Going green is trendier than ever, and for good reason. Each eco-friendly choice you make over the course of your construction project helps lead to a healthier living and working environment and ensures energy and resource efficiency. Not only is a “green” space greatly beneficial for the environment, it can also save you lots of money in energy costs over the long-term.
Here are four sustainable strategies to implement when planning, designing and selecting products for your project.
1. LED Lighting
Many LED bulbs can light up a room for up to 50,000 hours – or 11 years when used for an average of 12 hours per day. For perspective, that is about 50 times longer than an average incandescent bulb, 20 to 25 times longer than a halogen bulb and 8 to 10 times longer than a CFL bulb.
On two separate projects this year, we opted to install TCP’s LED Flat Panel Luminaries, which – in addition to their economic and energy efficiency – also provide a sleek design that is a welcome change to typical office lighting.
2. Recycled Carpet Tile
Many flooring manufacturers use recycled content to produce their products, but at PARflooring, we are particularly fond of the String Theory Collection of carpet tiles by Mannington. The tiles are created using anywhere from 30 to 100 percent post production nylon, depending on the pattern. That is taking the idea of re-purposing waste to a whole new level!
This collection also has a lifetime warranty and is versatile and current in design, which has led us to specify and install this material in several different spaces, from urban lofts to offices to dormitories.
3. White Board Wallpaper
Many PARsolutions clients have turned to us for innovative solutions for collaborative spaces. Unfortunately, we’ve received complaints from lots of employees regarding air quality control when white board paint was used. So we did our homework, and we found a solution.
Check out Wolf Gordon’s Endure 60 White vinyl wallpaper. We have had great results with it, and we haven’t received a single air quality complaint. And the bonus: It’s made in the USA.
4. Reclaim & Reuse
This is the ultimate “green” story in TeamPAR’s book.
We love the tables that Rustbelt Reclamation creates. They salvage their wood from demolished buildings and flood zones, and they even put a coin into each product with the address of where the wood was saved from. There’s nothing cooler (and better for the environment) than taking something old and making it new again!
Selecting eco-friendly construction and design elements is never a bad idea. For more information on how we can help you make your space more sustainable, contact us.