Building use and energy management consultancy BI Associates plans to 
devise ways of making the use of 
energy and office space design in buildings more effective and efficient.

“Most technical consultants are looking at the cost of energy in an isolated way, without focusing on the efficient use of space by the occupants of the building,” says BI Associates director Martin Argimon.

He adds that the company focuses on how energy interventions in alternating current and electrical installations, as well as the ration-
alisation of the office space layout, can lower the total cost of operations of a building portfolio.

Since 1980, companies have been progressively reducing the size of the space allocated to each employee.

“Over the past three years, BI Associates has carried out major renovation and space planning work (in the order of 60 000 m2) to accommodate clients such as Standard Bank, Nedcor and Vodacom in new office space.”

Argimon explains that technical interventions and the application of new space planning techniques, such as rationalisation based on occupancy ratios, can save large sums of money in the long run.

“Based on a pilot survey carried out for a major banking institution, we have been able to ascertain that about 50% of the work-
stations in a typical office space remain unoccu-
pied for the most part of the day”.

The company recently partnered with an overseas strategic space planning company to intorudce techniques currently used in the UK and other countries in Europe to achieve the best possible fit and rationalisation within the office space environment.

He says that the company is also considering information and communication tech-
nology as another resource, which plays a major role when applying these new concepts within the new office space scenario.

He states that companies such as Anglo American and Hyprop Properties are looking to reduce their carbon footprint and energy consumption and the company is currently working on specific solutions for both companies.

Argimon notes that the University of the Witwatersrand School of Construction Economics, through the intervention of Professor François Viruly and in conjunction with the Faculty of Engineering and 
the Built Environment, is spearheading an initiative to alert the property sector to the serious challenges that it will be facing in its cost operating structures, especially in view of Eskom’s recent tariff increases.

Leading experts in the industry will unravel the potential savings and the re-engineering 
of utilities costs and space use at the 
Energy Use in the Real Estate Environment conference to be held this month in Johan-nesburg.