A leading mining company leads the industry in creating eco-friendly corporate
spaces with its new office in Shanghai. By Sakinah Manaff
t may not be well known but mining laminates in all its furniture and doors. the acoustic walls of
conglomerate, Bhp Billiton, has always the office were also finished in either cotton or wool fabrics,
had a deep commitment to environmental which are more durable, and have a longer lifespan than
sustainability. as part of the company’s synthetic materials.
Climate Change policy, it has committed
us$300 million for sustainable initiatives a first for a corporate office in China is Bhp shanghai’s automatic
over the next five years. these efforts light dimming system. eschewing high energy lighting fixtures
include supporting the development like spotlights and halogens, photo-sensors are installed
and implementation of low emissions technology, internal in the office to ensure constant illumination,
energy excellence projects and educational programmes to regardless of the weather or time of day. another
encourage emissions abatement by their employees, and in the first is the waterless urinal system in the toilet, which saves
communities in which they operate. water that is the annual equivalent to the monthly usage of an
average Chinese household.
While its Climate Change policy focused largely on the
company’s mining operations, it was only recently that Bhp With such an eco-holistic view to its office design and
Billiton decided to apply the same values to their office design construction, it was only natural that Bhp Billiton worked
and construction. In the last couple of years, its new offices with InterfaceFLor for its shanghai space. “We realised
around the world have been designed, constructed that to enable us to achieve our objectives in environmental
and operated according to environmentally sustainability, it was important to work with contractors and
sustainable guidelines. In fact, Bhp Billiton has in-house vendors like InterfaceFLor, who have the same mindset and
facility management expertise, and is working to be in the values as ourselves in environmental sustainability,” stephen
forefront of environmentally sustainable office designs. ho, Facility Manager, Bhp Billiton, reveals. For its entire
flooring, the company opted for Wheat from InterfaceFLor’s
For its new office in shanghai, the company established entropy
®
collection. entropy, made from recycled yarn, is part
strict environmental guidelines at the outset, which included of InterfaceFLor’s i2™ collection, which means each tile is
the design and specification of renewable materials to be unique but works perfectly as part of a whole regardless of
used, the methods of construction and the daily operational how it is installed. as such, it reduces waste. It is also part of
procedures of the company. guidance and standards were also the Cool Carpet™ programme, which offsets carbon emissions
taken from leading environmental agencies like the us green associated with the carpet’s entire lifecycle.
Building Council (for Leadership in energy and environmental
Design certification), the green Building Council of australia Bhp Billiton believes that the risks of climate change associated
(for green star) and the International organization for standards with increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere
(for Iso14001). need to be addressed through accelerated action. Behavioural
change, innovation and technological progress are necessary to
one of the first things the company looked at was the materials it meet its natural resource and energy needs. “Building on earlier
would use. Wherever possible, it opted for environment-friendly efforts, we will take action within our own businesses and work
and renewable natural products. Instead of using lacquered with governments, industry and other stakeholders to address
veneers, pvC and highly toxic substances like products this global challenge and find lasting solutions consistent with
fabricated, manufactured or applied with high-voC (volatile our goal of Zero harm,” ho says. It looks like its new office in
organic Compounds), it chose to exclusively incorporate shanghai is a fine testament to this.
35
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48