The company cuts 50% of its electricity consumption every month through LED lighting.

BASF, which bills itself as the world’s leading chemical company, recently renovated its regional office in Jardine House, Central Hong Kong with various design features primarily aimed at conserving energy and enhancing closer employee collaboration.

“The new regional headquarters office has been designed with the well-being of its staff in mind, as well as the environmental benefits, which contribute to improved workplace satisfaction and productivity. As such, it contains a number of energy efficient design features such as open spaces, high energy and water efficiency, waste minimization and natural light that contribute to reducing the environmental impact in the workplace,” said Andreas Schweitzer, Head of Real Estate & Facility Management Asia Pacific in BASF.

The company’s new office houses around 700 employees and occupies an area of over 70,000 sq. ft. across 5 floors between 42/F and 46/F.

Andreas led the entire project with PDM international as the interior design consultancy for the project.

According to Andreas, the new office set up allows them to enable maximum daylight penetration. From almost anywhere in the building, the view is outstanding – natural daylight illuminates 80% of the interior. Moreover, with the use of LED lighting, 50% of electricity is saved on average per month.

“We believe that proper lighting enables better energy efficiency while the quality of lighting together with more open space in a workplace can have a significant impact on personal well-being and productivity at work. Modern furnishings and bright, open spaces make the regional headquarters a refreshing, energizing place to work. Thus, optimizing daylight penetration and the open space concept are equally important in achieving that,” said Andreas.

BASF operates with the tagline “We create chemistry for a sustainable future.” As such, Andreas said that their new office project is an example of BASF’s innovation in action as well as their fundamental commitment to sustainability.

BASF energy efficient office highlights

To show their commitment to sustainability at their new regional headquarters in Hong Kong, they want to maintain high standards of sustainability in their own operations by various means:

• To reduce the CO2 footprint, BASF sees chemistry as an enabler to provide answers to this sustainability challenge. With BASF water filtration systems installed on some of the floors, they now consume no bottled water as they can produce purified drinking water directly from the tap for their colleagues and guests. That’s how chemistry enabling them to provide water in a more sustainable way by reducing waste and avoiding the transportation of bottled water.
• To create a more comfortable and quiet office environment that boosts productivity, all workstations and high-back sofas come with Basotect®, a thermoset polymer which is a flexible, open cell foam made from melamine resin. It has a favorable combination of different properties – it is temperature-resistant and flame-retardant, lightweight, flexible, sound-absorbing and thermally insulating – Basotect® is ideal for sound insulation, thus limiting unwanted distractions in the new open office setting and creating a more comfortable and quiet office environment that boost productivity. The process of incorporating Basotect® in work stations is very sophisticated and was only made possible with close cooperation between BASF and Steelcase.
• To feature low odor and low volatile organic compound, BASF used interior decorative paint with BASF’s own water-based Acronal® ECO product series.

BASF’s portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. Their products and solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring nutrition and improving quality of life.

The BASF regional headquarters oversees more than 16,000 employees at about 100 sites across Asia Pacific. BASF’s Hong Kong office also houses regional functional units including Human Resources, Finance & Controlling, Corporate Audit, Legal, Insurance & Real Estate, Strategic Planning & Business Development, Supply Chain & Procurement, and Corporate Affairs.
 

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