Green Working Patterns
Thinking Green, Building Green and Using Green
This paper is about the contribution the way of working may deliver to sustainability. Advocates of “New Ways of Working” claim this to automatically be a sustainable way of working. Opponents point out that it leads to increase of traffic by both car and airplane and that increased power consumption of all accumulated computer centres is responsible for a major part of CO2 emissions. How can organisations develop green working patterns in a world where everybody is connected to everybody? How do you do it right? To gain insight in the connection of all individual green initiatives concerning the work environment, a new frame of context for both thinking and working is sketched.
If connecting people ultimately leads to contact, connecting will ultimately lead to people meeting each other. Global connectivity creates reasons for people to want to meet each other. A part of those meetings may occur online, through tele-presence, but a part will also lead to actual meetings for which travel is a necessity. On the one hand we discern a decrease in necessity to frequently actually meet one another, on the other hand making new acquaintances worldwide is stimulated which in part leads to a new need for actual meetings.
Is using more space good or bad? The reduction of square footage in use leads to a reduction in CO2 emission caused by energy consumption for heating and less waste is produced at the end of a lifecycle. But does this also go for occupancy of a high-quality green building, where CO2 is taken from the air and which is totally self-supporting in using solar and wind energy? Or does increased volume of a building make the inside climate healthier and more stable?
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The Necessary Revolution
How Individuals and Organisations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World
Door Peter Senge, Joe Laur, Sara Schley, Bryan Smith – 2008 – 432 pagina’s
Een uitstekend boek over het onvermijdelijke einde van het industriele tijdperk, waarin gedacht werd dat de bronnen op aarde onuitputtelijk zouden zijn. Los van de discussie de aarde nu wel of niet teveel opwarmt, en of de zon niet een veel grotere invloed heeft dan de mens, laat dit boek zien, dat zowel milieubewegingen als multinationals voorzichtig beginnen samen te werken om een regeneratieve economie op te bouwen. Dit stelt hoge eisen aan creativiteit en samenwerking. Het boek geeft hiervoor concrete handreikingen en case-studies.
Bij mij triggerde het vooral het feit, dat we ook vanuit duurzaamheidsperspectief niet ontkomen aan het het organiseren van het samenspel van enerzijds, het anders inrichten van de (gebouwde) omgeving en anderzijds, het aanleren van ander gedrag in het gebruik ervan.
Michel Mooij
Michel Mooij (1954) graduated as an architect in 1980. After a successful period of architects practice he continued his career in the Information Technology. As a result of mastering both practise areas, he joined Twijnstra Gudde in 1990 and became a leading professional in the field of workplace strategy and design, as well as Corporate Real Estate Management. Since 1997 he is founding director of WorkSpace consultancy. In 2008 WorkSpace consultancy merged into Proven Workspace.
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