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Reducing office-related costs: our top 5 tips

Sometimes in companies maintaining profitability might mean cutting down on expenses. Reducing office-related costs can often be overlooked, so here are our top 5 tips on reducing office-related costs in ways that might actually end up improving your employee experience and be better for the environment.

reducing office-related costs, Haltian infographic

Read more: What to consider when returning to the office?

1. Save money on air conditioning and heating

The most common way of saving money on air conditioning and heating is to have the heating and air conditioning normally on for working hours and dialing them down for the evening and night. Many office buildings use smart thermostats that can be programmed according to your needs.

For an even smarter solution, use multiple thermostats or environmental monitoring devices to optimize different zones or rooms in the office. Integrating your IoT solution into the buildings’ air conditioning and heating systems means that unused spaces are not air-conditioned unnecessarily.

Here’s an example of how a building’s air conditioning systems can be integrated with office solutions.

2. Use lighting only when needed

Not only is having office lighting on only when needed good for the environment, but it will save you money. Instruct your employees to shut down the lights if they’re the last to leave and consider using smart solutions, like movement sensor lights to make sure any lighting isn’t on unnecessarily.

Another great way to save on energy costs is to shut down appliances like computers for the night.

3. Need-based cleaning

Cleaning is characterized by time-consuming distances between cleaning areas and unpredictable needs for supplies and maintenance. Optimizing processes and improving operating efficiency are constant challenges for any facility management team. Taking on smart solutions for need-based cleaning will make sure the cleaning staff will spend their time on areas that truly need their attention, instead of doing rounds and check-ups everywhere.

Need-based cleaning can be, for example, done by placing smart sensor devices on washroom towels and paper dispensers. The devices will alert the cleaning staff when the dispensers are running low, and they can stock up only those that need filling. In a similar way, need-based cleaning can be done according to the number of visitors to a certain area: a smart sensor device will count the number of people visiting a room, and an alert threshold can be set to have the room cleaned after a certain limit is reached.

4. Encourage remote work and other flexible ways of working

Offering a possibility for remote work will increase your employee’s happiness, but it can also directly impact a company’s bottom line by:

  • Reducing utility costs by lowering electricity and water usage
  • Reducing the amount of space required enables smaller office spaces
  • Reducing commuting costs for employees
  • Reducing productive time lost to commuting

5. Efficient space usage

Facility managers, top management, and HR alike often struggle with using space in the most efficient way and creating comfortable workspaces at the same time. Since rental costs are one of the biggest costs for a company, moving to a smaller office space is a viable option to reduce office-related costs, but this too can be done without compromising the happiness of your employees. Here are some tips for more efficient space usage to reduce office-related costs:

  1. Create different work zones for different types of work
    By moving to activity-based working, you can create different work zones around the office, such as space for quiet work, co-working and relaxation areas. In activity-based working, people can change their working space according to what they are doing at that time. This will allow you to do more with less space.
  2. Encourage remote work. It’s a no-brainer really: having people who work full or part-time from their home offices, will reduce your space needs at the office.

Making cuts is always a balancing act, but not all changes need to be painful or require fundamental changes in your business plan. Right now, as the aftermath of the long pandemic, is a great time to implement changes and rethink the old ways.