle to work.

Transform your business: make your office sustainable

Professionals place a lot of value on businesses that pay attention to details when it comes to office rentals. They look for buildings with designs based around recycled materials, renewable energy sources, and other features that make them appealing.

From buildings achieving recognition by the DGNB, to those that have only just started implementing sustainability practices - there is a vast selection of premises worth your attention. With MatchOffice, you can rent an eco-friendly office in Munich or, any other city in Germany, directly from the landlord, along with free, top-quality brokerage services.