Incorporating sustainability criteria in commercial workplace fit-out guidelines for a banking operation

Organisations are increasingly expected by shareholders and the community at large to demonstrate corporate social responsibility in consideration of the environment, employees and the community. Leading organisations are demonstrating that corporate social responsibility starts at 'home', using their workplaces as practical exemplars of their commitment. This study investigated the key performance areas and priorities of a major international banking organisation in developing and incorporating sustainability criteria into the design and decision-making processes that govern the commercial workplace fit-outs. The sustainability guidelines established the performance indicators and benchmarks for the workplace environments consistent with the organisation's expectation for quality, value and sustainability for the accommodation and office environments. A key issue in achieving sustainability in office fit-outs is to be informed of the options and their potential impacts and being able to make design decisions that will maintain the integrity of the design but have the smallest ecological footprint. The theoretical framework of life cycle thinking (LCT) is a vital part in understanding sustainability. The selection of the standards and criteria which form this guide drew on this principle and aims to promote holistic decision-making during the fit-out design process and implementation. The Sustainability Guidelines is based on the environmental principles, effective practices and concepts featured in the rating systems Green Star and NABERS (Australia), LEED (US), BREEAM (UK) and BCA Green Mark (Singapore). The guideline is applied to the fit-out of commercial workplace projects, including new facilities and changes to existing facilities. It provides a framework of considerations for reducing environmental impacts and contains information on opportunities and strategies to illustrate achievement of key performance benchmarks.