green design- do businesses consider it?

[Anthony_B]

when considering new premises do businesses actively consider the carbon output of what they are proposing? is the carbon trust making any inroads with people with new builds/ refurb work?

just wondered.

any comments appreciated :)

[fburno]

It's hard to say. I believe that if a business has a green image or marketing strategy it would consider it. However, I think consumers hold the power and can force businesses to consider green design.

Vote with your wallet. That's the ballot of business.

[ACYE]

Various offices in Bristol promote 'green design' for thier office space, I guess it could be attractive to companies during a more ethically aware time.

Rgds

[KidsBeeHappy]

Vote with your wallet. That's the ballot of business.

I think that this completely sums it up. Yes, businesses are considering the "green design" as long as the green design shows a proven cost saving.

We are considering offices here at present, and are very against the idea of the offices in town, mostly because they are all old buildings, converted houses/flats etc. I live in a new house, previous house was a 18th century house, I know exactly how much my energy bills have declined since the move, and I know how much my building maintenance spend has decreased too.

I want a new office, because it is more energy efficient, and will save me money in the long term. Am I green? Probably, I would like to see alternative energy maximised to its full potential, I would like to see natural resources used as responsibly as possible. But I don't believe that any of that will impact/reverse climate change. And I'm not really interested in jumping on bandwagons.

Do I consider my "carbon output". No, but I do consider pretty much allday everyday my business/family's responsible use of resources. And I do consider every day the cost of energy and resource usage.

Just my 2p.:)

[Anthony_B]

cheers guys. i push it more as a money saving thing than helping to save the world anyway, but wanted to check. it would help with a company actually following through and going the whole hog, especially if they have iso14001 accreditation, or claim to be adhering to the principles of it, but i guess money talks at the end of the day :rolleyes:

[KidsBeeHappy]

I think that money's at the top of the list because we're in the middle of a recession, and also because of the very nature of the whole climate change arguments.

What is the point of me paying £500 extra a year to reduce my theoretical "carbon footprint" when my local council who make me seperate all my rubbish out for recycling, then drive down to the local landfill and fling it all in the same hole.

If you want me to pay more money for the sake of the common good, then first you have to make me see that its worth it. And i'm not the only one doing it. And at present it simply isn't.

That aside. I do belive that the issue of responsible energy and resource usage (including water) is a totally different one altogether, and one that we do all have a real need to address.

Perhaps the green army would get further if they stopped telling us that we all need to stop using aerosols because of the hole in the ozone layer (becaue no-one has any proof of that, just a load of stastics and deemed causality driven by assumptions and co-incidences) and instead went at it from the (i believe) far more realistic angle that we're seriously looking at a situation where our children/grandchildren are going to be suffering water/energy shortages unless we seriously pull our finger out now and change consumption habbits and invest in the future.

And if anyone needs proof of that - go back to spring summer last year, and look how much people changed their driving habbits when the fuel price went up. We can all be green with the right motivation and when it makes financial sense. Thing is, none of us are prepared to subsidise China and India's pollution and consumption.