Environmental consultants develop the charter
Office Depot commissioned Environmental consultants, Ferguson Brown Sustainability, to prepare a sustainability charter for a new 300,000sq ft regional distribution warehouse and 47,000 sq ft head office development located at Beaumont Leys, Leicester.
It was our desire to incorporate sustainable design features wherever cost effective. The charter was designed to bring together the project’s sustainability requirements and provide a clear, pragmatic and coherent vision to work towards. The site operated under the Considerate Contractor’s Scheme, which requires the monitoring and reporting of specific targets on energy usage, transport to and from the site, water conservation and waste production during the construction phase.
Let there be light
Many state of the art features have been included to incorporate natural light into the building:
Roof to include 15% roof lights (by surface area) to reduce dependency on artificial lighting.
Strategically placed windows/glazing strips to take advantage of natural light and introduce natural ventilation.
Daylight sensing controls on warehouse lighting that deliver varying lux levels of light according to the requirements.
One of the most revolutionary is a wall constructed with the Kalwall translucent walling system. This allows a diffused natural light to penetrate the building across the entire height of the external walls, providing natural daylight without glare. This system reduces the dependency on artificial lighting and has superior solar and ultraviolet control properties compared with glass.
Energy saving
Energy saving is a big consideration for any business, both from an environmental and cost point of view.
The following features dramatically reduced Office Depot’s energy consumption:
· Solar control glazing, helping to maintain an even temperature.
· Energy efficient T5 fluorescent lighting.
· Solar pre-heating to hot water system.
· LED powered exit lighting gives a 78% reduction in energy compared to standard lighting, together with reduced maintenance requirements.
· Movement sensor lighting.
An automatic monitoring and targeting system throughout the offices and warehouse will allow us to assess the efficiency of each area of the building
Water saving
Wherever possible we recover and reuse water through a series of innovative initiatives:
Half flush WC’s.
A grey water recovery system recovers water from the warehouse roof and vehicle wash to use in the toilets.
A recovery system within the vehicle wash also allows the water to be reused within the system creating further water savings.
No ordinary carpet
Recycling is encouraged at Office Depot and we have even gone one step further by incorporating recycled content carpet made using 100% renewable energy. It has been produced so that tiles can be placed in any direction, saving waste and assisting quick installation.
Beyond the building
It’s not just about the building, but the surroundings too. We’ve undertaken 18,000 square metres of landscaping and conservation measures, including bee hives and a kestrel nesting box. We even use peat free compost made from recycled materials.
It’s in the details
Office Depot is also committed to assisting its associates in reducing their impact on the environment via:
· Office Depot has built two new bus stops along Beaumont Leys Lane to facilitate the re-routing of the bus route to accommodate the local work force.
· Creation of footpaths and cycle paths.
· 40 secure D-frame racks for cycles and motorcycles.
· A drying room, shower facilities and lockers for cyclists and motorcyclists.
· Provision of public transport details and walking and cycling route maps for visitors and staff.
Award winning
We’re not the only ones who have recognised the achievements of our new headquarters.
We were proud to receive a ‘very good’ BREEAM rating for the building, a challenging level to achieve. BREEAM assesses the performance of buildings in the following areas: management, energy use, health and well-being, pollution, transport, land use, ecology, materials and water. Credits are awarded in each area according to performance and then, in conjunction with a set of environmental weightings, used to produce a single overall score.
The development also won a gold award at the 2007 Green Apple Awards. An award set up with the green organization to recognise businesses that reduce their impact through innovative projects.
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