Office Floor Space Research Articles

Energy Efficiency Package for Tenant Fit-Out: Laboratory Testing and Validation of Energy Savings and Indoor Environmental Quality

Approximately 40% of the total U.S. office floor space of 1.5 billion sq.m (16 billion sq.ft.) is leased space occupied by tenants. Tenant fit-out presents a key opportunity to incorporate energy efficiency within the real estate business cycle. We designed a package of energy efficiency measures tailored to the scope of a tenant fit-out. This tenant fit-out package (TFP) includes advanced lighting and heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) controls as core measures, with ceiling fans, automated shading, and plug load controls as additional optional measures. We conducted laboratory testing of six configurations of the package to evaluate energy savings, indoor environmental quality, and identify installation, commissioning, and operational issues. Combined savings for HVAC, lighting, and plug loads ranged from 33–40%. Lighting savings ranged from 69–83%, and HVAC savings from 20–40%. The laboratory testing also revealed some minor but tractable challenges with installation and commissioning of HVAC controls. Overall, the results demonstrate that significant savings can be realized in existing office buildings by incorporating relatively low-risk, proven measures at the time of a tenant fit-out.

Effect of Visual Stimuli of Indoor Floor Plants upon the Human Responses

The biophilia hypothesis maintains that animals, which bring benefits for human survival, evolve adaptively to cause a positive emotional response or actions in the human evolution process. When connected in an advantageous environment for survival, effective relaxation and recovery from fatigue are brought about as further physiological functions, rather than a simple stress-free situation. The aim of this study is to clarify the significance of the visual stimulation of indoor floor plants placed in an office floor space. We examined how the green covering factor and gaze distance to indoor floor plants placed on the floor influenced thermal sensation. The thermal environment conditions were set at 3 levels, 25°C, 28°C, and 31°C and the floor and air temperature were homogenous. We set up 8 office floor plans that had no visual stimulation and used indoor floor plants including pachira, monstera, butterfly palm, yucca elephantipes, weeping fig, umbellate, and snake plant for a visual stimulation. The gaze distance, measured from the center of the subject presented with a visual stimulation and the center of the plant, was set at 3 distances: 2.0, 4.5 and 8.0 m. When the conduction-corrected modified effective temperature (ETF) was below 26°C, the visual stimulation of the indoor floor plants umbellata and monstera, which have a silhouette with low leaf density and rounded leaves, were shown to mitigate the sensation of being cool. The visual stimulation of indoor floor plants with rounded leaves, such as, pachira, monstera, weeping fig, and umbellata, were shown to decrease the feeling of discomfort. For a gaze distance below 4.5 m, a green covering accounting for less than 5% was shown to be necessary for mitigating the sensation of being cool and improving the feeling of discomfort.

Alternative ventilation strategies in U.S. offices: Saving energy while enhancing work performance, reducing absenteeism, and considering outdoor pollutant exposure tradeoffs

Mechanical ventilation can improve occupant productivity, use or save energy, and increase outdoor-to-indoor pollutant transport. This work explores those impacts for eight ventilation strategies, relative to a baseline constant mechanical ventilation rate (VR) of 9.4 L/s/occ, in two representative offices. Strategies were unique combinations of airside economizing, demand-controlled ventilation, and supply air temperature reset, along with doubling the baseline VR. These were evaluated within a Monte Carlo analysis that varied climate and outdoor pollution, along with 19 building parameters. Energy modeling, empirical correlations, and indoor air quality (IAQ) modeling were used to quantify outcomes of: (i) energy use; (ii) profitable IAQ impacts, e.g. work performance; and (iii) negative IAQ health impacts due to indoor particle and ozone exposure. ‘Win-win’ strategies were defined as those that saved energy and increased work performance, and these always included an economizer. Relative to the baseline, the win-win strategies: increased annual geometric mean VRs by 5–10 L/s/occ; reduced mechanical system energy consumption by 12–27% (saving $1–1.75/m2/year); increased work performance by 0.5%; eliminated 5 h of absenteeism per year; and increased indoor PM2.5 by 0.5 μg/m3 and ozone by 3 ppb. A sensitivity analysis identified infiltration and climate as the largest outcome drivers. Median annual benefits for small-to-medium-large offices in the U.S. (∼75% of office floorspace) were $28 billion for implementing the win-win strategy with the greatest energy savings, and $55 billion for implementing the win-win strategy with the greatest work performance increase. Particle exposure tradeoffs were mitigated by use of efficient filters.

Alternative ventilation strategies in U.S. offices: Comprehensive assessment and sensitivity analysis of energy saving potential

Mature technologies exist to reduce the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) energy associated with ventilation and use ventilation proactively to save energy. This study investigated the energy use impacts in U.S. office buildings of multiple alternative ventilation strategies that combined: economizing, demand controlled ventilation (DCV), supply air temperature reset (SR), and/or a doubled ventilation rate. We used energy simulations in a Monte Carlo analysis, sampling 17 building inputs and varying locations to match the climate zone distribution of the U.S. office stock. Results indicated the possibility for significant savings compared to a baseline that ventilated constantly at a minimum rate in both a small office type with a constant air volume (CAV) HVAC system and a medium office type with a variable air volume (VAV) system. In 95% of instances, HVAC source energy savings were 5–25% in the small-CAV office (median: 11%) and 6–42% in the medium-VAV office (median: 27%). In the small-CAV office, DCV typically saved the most energy, usually from heating, and heating degree days and occupant density were decisive influences. In the medium-VAV office, economizing and SR were most important, DCV usually only had minor impacts, and zone temperature setpoints, along with climate indicators, were the critical influences. Other than infiltration, envelope characteristics did not strongly influence energy impacts. The untapped primary energy savings of alternative ventilation strategies over the 74% of U.S. office floorspace reasonably represented by our modeling was estimated at 36 TWh per year, with an annual value of U.S. $1.25 billion.

An urban growth model of office property development

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to estimate an empirical model for new office space development starts, based on the theoretical treatment of urban growth. The study introduces a new parameter, namely, office space-usage pattern, to the office space development equation and tests whether developers respond to non-price measures in deciding to commence new developments.Design/methodology/approach– The study first introduces a co-integration approach based on an error correction model to test for long-run relations and short-run dynamics of new office space development. A multivariate regression model is then introduced to identify significant determinants that influence office development starts. The study uses annual data over a time span of 30 years.Findings– Estimated results provide strong evidence that the newly introduced parameter exerts a positive impact on new office space development. It suggests that if the average floor space per employee changes by one percentage point, new office development starts would change by 1.5 percentage point, indicating even a marginal change in floor-space usage per employee (SPE) would have a significant impact on new office space development. Empirical estimates also suggest a strong response of office development starts to the lagged land supply and office space stock.Research limitations/implications– The paper raises the concern about the importance of non-price measures of the supply-side of the office market. There is scope to address the research questions using better data sets. It is also possible to model the supply adjustment process more dynamically in an error correction framework.Practical implications– The findings would suggest that non-price measures, such as space-usage pattern, need to be taken into account when planning and estimating future office space needs. This finding provides valuable insight for our current knowledge on factors affecting new office supply.Originality/value– This is the first study to introduce office floor space usage as a determinant of office development starts in an urban growth conceptual framework for the Hong Kong office market.

Agglomeration Economies and Productivity: A Structural Estimation Approach Using Commercial Rents

We gain more insight into the heterogeneity in firms' productivity regarding agglomeration economies. Given a production function that allows for input factor substitution, we identify ratios of firm‐specific production parameters employing a hedonic price approach. We use unique microdata of commercial rents and firm characteristics, and employ semiparametric estimation techniques. The results show that agglomeration economies capitalize in commercial rents. Nevertheless, expenditure on agglomeration is in general limited: for example, it is on average only 5.3% of expenditure on office floor space. It is much higher in some sectors: for retail firms, it is about 20% of the expenditure on floor space.

Moore's Law and energy and operations savings in the evolution of optical transport platforms

As a telecommunications equipment vendor, we have witnessed a tremendous increase in the capacity of transport equipment over the past 16 years. Platforms have evolved from the first generation add/drop multiplexer to the next generation multiservice provisioning platform and today's packet optical transport platform. This article discusses our findings in the application of Moore's Law to these optical transport platforms in capacity, power, space, and capital cost. It also discusses our findings in using Moore's Law as a presumption to explore the operations cost savings in power consumption, office floor space, and maintenance. Payback periods for the capital cost of new technology from energy and operations savings are investigated. The conclusions justify the replacement of the network technology for every other generation.

Space‐time management and office floorspace demand

PurposeTo model the floorspace demand of office‐based organisations in which employees spend periods of time working at off‐site locations, and identify the scope for efficiency improvements.Design/methodology/approachThe paper compares the experience gained in applying an innovative method of space‐planning in practice, with mathematical simulations of activity‐space scenarios. Both approaches are described.FindingsExperience in practice demonstrates that significant reductions can be made in the floorspace demand of many office‐based organisations, but the simulations show that is not feasible to achieve a perfect activity‐space “fit” when the pattern of activities is uncertain. Space‐time management becomes increasingly critical as office floorspace is used more efficiently.Originality/valueShows that there are opportunities for reducing the floorspace demand of most organisations compared to current usage, but there is a limit on achievable efficiency gains.

Variation of floor rent differentials of high-rise buildings

With rapid urbanisation, the demand for office floor space also increases. Although high-rise buildings are very common in urban areas, study of the rent for different stories in such buildings is relatively rare. Liu (1988) and Grimaud (1989) separately applied agglomeration economies to study the density variation in urban areas. However, these studies assumed that the floor rent in the same building is the same for each story. Such an assumption about floor rent may not fully reflect actual floor rent and, from the perspectives of theoretical completeness and practical usefulness, formulation for different floor rents in high-rise buildings, and their effect on urban density variation should also be considered. This research note extends Ogawa and Fujita’s locational potential function (1980) into two dimensions: flat dimension and story dimension. The modification of the locational potential function is then applied to revise Liu’s model. Finally, the office distribution in a CBD (central business district) is then discussed.

Variation of floor rent differentials of high rise buildings

Abstract. With rapid urbanisation, the demand for office floor space also increases. Although high‐rise buildings are very common in urban areas, study of the rent for different stories in such buildings is relatively rare. Liu (1988) and Grimaud (1989) separately applied agglomeration economies to study the density variation in urban areas. However, these studies assumed that the floor rent in the same building is the same for each story. Such an assumption about floor rent may not fully reflect actual floor rent and, from the perspectives of theoretical completeness and practical usefulness, formulation for different floor rents in high‐rise buildings, and their effect on urban density variation should also be considered. This research note extends Ogawa and Fujita's locational potential function (1980) into two dimensions: flat dimension and story dimension. The modification of the locational potential function is then applied to revise Liu's model. Finally, the office distribution in a CBD (central business district) is then discussed.

Taxation allowances

Examines the application of taxation breaks in stimulating investment into property development. Examples are drawn from Dublin and Berlin to highlight how accelerated depreciation allowances have been utilized in different market sectors. Emphasis is placed on similarities and differences in the regulations regarding use of taxation‐based incentives. Outcomes of the policy are evaluated including the risk of over‐supply of office floorspace in the medium term and the re‐targeting of incentives towards residential development. Argues that the experience drawn from each city provides interesting parallel and contrasting outcomes.

Manufacturing floor space forecasting

Abstract This forecasting procedure, in use at our facility for ten years, has gone through many updates and changes. These updates have provided us with a system which is reliable, and addresses all of our requirements for flexibility and ease of operation. In addition to production floor space, other categories of areas can be projected using this method. We have successfully used this same process to forecast office requirements, based on manpower projections. A percentage of the production requirement is established to forecast services, and laboratory needs. When added to the production and office floor space, a projection of the total facility floor space is provided.

LONDON COMMERCIAL OFFICE SPACE SURVEY: A SURVEY AND ANALYSIS OF OFFICE DEVELOPMENT

This research was provoked by the apparent lack of a consistent information base for commercial office floorspace statistics for London. Each of a variety of sources seem to offer different magnitudes for the total floorspace stock. Beyond this we attempted to disaggregate floorspace figures by unit size, in order to ascertain a clearer picture of the composition of office floorspace and to assess changes in this over time.

The Office in Metropolis: An Opportunity for Shaping Metropolitan America

skyline and the character of most American central cities during the last decade or so represents a crucial and possibly unique phase in the evolution of the country's urban geography. More important than the ever-increasing size and height of the individual buildings is the magnitude of the downtown office development boom. Between 1960 and 1972, for example, gross office floor space in Manhattan alone increased by some 104 million square feet to a total of about 244 million square feet, a 74 percent addition. In central Chicago, the country's second largest office complex, net office expansion over the same period was over 50 percent, to provide the city with a total of 73 million square feet in 1972. Office space in the central business districts of cities as contrasted as Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, and Dallas also increased by 60 to 90 percent, while Houston, San Francisco, and the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul experienced gains of over 100 percent during that same twelve-year period (see Table 1).