The Keys to a Sustainable Office Relocation

Over the past decade, more and more businesses have dedicated themselves to a higher standard of corporate responsibility, specifically pledging to operate with sustainability and ecological-friendliness in mind.

To live up to these commitments, it’s critical for business leaders to keep sustainability top-of-mind during all aspects of business operation, including during office relocation projects.

This is easier said than done. Anyone who has ever moved house, let alone an office, knows that the experience can be stressful, and it’s all too easy to throw environmental convictions out the window. But with the right planning and a strategic execution, it’s more than possible for companies to move office spaces while upholding their sustainability goals.

Relocating Your Office, Prioritizing Sustainability

There are a few key considerations to keep in mind:

Upfront Planning

The main consideration during your upfront planning process is to minimize the need for new furniture purchases whenever possible. New furniture involves substantial manufacturing, packaging, and transportation, all of which have a severe impact on the environment. Plan to reuse existing furniture instead of purchasing new, or else purchase used or remanufactured furniture. Finally, take advantage of refurbishment and cleaning services to improve the condition of your existing furniture.

Pre-Move Purge and Recycling

Transporting any unnecessary supplies or equipment is going to increase unnecessary emissions (to say nothing of costs). Make sure you purge and clean house before the move. Take care to properly destroy confidential and/or trade secret business information, including physical documents as well as information stored on old hard drives. (Think HR information, business plans, financial statements, and client lists). Send physical documents through the shredder, then recycle.

Hire the Right Mover

It’s also important to hire a mover that can boast a modern, fuel-efficient fleet. Newer diesel vehicles produce substantially less emission; by contrast, poorly capitalized movers operate older fleets and usually exhibit substandard vehicle maintenance.

As you scout out the right mover, it may be worth asking:

• Does their fleet comply with California Air Resources Board (CARB) diesel regulations?
• Does the mover utilize subcontractors with old, poorly maintained vehicles?

Create an Efficient Relocation Plan

You’ll also want to create a moving plan that limits emissions and curbs your overall environmental impact. There are a few specific elements of this:

• Create an efficient/condensed relocation schedule. Your goal is to minimize emissions related to transportation. Engineer a schedule that avoids unnecessary trips to and from your offices, trying to limit the number of box deliveries and pickups.
• Plan to use reusable packing materials. Opt for plastic moving crates and reusable carts instead of cardboard cartons. Hire a mover who uses reusable building protection material, too.
• Minimize your post-move activity. A sign of a well organized move is minimal punch-list and post-move activity. Ask your mover to help develop an inventory control system for the move, which helps identify errors or problems before the conclusion of the move. In turn, this helps limit post move follow up, and also makes for fewer headaches when your team members report to the new office. (Ask Corovan about our Corotrak system, which sets a high bar for inventory management.)

Decommission the Old Office

Finally, keep sustainability in mind as you decommission your former workspace. Planning a successful decommission can be as time intensive as planning the move itself, as you’ll need to identify and work with donation/charitable reuse/recycling organizations to keep old stuff out of the landfill. And, to further control emissions, try to work with decommission partners who are in close proximity to your facilities.

Choose Corovan for Your Sustainable Office Relocation

To ensure an environmentally responsible move, choosing the right relocation partner is key. At Corovan, we have decades of experience providing comprehensive move planning, storage, and logistics services, and we offer up-to-date technologies that can keep sustainability goals front and center.