ESG Report 2022 single pages web - Flipbook - Page 31
Situation
With more than 600 colleagues in the city, RWS has
deep roots in Brno. As we grew, new offices were added,
which solved space issues but created many unforeseen
challenges.
Collaboration, teamwork and productivity suffered across
the three office locations. Being spread across multiple
offices made face-to-face meetings inconvenient since
colleagues had to travel between offices to meet.
The quality of each office was very different. One of the
buildings was over 200 years old, which made heating and
cooling unpredictable. In the winter, people sitting by the
window would freeze, but those by the vents were too hot.
Another building had outdated paint and furniture. The
third building was more modern but was in a suburb that
required a long and inconvenient commute.
None of the buildings had any sustainability or energyefficient features and each office managed its own HVAC,
cooling and electricity, which was expensive, inefficient
and not easily controlled.
Solution
It was quickly becoming apparent that a better office
situation was needed for the teams in Brno.
The first key moment of change was when our
four pillars of sustainability were created,” said
David Hell, Vice President of Finance at RWS. “One
pillar was focused on the environment and led by
our internal teams, which contributed to a strong
willingness to participate and make changes.”
A second key moment of change was when the facilities
team began joining internal focus groups. They heard
what colleagues were asking for and began to implement
their ideas, helping sustainability gain a lot of momentum
across our 80+ offices.
BREEAM: BUILDING RESEARCH
ESTABLISHMENT ENVIRONMENTAL
ASSESSMENT METHOD
In addition to consolidating all three offices in an energy
efficient building, several other sustainability initiatives
were launched, including:
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Sourcing energy from green energy suppliers
Reducing unnecessary energy use with motion sensors
Introducing water flow limiters
Expanding recycling to include aluminium and glass
Purchasing eco-friendly products from local sources
(printer paper, napkins, plates, toilet paper and more)
An important factor of the success of this office has been
our close collaboration with our building management
team, who have made sustainability a cornerstone
of their business. While they paid a lot of attention to
making the inside of the office sustainable, the building’s
management team went further by focusing their efforts
on the outside.
Biodiversity is demonstrated across the grounds, which
supports a wide variety of plants, birds and bugs. Large,
mature pine and fruit trees are planted in the courtyard
and the smell of the flowers changes with the seasons.
To encourage pollination, beehives have been installed
on the building’s roof. Planning for a pond with carp is in
progress for the next phase in the courtyard. The water
from the pond can be reused for landscape and sprinkler
systems.
The office courtyard has several bird feeders and even a
bug hotel.
We are in the centre of the city with office buildings
all around us,” David said. “The landlord has
invested a lot in the garden to create an oasis where
people can come to relax and recharge with friends
over lunch or a coffee. This is a huge benefit for our
team’s well-being and mental health.”
In 2019 we opened our flagship office at Vlněna, a
120,000m2 world-class business park redeveloped from
one of the oldest textile factories in Brno. Centrally located
with easy access to many public transport options, this
office meets the BREEAM standard. The BREEAM standard
measures the sustainability of buildings and takes critical
factors such as energy, health and well-being, transport,
water, ecology and the selection of materials into account.
ENVIRONMENT
RWS — ESG Report 2022
31
