Sustainable Facilities Tool

Flexibility

Today’s workplaces are often in flux. As organizations change direction or develop new services, people also move. Teams form and re-form. People move to new spaces and take on new responsibilities. The spaces themselves are transformed to meet new needs. Conference spaces may be eliminated or added, new groups may be added to existing divisions. These changes are much easier to accommodate, with less stress on people and the organization, when the workplace is designed to support flexibility.

Achieving Both Flexibility and Sustainability: Key Practices

1. Move people, not things. Workstation standards minimize the time needed to adjust space when people move to new locations.
2. Let people adjust their own workspaces. Adjustable furniture and computer workstations enable people to meet personal preferences and work needs. Furniture on wheels enables easy moves within and between spaces.
3. Provide a flexible infrastructure. Demountable walls, under floor data, power and conditioning systems make it easier to transform the workspace in an environmentally friendly way by reducing construction materials, especially hard walls.
4. Support mobility within the office. Laptops, cell phones, and wireless connectivity enable people to move easily as their tasks and needs change.
5. Support alternative work settings. Enable people to work in spaces outside of the office, such as home or a telework center, to reduce the environmental and economic costs of commuting.

Benefits:

Social:

• Improved employee comfort and satisfaction
• Reduced likelihood of ergonomic-related injuries.
• Reduced employee stress associated with commuting

Economic:

• Reduced costs of moves
• Reduced costs of construction

Environmental:

• Reduced waste from construction
• Reduced energy from commute reduction

Case Study: PBS Chicago Regional Office

Strategy:

Prior to an extensive renovation, the Chicago PBS office had a multitude of workspace types and sizes, making moves time consuming and costly.

The new workplace is significantly more flexible. The open plan workstations and private offices are standardized and conference rooms have demountable walls. A central filing space reduces the demand for individual storage.

Results

• Costs of reconfiguring were reduced from $900 per workstation and $1650 per office to 0 for each.
• Savings of $55,000 to $72,000 per year due to reduced costs of reconfiguring space and cabling.
• Plug and play data and telecom closets enable GSA staff to do workstation changes rather than hiring an external person, with an average cost savings of $125 per change.

Alternative Workplace Lab (AWL): GSA, Washington DC

Key Results from AWL research:

The space has supported three major re-organizations and a 150% increase in staff for the current tenant.

One private office added two touchdown spaces to support staff who live outside of Washington DC.

On move-in day, one team totally reconfigured its work area in 90 minutes.

Project Checklist

• Workstations and private office elements facilitate adjustment and reconfiguration
  • Moveable desks
  • Moveable storage units
  • Moveable task light
  • Individual lighting controls
  • Individual ventilation control
• Meeting spaces have reconfigurable furniture
• Conference rooms have de-mountable walls to enable reconfiguration or relocation
• Large conference rooms (20 or more people) can be subdivided into smaller spaces with moveable wall partitions
• Space standards for open plan to enable rapid relocation of people
• Flexible utility distribution, such as under floor cabling.to allow changes without demolition and renovation
• Wireless connectivity is provided in all spaces
• Alternative work settings in the office support mobility for associates and support for guests (e.g.,. touch down spaces)
• Alternative work settings outside of the office are supported, such as work at home or at a telework center
• Under floor air distribution or adjustable ceiling system to enable user control of ventilation

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