Mailing Systems Technology - February 2008 - (Page 11)

how to GREEN Part 1: The necessary steps to take if you are in the process of new construction By Vera Angelico oday, more and more organizations are taking steps to become green. Buildings (commercial, industrial and residential) and their construction are responsible for one-third of our total energy, twothirds of our electricity and one-eighth of our water, according to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The bottom line is that mail centers will need to become green, too. If you know your company is building a new ofﬁce, it is very important to approach the building team with some of these tips. These are fundamental ways in which you can inform the people responsible for the new design what to do with your space. Most of the time, architects and engineers are not fully aware of how a mail center operates, making it difﬁcult to present choices that are going to be effective. According to the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the people in a building typically cost 10 to 12 times more than the building’s infrastructure. This is an important fact from the point of view that managers your mail center T need to begin to pay closer attention to what it takes to keep the employees happy in the workplace. A well-designed building can greatly improve the life quality of its inhabitants and also contribute to their health. That is why making buildings more energy-efﬁcient is a vital component of any effort to promote energy independence. So in the process of designing a new building, it is important to keep in mind some very important aspects. What we are looking for are ways to minimize strain on local infrastructure and contribute to overall quality of life. LEED is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need for an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in ﬁve key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efﬁciency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. Using LEED’s system, I will present alternatives in these ﬁve categories. Some of them will not be directly related to the mail center, but they will indirectly strongly affect your operation. I am sure that you will look and sound like an expert bringing these ideas to the construction team: 1. Sustainable Site Development In this category, the designers look for the land where the building will be located. At this point, make sure that they will have public transportation close by and bicycle storage and changing rooms for the employees. The recently opened New York Times building in New York City, which cost millions of dollars, forgot to include a bicycle rack for its employees in a city where most inhabitants don’t have cars! 2. Water Savings Potable water is increasingly disappearing from our planet. It is fundamental that we look for ways to reduce water usage and engage in some program for water reduction. Ask the team if ➝ WWW.MAILINGSYSTEMSTECHNOLOGY.COM | FEBRUARY 2007 11 http://www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com

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Mailing Systems Technology - February 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Peer to Peer How to Green Your Mail Center Adopting an Automated Document Factory Warning! Avoid Negative Financial Impact More Productivity, Less Expense BCC Software Formscan A Smooth Transition Kate’s Slate Products & Services Advertiser Index Sho Time

Mailing Systems Technology - February 2008

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