UK Green Building Council
As the construction industry voice for sustainability, the UK Green Building Council used its recent refit to demonstrate what is possible in sustainable furniture and furnishings – and set a new record in doing so.
Record-Breaking Carbon Footprint
The project achieved the lowest embodied carbon footprint ever recorded for an office refurbishment in the UK. At 139 kgCO2/m² the office has an embodied carbon footprint 22% below a comparable “standard” fit-out and the lowest ever recorded in the UK (Sturgis Carbon Profiling database; WRAP database*).
Living walls, moisture-absorbing bio-based walls, and cutting edge technology were incorporated into the design.
For sustainable furniture, Project Manager Richard Griffiths turned to Rype Office for cost-effective options.
Sustainable Furniture
The sustainable furniture scheme, which contributed to the record-breaking GHG footprint, includes:
- Remanufactured soft seating from Rype Office, reupholstered in 100% recycled hard-wearing polyester in colours chosen to match the scheme.
- Occasional tables remanufactured by Rype Office – all at a height chosen to enable flexible working
- A second-life electric sit-stand table repurposed by Rype Office, which is used as a flexible meeting/breakout space
- Reuse of desks
- Reuse of desk chairs, which were reupholstered to match the new scheme
- An additional office chair which was sourced and remanufactured by Rype Office to exactly match the existing stock