[Skip to Content]

Explore

  • Private Office

    Private offices support individual or small team working environments. Enhance occupant productivity with active ergonomics. Design flexible systems to accommodate changes in employee, equipment, and storage needs over time. Optimize daylighting strategies for the entire office space by placing private offices near the core of the building, leave exterior windows for open office areas. Open offices at the periphery should have glass interior doors and walls to improve daylight penetration and access to views from interior spaces. View Planning Strategies
    Explore: Private Office

  • Reception/Lobby

    Office reception areas welcome visitors and provide opportunity for wayfinding, corporate branding and education. Include signage to educate visitors regarding sustainable attributes of office space. Utilize entry mats to help stop dirt and debris from entering the office space. Receptionists should be provided with comfortable work stations and a good quality indoor environment. To optimize daylighting strategies, use glazing for door and wall materials to allow daylight to penetrate beyond the building periphery. View Planning Strategies
    Explore: Reception/Lobby

  • Open Office Area

    An open office area supports work productivity for groups of employees. Design this space to be flexible, allowing for quick transition from collaborative to individual setup. Optimize daylight and views, and avoid blocking views by using low cubicle dividers or dividers made of transparent material. Utilize occupancy sensors and zones for maximum efficiency of HVAC and lighting systems. Design HVAC systems to have multiple zones to increase thermal comfort, and consider using under floor air to provide occupant control of diffusers. Allow for task lights for all abilities and tasks. Support the type of work with active ergonomics. Pay careful attention to acoustics by selecting materials that absorb sound or installing a white noise system to limit noise levels from one work station to the next. View Planning Strategies
    Explore: Open Office Area

  • Enclosed Conference

    Enclosed conference rooms should be designed to facilitate communication. Utilize teleconference or video conference technologies to reduce travel related GHG emissions. Incorporate occupant sensor & individual temperature & lighting controls to save energy and keep the space comfortable for groups of different sizes. Include movable partitions to separate larger conference rooms into multiple smaller rooms if needed. Optimize daylighting strategies by utilizing glazing for wall systems. View Planning Strategies
    Explore: Enclosed Conference

  • Tenant Restroom

    Restrooms provide many opportunities to save water. Use low flow aerators on lavatories (.5 gpm), low flow showerheads (2.5 gpm), and dual flush toilets (0.8/1.6 gpf) or low flow toilets (1.2 gpf). Waterless urinals save significant amounts of water, but require slightly different maintenance regimes, so janitorial staff must be trained to maintain them properly. Automatic sensors on lavatories can also result in savings, but automatic flushes on toilets often result in double flushing and are not recommended. Look for durable, water resistant and easily cleanable finish materials with additional green features, such as partitions with recycled content or flooring made from natural linoleum. View Planning Strategies
    Explore: Tenant Restroom

  • Tenant Corridor

    Tenant corridors are transitional areas leading from one space to another. Try to limit the amount of corridors by using space efficiently and using open offices in order to maximize functional space and limit the need to condition non-active space. Use careful HVAC zoning and lighting controls to save energy. To conserve materials, use carpet tiles to enable targeted replacement of worn carpet in high traffic areas. View Planning Strategies
    Explore: Tenant Corridor

  • Open Teaming Space

    Teaming spaces are flexible areas designed to foster collaboration and innovation. They should include easily to reconfigurable work surfaces, where groups can spread out and vertical surfaces for making work visible. Seating should be agile and passively ergonomic; occupants should be able to move around the space easily and comfortably. Configure space with privacy screens or room dividers to surround team members and allow them to brainstorm freely, without disrupting others. Energy savings are maximized through the use of occupant sensors for powering down lamps and temperature when movement is not detected and automatic lighting controls for light dimming based on time of day and available daylight. View Planning Strategies
    Explore: Open Teaming Space

  • Break/Pantry

    Break rooms provide space for occupants to network and obtain nourishment. Provide re-usable beverage containers and utensils for source reduction, and provide ENERGY STAR labeled dishwashers and refrigerators. Include access to recycle and compost containers to reduce waste. Allow daylight to penetrate adjacent rooms by installing clerestories. Use low-flow (approximately 1.5 gpm) sink aerators to conserve water. Make sure the space is properly ventilated to deal with any food odors. View Planning Strategies
    Explore: Break/Pantry

  • Support Area

    Support areas provide space for documentation assembly and storage. Provide multi-use equipment for fax, copy and scanning abilities. Use signage to educate building occupants regarding sustainably. Provide accessible collection bins to recycle toner cartridges, batteries, cardboard, paper, etc. Negatively pressurize spaces to remove any fumes associated with high volume printers or copiers. View Planning Strategies
    Explore: Support Area

  • Computer/LAN room

    Computer/LAN rooms are used to house servers and other computer equipment. Because this equipment gives off heat, additional cooling and ventilation may be required. Use ENERGY STAR servers to save energy. Place this space closer to the building core or interior to leave room for offices and conference rooms on the perimeter. To support compliance with new ENERGY STAR for buildings install at least two meters, one that measures cooling load and the other that measures IT load from the data center. GSA Quick Start Guide View Planning Strategies
    Explore: Computer/LAN room

Select a Space to Explore

  • Lighting
  • HVAC
  • Water
  • IEQ
  • Back to Base View

  • Select a System to Explore

    Lighting HVAC Water IEQ

  • Lighting

    Enter Lighting

    Developing a sustainable lighting system involves not only a successful coordination of the technologies that encompass it but also cognizant integration with the building as a whole

  • HVAC

    Enter HVAC

    Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are responsible for providing thermal comfort and fresh air to building occupants. HVAC systems are often the source of the largest opportunities for both energy and financial savings.

  • Water

    Enter Water

    Sustainable water systems in commercial office buildings are considered a high priority due to the increasingly scarcity of water resources, rising consumption and spiking utility rates.

  • IEQ

    Enter IEQ

    The indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of an office facility is affected by a combination of thermal, lighting, acoustical and ventilation conditions along with an ability to control these conditions.