Sustainable Buildings, The 4 Day Week & London Locations respond to WFH
February flew bye
It only feels like days ago we were welcoming in the New Year and now we are weeks away from the start of spring. I have to say I do welcome the start of spring and the lighter mornings.
A big welcome to all my new subscribers, the numbers have more than doubled in the last two weeks and I thank you for your support.
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It's all about sustainability and culture in this episode and of course The 4 Day week!
Would you welcome a return to the office or have you created your perfect WFH routine?
Building Sustainability in Their New Headquarters
JPMorgan Chase is constructing a new headquarters building to meet the needs of their workforce decades into the future.
Reflecting the growing need for healthy and sustainable buildings, the 1,388-foot, 60-story skyscraper is expected to be Manhattan’s first all-electric tower with net zero operational emissions.
The design also considers indoor air quality and aims to exceed the highest industry standards in sustainability, health and wellness.
To strengthen and guide the design and construction process, they have aligned and plan to seek final certification to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED”) Platinum v4. Additionally, during demolition, they recycled, reused or upcycled 97% of the materials from their previous building, exceeding the LEED Platinum requirement by over 20%.
They also utilised flexible and adaptable design strategies to drive embodied carbon reductions by using innovative materials with lower carbon content, planning for circularity at the end of life, and increasing emphasis on minimising waste.
In addition to achieving net zero operational emissions, the new building plans to use several state-of-the-art technologies and systems to boost efficiencies, including:
Should a Four Day Week become the New Working Norm?
The Iceland experience suggests that moving to a four-day working week demonstrates no adverse effect on an individual’s performance.
As economies recover and companies rush to hire more staff, workers seem to be gaining bargaining power, and some demands are ambitious.
One idea, long batted about by trade unions and confident economists, is that people can work for fewer hours without reducing their overall productivity.
Is the dream of a shorter, more effective working week within reach?
It is if you’re Icelandic. Last month Alda, an Icelandic pressure group, and Autonomy, a British think-tank, published a report into experiments by the Reykjavik City Council and Iceland’s government between 2015 and 2019. They involved almost 3,000 workers reducing their working hours, many of them from 40 per week to 35 or 36 while staying on the same pay.
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According to the report, overall output did not dip in most workplaces; in some, it improved. For example, Reykjavik’s department of accountancy recorded a 6.5% increase in the number of invoices it processed during the trial compared with the same period a year before.
Workers reported feeling less stressed and healthier too. Men even started doing a more significant share of the household chores. The trials encouraged trade unions to push for shorter working hours, and employers responded swiftly.
Which of these London offices would make you give up your WFH status?
“Office spaces must reflect a company’s brand, values and purpose.”
The Ultimate in Coziness, Tech and Green credentials!
For people to willingly go back to work in the office, the benefits have to outweigh the downsides.
So how are architects and developers creating office designs that can entice them?
Those shaking things up say the focus is on prioritising workers’ wellness and safety while scoring high on environmental standards.
The trend is picking up pace in a top European tech and design hub like London. Tech giants such as Google and Meta are splurging on their next-generation headquarters, and corporations like Citibank are revamping their offices with an emphasis on flexible spaces and greenery.
Following in their footsteps, new developments all around the British capital offer a glimpse of what workspaces may look like.
Cutting-edge technology to power efficiency
South of the Thames, in the district of Southwark, an innovative office scheme has been breaking records.
The seven-storey Southworks, by developer Middlecap, was named the “world’s smartest building” at the Real Estate & Building Futureproof awards last year.
It was designed to recreate ideal working conditions for its users, improving their productivity and promoting physical and mental well-being for their return to the office.
A central sensor platform functioning as the building’s “brain”, equipped with an Internet of Things (IoT) technology, can monitor internal and external environment variables such as air quality, the density of occupancy, temperature, lights and noise levels to reduce energy use and maximise performance.
This newsletter is sponsored by EMC & Associates specialist Facilities Management Consultants -