The effect of workplace design for energy consumption in office buildings: a case study from Sweden

The Paris Agreement that was sealed in December 2015 signaled to all parts of societies all over the world that climate related issues are to be given an even greater focus than before. The building and real estate sectors have already had a strong commitment to finding new solutions for energy efficiency. There are plenty of studies on energy efficient building techniques and maintenance and on the effects of occupant behavior. While some studies also include the effects of workplace design this is still a field were more research is called for.This study focuses energy-related behavior among occupants in office buildings and the effects of different workplace designs. It also tests for differences in employer attitudes to general climate issues and to taking part of energy saving activities as effects of workplace design. A singletenant office building with a traditional workplace layout with small rooms is compared to a single-tenant building with an activity-based open workplace layout, considering both quantitative aspects of energy consumption and occupant behavior and attitudes to climate and to energy savings. The study is conducted in Sweden - where data on two single-tenant office buildings are provided by a real estate company - and includes interviews as well as surveys with tenant employees conducted in early 2016. The preliminary results of a statistical analysis show that workplace design is an important factor to consider when promoting an energy saving behavior among tenant employees. This finding is of importance for the industry as well as for policy makers, as it gives grounds for promoting activity-based workplace layouts in an attempt to lower energy consumption and costs. This type of workplace layout seems to promote collective attitudes and behaviors among occupant employees that have importance for building energy efficiency.