Leena Kurup

While designing the new Globant office, a number of factors were considered to ensure that the space is aimed to sustain efficient functioning. Collaborative spaces were created giving utmost importance to open spaces for utilisation of natural light, LEDs were used as decorative lighting, the open ceiling integrated specially manufactured acoustical pods, auto-sensors in the washrooms were installed and the taps are ensured to have low-flow water systems to ensure wastage is controlled. Also, a thermostat management unit ensured considerable power saving and allowed for controlling the temperature indoors to create a comfortable environment.

Building the infrastructure ensuring sustainability is the way forward, feels Kurup. “What started as an environmental or social cause has become a way of looking at the choices that the society and its members make every day. An organisation’s contributions to society are judged not just on the basis of the quality of the goods and services they produce but also on the care they show to the people and the environment, with assuring compliance with environmental laws designed to protect the environment and wildlife habitats,” she elaborates.

Facility managers must assess the overall effects of facilities on the environment at the earliest possible stage in all planning, design, construction and management processes. They play many different roles when it comes to sustainability initiatives, and they need to be thoroughly ready in the implementation of any given sustainability initiative.