Flex office space provider Workspace saves nearly a million kilowatt hours in London with the Big Energy Race

Did you know that the energy wasted in London’s office buildings every year could power 65,000 homes?

To combat this wastage, throughout the month of February Workspace Group ran The Big Energy Race, a coordinated effort to encourage customers in its 75 buildings to reduce their carbon footprint by switching off, turning down, and taking the stairs instead of the lift. The winning building in each area of London (North, South, West and East) will receive a sustainable festival as a prize, with food, drink, wellbeing activities all sourced from Workspace’s own customers.

Workspace is London’s leading supplier of sustainable and flexible spaces and manages five million sq. ft. of studios and offices with 75 locations in London and the South East, and is home to some 4,000 of London’s fastest growing and established brands.

Workspace saved over 860,946 kWh across its portfolio in February 2024 compared to February 2023, a saving approximately 13% higher than the target set at the beginning of the challenge. This is the equivalent of one of the following:

28 Glastonbury festivals (source)
172 million smartphone charges (source)
1,000 1-bed homes for 1 month (source)
For any businesses that want to reduce their energy consumption through day-to-day behaviour change, here are four easy-to-implement tips:

1. Switch off the lights and monitors when you’re not in the office. Office lights left on overnight use enough energy to heat a home for five months. (Source)

2. Unplug your chargers. Even if it’s not powering up your smartphone, a plugged-in charger is still using electricity.

3. Take the stairs instead of the lift. A 15-second lift journey consumes as much energy as a 60w lightbulb does in an hour. (Source)

4. Don’t forget about your digital footprint. Everything is stored somewhere, so make sure to only save what you need. If there’s a server in your office, do regular maintenance checks.

As part of the energy saving efforts, Workspace’s sustainability team partnered with FuturePlus, a Workspace customer and sustainability expert, to host workshops for customers and employees about sustainability and energy saving. Customers were also encouraged to make an energy saving pledge of their own. Across the portfolio, Workspace received over 300 energy saving pledges, with businesses committing to a range of initiatives including turning down the heating, switching off lights, or taking the stairs instead of lifts.

Metal Box customer Loquet commented, ‘We will maximise the use of natural daylight to reduce the need for artificial lighting whenever possible. We will set our thermostat to an energy-efficient temperature range and timing during working hours and switch it off during non-working hours to conserve energy.’

And Kennington Park customer We Are Wild, the sustainable natural deodorant brand, had great things to say about the workshop run with FuturePlus on energy saving: ‘The sustainability workshop was a fantastic opportunity to engage with others within the community while gaining knowledge that is invaluable to sustainable business practices. All in all, it was a wonderfully collaborative space where I was able to learn and enjoy!’