Relocation can be an opportunity to help your business bottom line, according to one architect specializing in green buildings, because better profits arise by creating a healthier workplace making employees more productive. And the benefits can be garnered whether the company is moving to a new building or relocating into a renovated facility.
“The most costly part of your operation is payroll expenses,” said Rick Alfandre of Alfandre Architects P.C. in New Paltz. “The reality is a small additional cost in dollars per square foot has significant benefits in productivity enhancement.”
“It has to do with productivity measured in two ways,” Alfandre said. “It is simply a matter of the capacity of a worker to do their work more effectively, which can be measured in the number of pieces produced and the quality of production.”
The approach is endorsed by Thomas Passero, founder and president of Prosthetic and Orthotic Associates of Middletown, which after 20 years, moved into a new building designed by Alfandre four months ago.
“We have set a record for patients served three out of the four months,” Passero said. “The building is designed and built for what we do and there is an efficiency factor in how we do it.”
The efficiency involves such obvious factors as ensuring proper space for reception, bookkeeping, patient services and workrooms where the customized orthotic and prosthetic equipment is designed, built and fitted. But equally important, said Alfandre, is the fact it is a “healthy building,” using natural lighting to bring out the best in employees and natural materials to avoid creating health problems.
“Budgets are always tight, but many things are easily done today that we would call green or healthy or high performance that even a few years ago were not available to do,” Alfandre said.
He said the changes are available from the ground up. “You can easily get low emitting carpet and glues,” he said. “So that when you walk into a brand new carpeted space it doesn”™t smell toxic. It”™s nice to be able to breathe as soon as you move in.”
For retail space, he said there is resilient flooring using true linoleum instead of vinyl. Linoleum smells better and is healthier and as durable as vinyl.Â
“The health and well-being of the employees impacts productivity in ways that are pretty significant,” Alfandre said.
The benefits cut across all forms of business activity. In retail, he said, studies show sales figures are higher in stores featuring natural lighting. In office and manufacturing, proper air quality reduces employee sick time and minimizes effects from contagious colds and flu. “Health and well-being are part of productivity that translates specifically to health,” he said. “If employees are not sick as often, that translates into better productivity and better profits.”
While designing a building to meet business needs is the most straightforward way to see productivity gains from a healthy facility, Alfandre said that businesses relocating into an existing facility could use the same guidelines as they configure the space.
He said depending on specific tenant lease agreements, the owner or renter pays various costs in fitting out a space for business. “So do some analysis; ”˜if I do this, what will it cost, who”™s paying, how is it amortized, and how will it improve health and well being over time in that space?”™”
“There are new products coming out that are worth investigating,” he said.  “You have to do some analysis, and it does require some time and creative thinking but it is definitely doable.”
