Welcome to part six of our blog series on Going Green, dedicated to helping attorneys practice law in a more environmentally friendly way.  Last week we discussed the positive effects that recycling can have on your business and on the environment.  This week we will focus on setting up the office to utilize natural lighting.

Artificial lighting will account for about 40% of electricity use in any office environment.  But there are many ways that you can cut that down.  One such way, which we touched on earlier in this series, is turning off the lights in unused offices and making sure not to use lighting when you are out of the office for the day or night.

Another way to cut the amount of electricity you use at the office is to utilize natural light.  Though you may not have much say about the way your office is set up, you can always make suggestions to others.  And office managers should always be open to suggestions about how they can save money in very easy ways.

The sun provides all of the light you will need on a good day.  Proper windows with open shades or curtains allow enough light into the office that you will need to use much less artificial light, if any at all.  You can put desks closer to windows, keep areas as clean as possible, limit the number of walls and blockages, etc.  And where you need to set up walls, don’t use walls that extend all the way to the ceiling.  Instead, put glass in to allow for light to escape.

Taking advantage of natural lighting will not eliminate your need for electricity.  But hopefully it will lessen the amount of lighting that you need in the office, and the amount of time those lights need to stay on.  The lower your electricity cost is, the better it is for business, and less affect you are having on the environment.  Congrats!

Past Installments in this Series
Part One – An Introduction to Going Green
Part Two – Cut Electricity Costs, Just Flip the Switch
Part Three – Forget Paper, Go Digital
Part Four – Travel Together, Travel Less
Part Five – We Recycle