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Claremont Group Interiors uses a Waterlogic plumbed water system in their serviced ofﬁces. This provides constant still and sparkling drinking water, without the waste and environmental cost of bottled water. For clients that want bottled water for meetings, Claremont offers the option of reﬁllable 500ml and 750ml glass bottles printed with the customer’s own logo and corporate identity.

Sun-blocking window ﬁlm can lower energy consumption by reducing solar gain in the summer and preventing heat loss in the winter. LuxaSolar Clear View window foil acts like a ﬁlter: radiant heat up to 22 degrees centigrade is allowed to pass through, but above this temperature the sun’s heat is ﬁltered out. Luxasolar claims that buildings equipped with the foil record temperature drops of up to 10 degrees centigrade. For businesses with air conditioning systems this can result in a reduction in energy bills of up to 30% for the months from May to October. In winter, heat is reﬂected back into the room, providing average energy savings of 25%.

Alternatively, you could paint your walls with Coolwall System primers and coatings from Textured Coatings of America (TexCote). Available in 70 colours, these incorporate heat-reﬂective technology that reﬂects the sun’s infrared energy and UV radiation, lowering wall surface temperatures by as much as 40 degrees farenheit. According to a study by U.S. Energy Department’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, this reduces cooling costs in the range of 4.2% - 21.9%. TexCote’s latest formulation includes recycled glass material, making it even more attractive to green designers and architects. www.texcote.com

The heat generated by IT equipment in an ofﬁce can have a considerable impact upon the overall temperature at this time of year.Whilst we can’t do away with computers we can choose kit that can reduce the amount of heat emitted. For instance ﬂat screen monitors use less power (approx 50-60%) and emit a lot less heat than traditional CRT monitors. Flat screens also enable a more comfortable seating position when used in conjunction with an adjustable support such as Colebrook Bosson Saunders’ Rodney monitor arm.”

When Peter Bosson, founding Director of Colebrook Bosson Saunders, studied architecture he was fascinated to learn about the ancient cooling systems developed in the East, in the days of Genghis Khan. It seems that the tent cities, and later the stone ones, used damp blankets, often fed by a drip feed, which the wind blew through. The scientiﬁc phenomenon known as “latent heat” took energy out of the air, turned it into evaporated water and chilled the air (know the feeling of a sea breeze?). This created a kind of heat pump using wind. Incredibly, all modern ofﬁces work on a version of this principle today. The stone building as part of the Islamic patterning used diamond shaped sections, which by compressing the air heated up the stone but delivered cooler air on the back side of the window. This, combined with a damp hanging, proved an effective chilling mechanism. So, if you had wind and water, you had cooling: simple, green, sustainable.

The RH Ambio chair by RH Chairs is upholstered in Ventec, an entirely natural material that includes horse and pig hair chosen for its cooling properties. Independent research shows that Ventec is 25% better at transporting heat and 15% more effective at transporting moisture than other materials, helping ofﬁce workers to keep cool, dry and comfortable in hot weather. This is on top of the chair’s strong green credentials, which include EPD certiﬁcation (a new sustainability standard) and 100% recyclability. www.rhchairs.co.uk

Images play a part in keeping people cool. Print images of cooling scenes onto wallpaper for ofﬁce walls. Digital printing specialist SurfaceView prints digital images supplied by the client or from its own extensive library onto a variety of materials to suit any surface from glazing to brickwork. Prints can be supplied in a wide range of sizes from small canvases to complete murals. The latter are supplied in drops just like conventional wallpaper.