26 September 2011
ISIS presents on Sustainability in Singapore
Later this month, ISIS’ Head of Sustainability, Riccardo Rizzi
is travelling to Singapore to present at the Sustainable Cities
Conference 2011. Riccardo’s topic is ‘giving new life to old
buildings’ through refurbishments that improve occupant
satisfaction and environmental performance.
Riccardo has been invited to speak about how ISIS has refurbished
its own offices and whether this has quantifiably improved occupant
satisfaction and environmental performance. ISIS has also
delivered 30 per cent of all Green Star offices in Australia and
Riccardo will speak about insights that are transferable to the
wider property industry.
In refurbishing its offices, ISIS focused equally on
sustainability, occupant satisfaction and productivity. ISIS
has a core company value to be “a place where people want to work”
and creating enjoyable and productive work environments are
essential to this.
Riccardo has added to this by thinking of an office building as a
‘habitat for humans’ (as we spend so much time in them) and
including the features that are essential for our well-being.
ISIS offices incorporate lots of natural light and outside views,
additional fresh air, improved heating and cooling systems, low VOC
and formaldehyde products and breakout areas for employees to
relax, have their lunch and mix with other employees. Newer
offices have pot plants and green walls as they improve the air
quality and people respond positively to plants.
In order to quantify the benefits of upgrading its offices, ISIS
commissioned an independent consultant to undertake a pre and post
assessment of the move into the new Melbourne office, which was
recently certified as 5 Star Green Star Office Interiors
v1.1. The assessment measured both the physical environment
and the occupant satisfaction in both offices.
The study found a dramatic improvement in employee satisfaction in
the new Green Star office. Employee satisfaction has
increased to 92 per cent, significantly up from 27 per cent in the
old office. Breaking this down, there were substantial
improvements in thermal comfort and air quality, and more modest
improvements in acoustic quality, lighting and office
layout. All measured categories showed an improvement.
This improvement in employee satisfaction was reflected in the
improvements in the physical environment in the offices as there
were measurable improvements in carbon dioxide, formaldehyde and
VOC concentrations in the air, as well as less drafts from the
air-conditioning.
This is a fantastic result and tangibly demonstrates the benefits
that can come from refurbishing old offices in ways that improve
environmental performance and also occupant well-being and
satisfaction.
'Giving new life to old buildings'
presentation