Ģֱ

Problem Addressed

ܰԾٳܰDZsignificant amountof embodied carbon,ԻٲǻܳپDzcontributes to the depletion ofnatural resources. Millions of items are sent for recycling each year when, instead, their use dzܱextended,reducing their overall carbon intensity throughextended life貹.Further, many items are not able to be fully recycled and so there are elements of furniture that will end up in landfill causing additional environmental damage.

There is also considerable social and economic value lost when furniture is recycledrather than reused.For example, furniturepovertyis an issueacross the UK, butdomestic applications can be found for many workplace items, as well as forcharities, schools and social enterpriseswith limitedspending budgets.In addition,thenumber of ‘green jobs’ that can be generated from increasedsegregation, furniture auditing, refurbishment and remanufacturing isconsiderable,d these jobs can be highly skilled and rewardingfor those that do them,as well as contributing to our national economy.

Solution Overview

Crown Workspace supports organisations to reduce the carbon impacts of changing workplace through the provision of a sustainable range of furniture services. Services include extending the lifespan of existing furniture assets, offering quality refurbished/remanufactured items to displace new items, and providing quality refurbished furniture assets ‘as a service’ to meet interim needs sustainably.

Detailed audits of existing assetsFurniture audits help identify items that can be used for future projects. Itemsarephotographed, their condition scored, and their details captured in a database to help manageԳٲ’assetsmost effectively.

Storagefor reuse –For clients who will regularly reuse itemsacross estatesa storage system is provided alongside online inventory, enabling the reuse and management of these assets, so items can be readily ordered and delivered within 24 hours.

Refurbishment and remanufacturing at the Renew Centre – Agrowing teamare employed andtrained in a variety of areas of expertise including upholstery, metal spraying, CNC operation, carpentry, CAD design and planning, and furniture fitting.

The Renew CentreEach yearCrown Workspaceremanufacturesd refurbishestens of thousands of items through the Renew Centre.

  • Provideshigh-quality remanufactured and refurbishedfurniture
  • Reducesthe cost of updatingfurniture
  • Extendsthe lifecycle ofԳٲ’assets
  • Providescost effective quality refurbished assets with warranty

Reuse through resale to gainrebates – The clearance of a workplace is often an end-of-project consideration,but earlyinvolvementfrom Crown Workspace allows an assessment offurnitureresources, outlining ofmarket level rebates and pre-catalogue items for sale,to provide clients withthe maximum financial rebate.

Selling Reused –sustainableprocurement – Crown Workspacesupportclientsto procure remanufactured and refurbished office furniture that can meet quality and performance requirements throughtheir retailchannel.

Reuse through donation to benefit society – Crown Workspacegivesclients the opportunity to ‘give back’ by donating unwanted furniture to charities, schools and social enterprises throughtheirGiving Back Project. This initiative has distributed over 25,000 items across charities, schools and social enterprises to date.

Recycling and recovery – Crown Workspace hasa network of local recycling and reprocessing partners around the country to ensure that where resources cannot be reused,as much as possible is recycled.

Management of information and reporting – CrownWorkspaceprovides informatione.g.Economic savings, certificate of giving, carbon savings withina Client Savings Report.In 2020 Crown Workspace’s services enabledclients to make the following savings:

  • Renew Centre–15,394 items of furniture remanufactured, saving 1,013 tonnes of CO2e when compared to purchasing new.
  • Renew IT–10,630 items of IT reconditioned, saving 1,568 tonnes of CO2e when compared to buying new.
  • Giving Back Project3,826 items of furniture donated to good causes, saving schools and charities £190,000d 255 tonnes of CO2e when compared to buying new.

Crown Workspacealso offer the provision of quality refurbished office furniture on “as a service” basis or with a guaranteed buy-back option.

Services on offer can be provided independently or as a full sustainable clearance service that would include operational costs associated with logistics, varying greatly depending on individual project requirements. Crown Workspace provide quotes at no cost unless a detailed audit is needed. If they proceed with working on the project the cost of the audit is taken off the final bill.

Buying Refurbished –Crown Workspace quote cost savings of approximately 70% when comparing the cost of remanufacturing and refurbishing furniture to buying new.

Sustainable ClearanceBy maximising reuse, Crown Workspace estimate a typical 40% cost reduction over traditional linear approaches.

Furniture as a Service –Crown Workspace’s furniture service can save clients up to 76% compared to buying new and 54% compared to buying refurbished. This is based on providing 50 high quality branded chairs and desks for a 6-month period. Whether it’s a temporary requirement or marginal capacity to scale up or down, clients only pay for furniture when needed. Excess furniture can be returned to Crown Workspace with no need to pay for storage or disposal, and no hidden costs.

Case Study

– sustainable clearance services managed the reuse of over 90% of the redundant assets, despite being during the Covid19 pandemic. This partnered approach delivered considerable savings all round.

– the Renew Centre, combined with the Giving Back Project helped furnish this charity hostel for young homeless saving them thousands of pounds and delivering carbon savings.

– Crown Workspace has been providing refurbished office furniture for over five years to Canvas, a company managing, renovating and furnishing office spaces in desirable areas of London. In 2020, Crown Workspace sold Canvas 93 items of furniture, diverting 3.09 tonnes from landfill and creating a carbon saving of 5.27 tonnes of CO2(e).

– On a monthly basis Crown Workspace refurbish furniture identified as waste from across the UKs largest NHS Trust and refurbish this back into reuse savings hundreds of thousands of pounds and considerable carbon savings.

Crown Workspace provided a full sustainable clearance of the client’s property collecting just under 2,000 items of seating, including 1,700 office chairs and various sofas and stools, which were refurbished and resold on behalf of Investec. This reused furniture represents a carbon saving of 134 tonnes.

This page presents data, evidence, and solutions that are provided by our partners and members and should therefore not be attributed to UKGBC. While we showcase these solutions for inspiration, to build consensus, and create momentum for climate action, UKGBC does not offer commercial endorsement of individual solutions. If you would like to quote something from this page, or more information, please contact our Communications team at media@ukgbc.org.

Related