The Green Premium for Green Offices
Since the “Orange Era” when citric cleaning products were first introduced to the public, there has been a stubborn mindset that environmentally-friendly products were more expensive and less effective. This was true, but things have changed over the last ten to twenty years. Going Green is generally more expensive, but that cost is estimated at about 2-4% more expense when taken over the whole project. Fortunately, the new “Green Era” products are actually as good as or better than the conventional product used for cleaning.
There are, however, other factors that should be added into the cost analysis for any facility, and I refer to them as the Green Premium because these are the other factors that go beyond the standard expectation of a clean building. When we are dealing with the Green issue, the primary emphasis is on health, and health costs are a subtle financial issues for any company.
Instead of slowly aggravating the health of the employees, the Green program is designed to avoid harmful practices and introduce healthier alternatives. This new practice will alleviate acute and chronic illnesses, and that has a financial reward that can be a financial asset.
Employee absenteeism is a negative cost factor to your company. Your employees are the source of business and revenue for your company. You may think these costs are a problem for the insurance company, but the costs for these employees contribute to the premium increases paid by the company. While some costs are paid by the employee, the health insurance costs are a significant part of company expenses. Obviously, healthier employees will help reduce health insurance premiums.
More common than absenteeism is the problems of decreased alertness and lost productivity. Companies may actually spend money motivating workers while hurting their productivity through a hostile office environment. Most of us have experienced a strong smell, smoke, or fumes that caused a headache or depressed energy. These are subtle but very important factors in an empowered office.
When considering the larger picture, the health and vitality of any company’s workers has an even larger impact in the world. The chronically sick people ad to the societal burden and will certainly affect our taxes. The trash and waste from our companies must be handled by the government, and that will lead to more taxes. We are paying many times over for sick people who might have lived better lives.
The Green Premium is, therefore, found in health costs, productive benefits, insurance costs, and taxes. When you consider that the actual cost of “Going Green” is about 2-4%, it seems that the other benefits will easily offset the extra expenses and produce a realized profit.
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