Leading the scene at being green
Being green isn't just something we add to our agenda, it's part of the fabric of BE.
Why do we go the extra mile to be green? Quite simply because it means you can rest assured that by being in BE Offices workspace you are working in an eco-friendly environment. It's important to you and it's important to us.
And it's not just talk - We are consistently working towards the decarbonisation of our business.
We are also committed to pursuing B-Corporation Certification as a means of affirming one of our core values - We have a commitment to our communities and the environment.
Our policy changes and initiatives
We've delivered the following and don't intend to stop here:
1. Zero waste to landfill policy: Zero waste to landfill was first achieved through our waste partners in 2015 with non-recyclable waste producing electricity that’s sold back to the national grid.
2. Energy from renewable sources: In 2018 we switched energy supplier to one who generates electricity from only renewable sources. 100% of our portfolio is now powered by renewable energy.
3. Motion sensor lighting: Introduced motion sensor lighting at UK centres to reduce energy consumption when office space is empty.
4. LED lighting: As of March 2023 we are 97% of the way through a multi-million pound programme to install LED lights throughout the entire portfolio.
5. Carbon neutral servers: We operate on carbon neutral server hosting.
6. Single-use plastics: Where possible we have removed single-use plastics including plastic water cups and plastic used in our catering services.
7. Chemical use: In partnership with our cleaning company we use eco-friendly, non-hazardous, biodegradable cleaning products for daily cleaning.
8. Reforestation: We've partnered with B-Corp certified tree planting partner Treeapp to contribute to reforestation projects in South America, Africa and Indonesia.
9. Decarbonisation: We are working with the Mayor of London's Business Climate Challenge at 3 of our buildings targeting a minimum 10% reduction in emissions year-on-year.
10. Environmental volunteering: Our staff use their paid volunteer leave to work on beach cleaning and community tree planting projects in London.
Team Green
BE Offices is unique in that we have our own in-house project team, The Green Group. Established in 2009, the Green Group was formed to measure and challenge every process in our business that has an environmental impact, to make every one of those processes greener, more energy efficient and better for the environment. The group monitors our green and energy KPIs and report on a monthly basis on recycling performance, waste and energy consumption at every business centre and at our head office.
Green Schemes
Bike racks and cycle to work scheme
Reducing your carbon footprint is a goal that every business and individual must look at to be considered green. This is why we have installed bike racks at most of our business centres to allow our clients to use a cycle to get to work. These have been incredibly popular and as always we will continue to provide extras to our clients at no extra cost, as part of our 'all-inclusive' policy.
We also have a cycle to work scheme for BE staff, which allows individuals an easy and cost-effective method of purchasing a bicycle.
Carbon neutral hosting servers
We are proud to have the UK's first carbon neutral hosting servers for our online platforms. Our hosted servers are powered by hydro-electricity, a green source of energy.
Recycling facts
We're proud of our zero waste to landfill policy and recycling statistics:
- BE Offices recycled over 161,464 kg of business waste in 2022, the equivalent weight of 1 1/2 times that of a blue whale.
- 97,600 kg of BE's waste was converted to energy sufficient to power a dishwasher 32,000 times
- Electricity generated from BE's recyclable waste (put back into the grid) was enough to power 5,000 houses for a day
- 11,375 kg of food waste went through anaerobic digestion, generating power to go back into the grid and fertiliser to grow more crops
- BE's waste policy saved 166 tonnes of CO2 emissions – the equivalent to the production of 75,799 beef steaks
- In 2022 our recycling efforts saved 1,081 trees.
For the latest information on the Green Group’s initiatives please view our Green News and Press Releases
Our Green Team
Meet our internal team representing every area our business and challenged with making every process within the organisation more environmentally friendly.
