Sustainability has become a part of office policies everywhere. Paper is recycled; energy usage is monitored; space-saving storage and furnishings are installed. Many businesses are now looking at additional ways to go green, and bicycle commuting is one of the options they are embracing. Here’s how businesses in some cities are encouraging their employees to ride their bikes to work:
- London – The newly refurbished Alphabeta building in central London features a “cycle-in” bicycle ramp that is a visual design feature as well as a practical incentive for cyclists. The bicycle parking area provides secure storage as well as changing rooms and lockers for commuters who don’t want to wear bike shorts to business meetings.
- Chicago – It makes sense that bicycle parts manufacturer SRAM would have a bike-friendly office. Their headquarters features a 1/8 mile test track that winds through the office area, with bike racks at every desk in the open-plan offices. Another Chicago building, the Willis Tower, provides bicycle valet parking for office workers. For about $1/day, cyclists drop their bikes in the valet zone, then call ahead to have their bikes retrieved when the work day is over.
- Toronto – The designers of office complex Bay Adelaide West incorporated bicycle storage into the overall parking plan, attracting forward-thinking businesses to their new building, Toronto’s first LEED® Certified Core and Shell Gold high-rise office building.
If you’re looking for ways to “green up” your workplace, the organizers of Bike To Work Day in Washington, D.C., offer advice for businesses that want to encourage bicycle commuting. Adequate, secure storage is always a primary consideration; a storage design expert can help you find the best bicycle storage solution for your sustainability program.
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