We will never forget our great experience in participating in the first “Whatever Floats your Boat Competition“ last year in Dubai Festival City, Marina Area.
It is unfortunate that due to schedule constraints we was not able to join this year, however we are encouraging all our blog visitors to support IGY Marinas and Dubai Festival City for this cost worthy event on 13th November 2009, 2PM onwards.
One key point that stands out and kept us thinking is the concept of uniqueness, or simply put BAFCO’s ‘only’. This might sound like we are bragging but this is a step that we have to make in order to understand our strengths and leverage on them for our clients to understand.
1. We are a Specialist.
BAFCO is the ONLY dedicated company in the gulf region whose sole focus is developing integrated furniture, design and build solutions for corporate offices with two decades of experience.
2. Ergonomic Consultancy via Humanscale, USA
BAFCO is the ONLY UAE company that can deliver consultancy services on how to transform an ordinary office to a more ergonomic, healthier thus more productive work environment.
3. Integrity of our Promise.
Whether your project is for a small office furniture requirement or as large as the full design and build of Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University, you can rest assured that we keep our promise of delivering quality service and a small at every transaction with BAFCO.
4. Award Winning Partner
BAFCO is the ONLY company awarded by the UAE government as “Supplier of the Year” for a timely, efficient and cost effective products used for the entire back office operations of the Dubai Airport Terminal 3.
Our commitment to our client is an assurance of quality delivery for their projects provided by a team of well-trained and friendly professionals.
Ergonomics is an important concern for everyone who worked more than 5 hours in front of their respective computers. Watch this very funny and educational video on how you can apply the concept of ergonomics on your office workplaces.
If you are in the UAE, BAFCO has an in-house ergonomics team that will assist you in making sure that your office can be a healthier and more productive work environment.
1. Plan Carefully what office furniture is the perfect fit for your companies requirements.
Today there are many furniture options available to business owners that are both sustainable and affordable. The key to achieving both is like many business decisions – careful planning.
Most companies primary goal when purchasing furniture is to maximize the investment the have already made in office space and personnel. The next step is to establish your priorities. Do you want an environment that:
Projects your corporate image
Is adaptable to current and future technology
Maximizes the performance and well-being of your personnel
All of the above? Some of the above? Or do you have additional priorities? Be sure to communicate these objectives early in the conversations with your furniture consultant.
2. Think long term.
The most sustainable furniture, from a resource perspective, is that which can be “re-purposed” as your company changes.
The modular concept of workstations has now expanded to include desks, storage, reception and conference areas. At this year’s NeoCon in Canada and Chicago, USA, most major manufacturers showcased casegood lines that allowed for pieces to be reconfigured as needs changed.
Choose colors and designs that are timeless. Then, instead of replacing entire areas, you can update with splashes of accent color.
During the planning stage, think of your walls as another piece of movable furniture. As the needs of the workplace have changed, many companies are now tearing down drywall and rebuilding to create more collaborative areas. Or worse yet, companies are not creating the spaces they need because of the cost to tear down and re-build. Moveable walls, now available at many price points, increase the flexibility and efficiency of your company and save money over the lifecycle of your space.
3. Ask for products that are GreenGuard Certfied or can demonstrate other third party certifications, which verify that their chemical and particle emissions meet acceptable indoor air quality pollutant guidelines and standards. No more “new furniture” smell!
GreenGuard Certification has been available since 2002 and most major manufacturers of systems furniture and task chairs have been awarded this certification for many of their lines. Many casegoods manufactures have changed, or are in the process of changing, their processes and finishes to be compliant.
You can still choose custom fabrics – just be sure to ask your furniture consultant to check their certification.
4. Check Recycled Content.
This information is available from most major manufacturers. If this is important to you, have your furniture consultant request the information on your behalf.
5. Don’t buy what you don’t need. This may seem obvious, but many times there are options that will never be used – think of gizmos on task chairs. Sometimes more is not better, especially if it leads to waste.
So, like any other major business decision, plan ahead and you CAN have a work place that is attractive, sustainable and affordable.
For more information about chosing the right office furniture, contact Gilbert Griño, BAFCO
+971 4 3350045 or at www.bafco.com
Being in a multicultural team, calamities reminds us how we are all connected no matter what race, religion or nationality you have. Everyone here at BAFCO extended their arm to help out the victims of Typhoon Ketsana in the Philippines.
If you would like to extend your help, Cash Donations to Philippine Red Cross is the best and fastest way or via drop boxes that are spread throughout the malls in the UAE.
Below is our own adaptation for the Top Ten Energy Savings tips for the office (adapted from Heroesoftheuae.ae)
IT’S COOL TO BE A LITTLE WARMER!
Once you’ve adjusted your AC to the temperature you want, turn it back up just 2-3 degrees. You’ll hardly know the difference, but it will make a difference to your consumption. Also remember to turn it off when you leave your home. That 2 degree difference can save you around AED 245* a year!
DON’T STAND BY, SWITCH OFF AND UNPLUG! If you leave your computer on standby overnight, it uses almost as much electricity as it does when it’s switched on. Remember to turn it off and unplug! You can also switch off the monitors, printers, fax machine or copiers during breaks or when you are leaving your desk.
BE BRIGHT! SAVE MONEY!
Energy saving lightbulbs are much more efficient than the traditional version and last up to 10 times longer. Next time you need to replace a bulb, take the energy saving option. You can save a very worthwhile AED 806* by making this switch.
ESSENTIAL LIGHTING!
We have plenty of sun here in the Middle East. Allow proper outdoor lighting to illuminate the office. Turn off non essential and decorative lighting specially in unoccupied areas. Use task lighting to directly illuminate work areas instead for brighter area lighting.
GET YOUR RATINGS RIGHT!LOOK FOR ENERGY STAR!
Most office appliances these days have an energy-efficiency rating. If you’re buying one, choose the one that’s the most energy efficient and ask the supplier if they have this information. When purchasing PCs, monitors, printers, fax machines and copers, consider ENERGY STAR models that “power down” after a period of inactivity. If appropriate, use laptop computers – they consume 90% less energy than desktop computers.
GOING OUT? TURN IT OFF!
Get into the simple habit of switching lights off whenever you leave a room.
DETECT THE MOTION IN THE OFFICE!
Install motion detectors or dimmers to control lighting in frequently unoccupied areas, such as restrooms.Rewire restroom fans to operate with the lights.
AUTOMATE LIGHTING SIGNAGES
Install time clocks or photoelectric cells to control exterior lighting, advertising sign lighting and some interior lighting.
KEEP COOL AND INSTALL BLINDS!
It is not only enhance the design of your office but adding blinds, solar screens or shades to your office actually helps in cooling down the office.
SAY NO TO EXPENSIVE EXTENSIONS!
If you have an extension lead connected to a wall point and it’s switched on, you’re needless wasting power. Switch off and – better still – unplug it!
Actual account on how Humanscale Freedom Chair had helped a family doctor survived his serious back problems.
++++
I’ve got a bad back. MRI shows disc herniations at L4-L5, L5-S1 and when it’s “out” I’m a complete mess. I get shooting pain down my right leg and suffer with terrible muscle spasms in my lower back. I don’t sleep well, I can’t pick up my kids, exercise, etc.
It went “out” last June. By the fall I was desperate. I had another MRI to ensure there wasn’t something growing in there and when that came back negative I decided it couldn’t hurt to research my options in office ergonomics.
For anyone who’s looked into their options for chairs and keyboard trays etc., you’ll know that the options are not cheap.
My research online brought me to two chairs – the Humanscale Freedom and the Humanscale Liberty.
Contacting the company brought me to Mr. Joel Howey who kindly brought by one chair a week for test sits.
I opted for the Freedom, much to the chagrin of our Director of Operations who was nonplussed about spending nearly $1,000 on a chair. His measure of whether or not it was a good purchase was whether or not I ever opted to buy one for my home.
Fast forward to now. My back is back “in”. I’m exercising again and completely functional. Yet whenever I work at home, and I mean literally every single time, within half an hour of sitting in my chair (an Obus Forme) I start getting shooting pain down my right leg and an hour of work usually translates to 2-4 hours of pain. I’ve adjusted it every which way I can think of to no avail.
So last week I shelled out my own dough to pick up another Humanscale Freedom. This weekend I worked away, pain free.
Damn you Humanscale for making the greatest chair on earth so darn expensive.
Economic downturns aren’t only about damage. Throughout recent history, opportunistic companies have taken advantage of downturns to launch brands that enjoyed success for decades to come. Using timing and ingenuity, these successful brands turned downturns into windfalls.
iPod
Apple launched one of its flagship products during the 2001 recession.
Steve Jobs unveiled the iPod in October 2001, when the country was still reeling from the September 11 attacks. It’s now one of the decade’s biggest success stories. By 2005, Apple owned more than a quarter of the worldwide mp3 market. In April 2007, Apple announced it had sold 100 million iPods. Apple is on fire, thanks to its penchant to innovate in all kinds of economic climates.
Rice Krispies
More than 75 years later, Kellogg’s Great Depression-era brand remains a hit.
When the Great Depression hit, Post cereal cut back heavily on ads in order to conserve money. Kellogg, Post’s main competitor, did the opposite. The company poured money into ad campaigns, creating a new cereal called Rice Krispies. Snap, Crackle, and Pop helped boost Post’s profits by about 30% by 1933, according to the New Yorker’s James Surowiecki. Kellogg remains on top to this day.
Plymouth
Chrysler overtook Ford as the country’s second-biggest automaker in 1933, thanks to Plymouth cars.
Plymouth, launched as a separate brand 1929, was Chrysler’s first foray into the low-priced market. The cars’ crowd-pleasing features, which included hydraulic shock absorbers, helped it become one of the Great Depression’s only successful car brands.
FedEx
Federal Express launched just six months before the 1973 oil crisis, establishing a brand new industry amidst economic turmoil.
FedEx began with 14 small planes at the Memphis International Airport. Founder Frederick W. Smith hoped to address a market need for 1-2 day package and freight delivery, which at the time was very difficult. His plan worked. By 1975, the company became the number one carrier of high-priority goods and set a new standard for the industry it established, according to FedEx’s website. Today, the company’s couriers log about 2.5 million miles a day through seven global operating companies.
Healthy Choice
ConAgra’s low sodium, lowfat frozen meals became a hit during the early 1990s recession.
Former ConAgra CEO Mike Harper had a rather auspicious heart attack in 1989. He came up with Healthy Choice, a new line of frozen meals for health-conscious consumers, after reevaluating his own eating habits. The brand launched just in time for the 1989-92 recession. Sales reached $350 million, with 10% market share, in under three years, according to this BNet article. Today, Healthy Choice is successful enough to have Julia Dreyfuss as a spokesperson.
Miracle Whip
Kraft’s cheaper version of mayonnaise become an instant hit during the Great Depression.
Max Crossett must be rolling in his grave. The Illinois state-based inventor of Crossett’s X-tra Fine Salad Dressing sold brand rights to Kraft in 1931 for $300. Kraft rebranded the stuff as Miracle Whip, then sold it as a cheap mayonnaise alternative. It became the nation’s bestselling dressing in only six months, writes the New Yorker’s Surowiecki.
* Washington updated to Salem, Illinois.
Hyundai
By providing the best warranties and guarantees in the industry, Hyundai is becoming a prominent US auto brand.
Previously plagued by quality issues, Hyundai righted its reputation by providing a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty, previously unheard of in the auto industry. In 2008, it created the popular Hyundai Assurance program, which lets customers return their cars if they lose their jobs. The plan worked. The January, Hyundai’s US sales were up 14% compared to last year, according to Knowledge@Wharton. Between January-April of this year, its market share rose 0.7%. Not bad for an industry where double-digit declines have become commonplace.
Penguin Publishing
Quality books for cheap: A business model that endures.
In 1935, publisher Allen Lane came up with the idea to sell good books for rock-bottom prices. Penguin Publishing was the result. Lane made sure that his cheap, quality books found their way not only to bookshops, but to general stores, corner stores, and railways as well.
Before Penguin, paperback books contained gaudy, unliterary content. With his new model, Lane changed the game. Less than a year after launch, Penguin had printed one million paperbacks. Today, Penguin publishes globally through owner Pearson PLC, a London-based media conglomerate.
Humanscale announces it has sold one million Freedom chairs by legendary designer Niels Diffrient. Thanks to revolutionary design and broad appeal, Freedom has become one of the best-selling high-performance task chairs in the world since it was first available to the market in 2001. Freedom’s emphasis on simplicity—and Diffrient’s belief that form flows from function—delivers unmatched functionality and ease of use, while its distinctive exoskeletal frame has made it one of the most widely recognizable, and influential, task chair designs in the world.
Freedom’s impact on the task seating category—and ergonomics as a whole—has been far-reaching. Widely considered the gold standard for task chairs, its influence is reflected in both new seating design and sustainability efforts within the industry.
At the time of Freedom’s launch, Humanscale was a $44 million company—a very small player in the contract furniture industry—and notably, one that had never before sold a chair. Behind eight-plus years of Freedom sales, however, Humanscale topped $200 million in 2008 and is recognized as the undisputed leader in office ergonomics.
The Freedom chair was the first task chair to prioritize simplicity over the ever-growing number of manual controls seen on other high-end task chairs. Its self-adjusting, weight-sensitive recline changed the way people thought about task seating and Freedom continues to be one of the simplest task seating solutions available today.
Freedom’s resume includes a laundry list of other “firsts” for task seating:
First task chair to offer self-adjusting recline
First and only task chair with synchronously adjustable arm supports
First and only task chair with self-adjusting headrest
First task chair to feature a gel seat cushion
First task chair to feature an exoskeletal design
Ahead of the curve for environmental sustainability, Freedom featured an eco-friendly design before “going green” became de rigueur. Its user-centered design allowed for the removal of a significant number of parts, such as the tension recline mechanism found on other task chairs. Its predominant use of 100% recycled and recyclable aluminum and overall recycled content of 62% minimizes the use of virgin materials. In addition, aluminum’s high (and growing) scrap value creates an incentive for Freedom to actually be recycled when the time comes. Its innovative, modular design extends the useful life of the chair by easily facilitating cushion upgrades and in-field repairs. And at 35 pounds, Freedom is among the lightest task chairs on the market.
In addition to receiving 10 international design awards over the years, Freedom has found its way into the annals of pop culture. Freedom made its big screen debut in the 2001 film Antitrust starring Tim Robbins and Ryan Phillippe. Since then, by set designer request, it has appeared in more than 20 motion pictures and will be seen in six more this year. It has also been featured in 20 primetime television series such as 24, House, Boston Legal, CSI: Miami, Medium, and Ugly Betty, among many others.
For more information about Humanscale and its ergonomic solutions, visit www.humanscale.com or call 800-400-0625.
About Humanscale
Humanscale is the premier designer and manufacturer of ergonomic tools for a more comfortable workplace. Our innovative seating, monitor arms, lighting, keyboard supports, and other ergonomic solutions are designed to improve the health, efficiency and quality of work life.
Humanscale products are based on the belief that when design solves a functional problem as simply and elegantly as possible, the resulting form will be honest and timeless. This philosophy has served us well: Humanscale was the only contract furniture manufacturer named among I.D. Magazine’s top ten “enterprises that help push design forward” along with other design-driven companies including Nike and BMW. And our Liberty chair was the only task seating solution featured in the 2007 National Design Triennial at the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Liberty joined the Apple iPod and Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner jet, among others, as one of the most important design innovations in America.
Environmental Statement
Humanscale is committed to environmental sustainability and continually strives to design, engineer and manufacture products that:
Weigh less, requiring less raw material
Use fewer parts and manufacturing processes
Contain a high percentage of recycled content
Contain a high percentage of recyclable content
Humanscale is also a proud supporter of World Wildlife Fund, and our founder and CEO, Robert King, has served on WWF’s National Council since 1999.
Consider two similar office buildings. One was built traditionally—a developer hired an architect to draw up plans, a construction company built the offices to specifications, and an engineering company installed lighting, temperature control and water systems. The building serves its purpose just fine, but some workers complain about the air conditioner being too cold, that the air inside feels stuffy, and the office lighting feels “too artificial.”
The second building was constructed by an integrated design-build-engineering team and was meticulously planned. It uses 30 percent less energy and water than the first building. The building is full of fresh air and natural light, and workers miss fewer days due to illness. In fact, workers are proud to tell friends about their innovative “green” office building.
Which building cost more to build? Most people assume that a superior product costs a lot more and ask, “So how much extra will green cost me?” The more sophisticated question is, “How soon will that extra cost get paid back?” But leading developers are now constructing high-performance green buildings at construction costs similar to traditional buildings or even lower. (Making the truly sophisticated question more like: “How can we design a building that delivers better performance, lower operating costs and lower initial costs?”)
Think it’s more expensive? Think again.
Despite the common perception that green building costs more, building green can help reduce operating costs with little or no additional construction cost. Numerous examples prove that green building can be cost-effective. In 2003, California’s Sustainable Building Task Force published “The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings,” a survey of 33 green buildings for which detailed financial data was available on both traditional and green scenarios.
“The eight LEED Bronze buildings had an average cost premium of less than 1 percent. The 18 LEED-Silver certified buildings averaged a 2.1 percent cost premium, whereas the six Gold-certified buildings had an average premium of 1.8 percent. The single Platinum building was at 6.5 percent.”
The report concluded that the average premium for all 33 studied green buildings was slightly less than 2 percent ($3 to $5 per square foot), an insignificant premium—actually, a great investment—compared with the savings achieved from lower energy and water bills.
Reduced electricity, gas and water demands create significant savings over the lifetime of a building.
What do you need to know?
Cost-effective green buildings can be achieved by taking an integrative, “whole building approach.” The secret is in the planning.
As the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) writes, “The goal of green building is not to squeeze energy-efficiency features into a tight development budget. The goal, rather, is to analyze such interconnected issues as site and building design, energy and water efficiency, resource efficient construction, lighting and mechanical design, and building ecology, and optimize all these aspects in an integrated design.
Features that might have higher individual costs (for example, better windows) might actually reduce the whole building cost because other elements such as the heating system can be downsized or eliminated. To capture these multiple benefits of synergistic design elements, the building must be evaluated as a whole, not ‘value engineered’ item by item.”
The itemized cost analysis that RMI warns against is exactly how buildings have traditionally been assessed. It takes a lot more up-front vision and planning to coordinate all the elements in planning phases.
Often the most significant cost-savings come from increased worker productivity in green buildings. All that extra light and fresh air puts workers in a better mood, benefits their health, and has been shown to decrease sick days.
Considering green building options.
There are a number of considerations to consider:
Engage your financial team in a fresh look as it conducts cost-benefit analyses for investment options.
Consider the lifecycle costs in a whole building approach, not just first costs, to get a true comparison of costs and benefits.
Start your green planning early! Case studies have shown that the earlier a green building project brings its team together for planning, the more savings that are generated by resource efficiency.
How will energy price volatility affect the economics of green buildings?
I see it this way: The financial performance of green buildings is trending better than historical data because the cost premiums are shrinking or disappearing as architects and builders gain experience, whereas the cost of energy, despite current volatility, is likely to continue to rise. And as the world takes on market caps on carbon, the demand for—and economics of—green buildings will only get better.
The truth about the costs of green building by Gil Friend – 7.27.09Consider two similar office buildings. One was built traditionally—a developer hired an architect to draw up plans, a construction company built the offices to specifications, and an engineering company installed lighting, temperature control and water systems. The building serves its purpose just fine, but some workers complain about the air conditioner being too cold, that the air inside feels stuffy, and the office lighting feels “too artificial.”
The second building was constructed by an integrated design-build-engineering team and was meticulously planned. It uses 30 percent less energy and water than the first building. The building is full of fresh air and natural light, and workers miss fewer days due to illness. In fact, workers are proud to tell friends about their innovative “green” office building.
Which building cost more to build? Most people assume that a superior product costs a lot more and ask, “So how much extra will green cost me?” The more sophisticated question is, “How soon will that extra cost get paid back?” But leading developers are now constructing high-performance green buildings at construction costs similar to traditional buildings or even lower. (Making the truly sophisticated question more like: “How can we design a building that delivers better performance, lower operating costs and lower initial costs?”)
Think it’s more expensive? Think again.
Despite the common perception that green building costs more, building green can help reduce operating costs with little or no additional construction cost. Numerous examples prove that green building can be cost-effective. In 2003, California’s Sustainable Building Task Force published “The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings,” a survey of 33 green buildings for which detailed financial data was available on both traditional and green scenarios.
“The eight LEED Bronze buildings had an average cost premium of less than 1 percent. The 18 LEED-Silver certified buildings averaged a 2.1 percent cost premium, whereas the six Gold-certified buildings had an average premium of 1.8 percent. The single Platinum building was at 6.5 percent.”
The report concluded that the average premium for all 33 studied green buildings was slightly less than 2 percent ($3 to $5 per square foot), an insignificant premium—actually, a great investment—compared with the savings achieved from lower energy and water bills.
Reduced electricity, gas and water demands create significant savings over the lifetime of a building. For example, the Herman Miller office building in Zeeland, Mich.—a LEED Gold building built at no incremental cost uses 31 percent less water and 29 percent less energy than a similar standard, new building. Herman Miller expects to see operational cost savings of $1 million at the 95,000-square-foot property over its seven-year lease.
What do you need to know?
Cost-effective green buildings can be achieved by taking an integrative, “whole building approach.” The secret is in the planning.
As the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) writes, “The goal of green building is not to squeeze energy-efficiency features into a tight development budget. The goal, rather, is to analyze such interconnected issues as site and building design, energy and water efficiency, resource efficient construction, lighting and mechanical design, and building ecology, and optimize all these aspects in an integrated design.
Features that might have higher individual costs (for example, better windows) might actually reduce the whole building cost because other elements such as the heating system can be downsized or eliminated. To capture these multiple benefits of synergistic design elements, the building must be evaluated as a whole, not ‘value engineered’ item by item.”
The itemized cost analysis that RMI warns against is exactly how buildings have traditionally been assessed. It takes a lot more up-front vision and planning to coordinate all the elements in planning phases.
Often the most significant cost-savings come from increased worker productivity in green buildings. All that extra light and fresh air puts workers in a better mood, benefits their health, and has been shown to decrease sick days.
Considering green building options.
There are a number of considerations to consider:
Engage your financial team in a fresh look as it conducts cost-benefit analyses for investment options.
Consider the lifecycle costs in a whole building approach, not just first costs, to get a true comparison of costs and benefits.
Start your green planning early! Case studies have shown that the earlier a green building project brings its team together for planning, the more savings that are generated by resource efficiency.
How will energy price volatility affect the economics of green buildings?
I see it this way: The financial performance of green buildings is trending better than historical data because the cost premiums are shrinking or disappearing as architects and builders gain experience, whereas the cost of energy, despite current volatility, is likely to continue to rise. And as the United States takes on market caps on carbon, the demand for—and economics of—green buildings will only get better.
Gil Friend is President and CEO of Natural Logic Inc., and has almost 40 years of experience in the sustainable business arena. This commentary is an excerpt from his newly released book, “The Truth About Green Business.” He can be reached at gfriend@natlogic.com
