Janet Morra

To get gold, you have to be really green – at least when it comes to sustainability. Green office design has become the standard in most buildings, whether property owners and tenants seek LEED certification or not. Sustainable design is the path towards environmental stewardship, energy savings and employee health and wellness.

When preparing to relocate its global headquarters from 745 Atlantic Ave. to One Federal St. in Boston, Iron Mountain, a worldwide provider of records storage and information management services, seized the opportunity to completely re-envision its office from not only workspace design perspective but also a green design and healthy living perspective. And the impetus came not just from company management; employees proposed many of the sustainable initiatives. The result is a new 112,000-square-foot, high-performance workspace – designed by Margulies Perruzzi Architects (MPA), built by Structure Tone Inc. and awarded LEED Gold for Commercial Interiors by the USGBC.

“We had four important goals for the design of our new headquarters in addition to efficiency: to foster collaboration, to identify us as a global company, to support our mobile and distributed workforce, and to demonstrate our commitment to environmental sustainability and employee wellness,” said Sarah Abrams, senior vice president of global real estate for Iron Mountain. “A sustainable environment is an important part of our commitment to employee wellness and good corporate citizenship. It is also important to many of our customers and partners.”

Iron Mountain’s first sustainable move was to select a LEED Gold-certified building centrally located in Boston’s Financial District with access to amenities and public transportation. MPA’s design was focused on bringing natural light deep into the interior of the space, and along with occupancy-sensing high efficiency fluorescents, LED fixtures and occupancy-sensing task lighting at all work areas, this approach reduced the required lighting power by 30 percent. Iron Mountain also offset 100 percent of its estimated electricity usage for at least two years via the purchase of a renewable energy credit. The use of low-flow plumbing fixtures reduced water use by 33 percent. Additional sustainable features include:
76 percent of all wood products used in construction and for furniture are FSC certified, and 85 percent of all new equipment and appliances are Energy Star rated.
An estimated 23 percent of all materials used on the project, including furniture, were made from recycled content.
All interior products were specified to have no or low volatile organic compounds as a means to improve indoor air quality.
The mechanical system was designed to maximize energy efficiency and indoor comfort.
More than 85 percent of all construction debris removed from the project was recycled off-site.

Iron Mountain’s IT department made the decision to use Secure Pull Print, a service that reduces unclaimed prints, increases efficiency and enhances security. This service allowed the company to eliminate virtually all personal and department-specific printers. Now there are only 13 printers, all of which are located in copy areas strategically placed throughout the floors, with ample room for storage and document assembly. Print jobs are held in the printing queue until the sender swipes a card on the printer to initiate printing. Not only does this new process dramatically decrease the amount of power, toner and paper usage, but it also allows remote workers to print easily when they are in the office.

A unique aspect of this project was the role of Iron Mountain’s “Green Team” in the planning and design of the new space. Headed by

Iron Mountain’s new headquarters.

Iron Mountain’s director of sustainability, the Green Team is a volunteer employee committee that meets periodically to discuss green office operations. During the design of the new headquarters, the Green Team met with Iron Mountain’s project managers and MPA to find ways of improving the company’s sustainability. The Green Team also worked with Tishman Speyer, the building management company, to establish a single stream recycling program and composting in the cafeteria.

In the office, the Green Team proposed the implementation of a centralized trash/recycling program. Supporting this effort, MPA designed specific locations for centralized receptacles as well as built-in recycling stations featuring informational graphics. Centralized trash/recycling also supports Iron Mountain’s health and wellness initiatives by encouraging movement in the office.

To further foster collaboration as well as employee health and well-being, MPA designed a bright and colorful, café style cafeteria with multiple seating options and generous natural light, dubbed “The Vault.” In addition, Iron Mountain’s Corporate Real Estate group worked with the food service vendor to implement a completely new healthy eating approach to the menu. A large flat screen at the cafeteria’s entrance displays information about daily specials and nutritional content. The cafeteria now gets used all day long, not just for lunch, but for formal and informal gatherings small and large.

Sustainable design benefits everyone, so it makes sense for management and employees to take the initiative together in “greening” the office environment.