How to make a green office space | City Developments Limited

Ways We Can Contribute To A Cleaner & Greener World

As a Green Developer, City Developments Limited (CDL) takes lead in encouraging tenants to participate and incorporate environmental-friendly practices in the workplace.

There are numerous suggestions that can help turn your business green, making it sustainable and environmentally friendly.

It is important to safeguard our environment, and recognize that the earth’s bounties are being used up, worn out and polluted at a rate that is dangerous for the next generation.

Here are some tips on what you can do for your offices.

Good Practices on Conservation

Paper Recycling

Use both sides of every sheet of paper
Separate paper waste from other waste, and dispose unwanted paper such as magazines / newspapers / books into designated collection boxes in your department
Share / circulate documents instead of photocopying personal copies
Use environmentally-friendly or 100% recycled paper for printing where possible
Minimize printing hard copies of draft documents. Vet the draft documents electronically

Electricity Conservation

Plan lighting circuits better. Instead of grouping all the light fittings into a single circuit, it is preferable to have more sub-circuits and separate switches. This way, you can switch off areas where the lightings are not needed thus saving energy, the life span of the fittings is also prolonged
Request for multi-purpose ‘all-in-one’ machines instead of standalone equipment to reduce electricity bills and amount of consumables
Programme your computer to energy-saving mode when not in use for an extended period of time
Do switch off your computer and PC monitor whenever you are away from your desk for a long period of time.
Switch off all equipment at the end of the day before you leave your office, it is also a fire hazard to leave equipment power on unattended.

Air-Conditioning

If you are not working on Saturdays, inform the Management so that they can switch off the air-conditioning to your unit
Install blinds to reduce heat from direct sunlight
Set room temperature to 24°C

Other Tips

Pack your lunches in reusable containers
Recycle envelopes and files for internal circulation
Request for refillable / remanufactured cartridges if your machine has compatible features
Buy environmental-friendly and/or recycled products
Take part in community projects to take care of the environment
Check the lighting lumens for your office space; average lighting level recommended for office desk top should not be more than 500 lux (table lamps can be used instead of overhead lightings).

How You Can Make Use of Technology to Help Save Energy

WPIR Passive Infrared Occupancy Sensors – The Watt Stopper

Offices experience wastage of electricity when rooms are not in use, or when forget to switch off lights. This is especially true for ‘open concept’ offices. By installing the WIPIR Passive Occupancy Sensor, it automatically switches off lights in areas not occupied after a preset timing.
The maximum range for this product is 300sq.sf. A reliable and established product from Europe and the average price per sensor is slightly more than $100.

Electronic Ballast

Ballast is a gadget that is required to provide high initial voltage start-up and to regulate current flow during the operation of a fluorescent lamp. Conventional ballast operates with the inherent problem of excessive heat, noise and flickering. The Electronic ballast consumes substantially less energy achieving between 20-30% savings. It also enhances the performance of fluorescent tube lamps, improving their efficiency by about 10% when operated at higher frequencies. The key benefits of electronic ballasts are the increasing of the lamp life, quiet operation, no visible flickering during operation, and most importantly, and instant start-up without flickering. It is strongly recommended when you need to replace your existing ballast.

Energy Saving Lamp

You are encouraged to use energy saving lamps instead of halogen lamps such as PL Lamp, SL Lamp, fluorescent, etc. Such lamps will be able to achieve the same kind of luminance as compared with halogen for lesser power and less heat emission per lamp. With less heat emitted, less cooling load for the air-conditioner is needed.