Taking the lead in creating the sustainable workplace

The desideratum of an ideal work area has long been with us. Even at home, requirements entail a comfort zone of privacy, relative quiet, sufficient space, and a set of “comforters” that may include a desk and chair, a favored reading lamp, coffee cup warmer, and a canister full of pens and pencils within arm’s reach, whether we use them or not.

All of these elements make it conducive to get on with the work. These days, of course, a computer system would be at the forefront of such an idealized workspace.

Transfer the setting to an office and it stays the same: we have quirks of identity that dictate the specially contoured geography of a comfort zone for work.

Office spaces have standard features whose degrees of variance can only stretch so much. Companies must constantly attempt to provide an environment that is conducive for all employees, so as to ensure top-class productivity.

Enter Ayala Land Businesscapes, which not only seeks to give the business community the very best in corporate locations and addresses, but also enhances this primary function.

It goes beyond merely providing office space, says Ayala Land senior vice president and Ayala Land Businesscapes group head Ma. Victoria E, Añonuevo.

“We are committed to create for our tenants a business community with a work environment that is complete and dynamic, promoting productivity among our clients’ employees,” she stresses.

To further this commitment of creating ideal work environments, Ayala Land Businesscapes partners with the country’s largest property manager, Ayala Property Management Corp. (APMC). APMC embraces its full range of responsibilities, from power maintenance and alternative supply to communications systems, from assuring excellent lobby reception to fine-tuning elevator operations, from management of garbage disposal practices and janitorial services to the consistent upkeep of gardens, landscape decor, and water features.

This comprehensive scope has APMC constantly looking for ways to apply modern technologies and systems, the better to preserve the environment while opting for superior safety and health-promoting practices.

With the increasing consciousness regarding global warming and the perils of depleting our planet’s resources, the new dimension to property management has thus incorporated the need for an environmentally sound workplace. To address this, nature and technology must be made to work together in ideal synergy.

In solid, pragmatic terms, how does one apply the notion of an environmentally sound workplace and adopt it as a fundamental element in a business center or community?

Bobby Menpin, APMC’s chief operating officer, cites several features that have long been adopted. In most office buildings, air conditioning usually comprises the bulk of energy consumption. The U.P.-Ayala Land TechnoHub campus addresses this concern by providing an energy efficient district cooling system. A central plant provides chilled water for the air conditioning of the different buildings within the facility. Sharing the different cooling requirements of the buildings translates to savings in energy consumption up to 30 percent.

One Evotech, Ayala Land Businesscapes’ maiden structure in Nuvali’s Lakeside Evozone office campus development, best demonstrates how sustainable features are not only environmentally sound but also promotes a healthier lifestyle. Amenities such as the bike ramp encourages alternative means of mobilizing and at the same time acts as a cooling mechanism, allowing air to circulate around the building.

Both campus developments feature a multi-purpose lagoon that serves both an aesthetic function and a sustainable element. During periods of heavy rainfall, the lagoon acts as a flood detention basin where rainwater is deposited. Water here can be collected and used for irrigation of the green areas of the campus.

The efforts also involve the utilization of green products, such as energy-efficient bulbs in offices and malls, better air filters for air-conditioning systems in buildings, and the effective collection of recyclable materials in subdivisions and buildings. In office buildings, vibration levels of air-conditioning units are regularly checked to prevent breakdowns.

These environment-friendly innovations have been conducted for a decade now, earning best-practices citations from local and environmental groups for APMC, which has also won the ASEAN Energy Savings Award for several years. Cited in the award were the savings from streamlined systems and the application of cost-saving technologies, which have amounted to some P180M since 2002.

Menpin avers: “We develop more initiatives to obtain better measurements of our success. APMC’s goal is to exceed its sustainability targets by five percent every year.”

Thus, APMC has even established its own Sustainability Task Force, which ensures the provision of systems for efficient use of energy and water, the upkeep of air quality, and an upgrade of solid waste management. The Task Force works in tandem with the Ayala Land Sustainability Council in recognizing the emergence of green consumerism.

Clearly, Ayala Land Businesscapes has emerged as the leader in providing the best conditions in a workplace setting, where their partners’ expectations for excellence are met in giving their employees the ideal environment for creativity and productivity.

“Sustainabilty” may have become such an abused buzzword, but with current developments forged by the Ayala Businesscapes Group (ABG), concrete manifestations evidently “sustain” its viability as a principle, let alone its effectiveness when applied to envisioned businesscapes.

Sterling examples include ABG’s projects in various growth areas all over the country, such as Nuvali, UP and Baguio which introduces campus-like headquarters as a technohub concept.

There are also ABGs Technopods in Cebu, Davao and Iloilo as part of the Next Wave Cities initiative on fast-tracking the modernization of the country’s potential growth areas.

The goal of providing the best possible work environment to companies and their workforce serves as a testament to ABG’s commitment to excellence as a partner. More than just providing office space, it embraces the work-life balance that companies look for to ensure the proper correlation between productivity and joie-de-vivre among employees. Companies become convinced that locating in an ABG development helps achieve this.

It is all part of an evolving identity, and it is to be hoped that the concept of “Workplace Modernity” also gains adherents among small and medium-scale businesses and entrepreneurships all over the country. No doubt such a development may also help decongest Metro Manila, and drive home yet another desirable feature.

Sustainable workplaces may take into strong consideration their relative proximity to or accessibility from workers’ residences. Add to this a viable and considerate design to get them to the workplace in the most comfortable way possible. The e-Jeepney now making its mark in The Fort at Taguig as well as in the Makati business district comes to mind.

The long and short of it is that sense and sensibility equal sustainability — something that the Ayala Businesscapes Group has again taken the lead in serving examples of, as a paragon of a socially and environmentally conscious partner in creating the ideal lifescape.