Swiss cheese buildings (ep 8)

Did the IPCC climate assessment report shock you? Are you wondering what your organisation can do to address carbon emissions and reduce your impact on the planet? There is undoubtedly an emergency but there are things we can do.

In the face of new ways of working, with less people in the office, organisations are thinking about and planning for different levels of occupancy and trying to balance the ability to be flexible and responsive, with the need for some certainty around the requirements of those coming into the office. People are wondering how to make sure they can be with the people they want to collaborate with, if they decide to make the journey to the office.

There are tools that can be used to help organisations manage the accommodation demand and ways to measure carbon emissions in granular detail, so that real reductions can be identified and delivered – rather than using averages and/or using carbon offsets.
Just as the pandemic has inspired us to think differently about how we work, the climate emergency could also be the jolt we need to change the carbon footprint of our businesses.

Andrew Mawson, our Founder and Managing Director, shares his perspectives about models being explored by organisations in the UK market and elsewhere, and the moral conundrum of operating half empty buildings that generate carbon, along with the emissions generated through commuting and business travel. Should we be thinking about sharing buildings and operating a seven day week, adopting different working patterns that embrace the weekend, rather than building more office space?

Featured guests:

• Chris Hood, Director of Consulting, EMEA, AWA (UK)

• Raj Krishnamurthy, CEO, Freespace (UK)
• William Buller, Senior Associate, AWA (UK)
• Pierre-Louis Godin, Sustainable Business Manager, Emitwise (UK)
• Andrew Mawson, Founder and MD, AWA (UK)