An AgilQuest client is reaching great Green heights with a move to an award-winning office building and the implementation of AgilQuest OnBoard. The combination of a Green building with the ability to manage the workplace to reduce real estate and support workplace flexibility proves their commitment to its employees and the environment. In February, a leading government consulting firm moved into the Class ‘A’ office building at 20 M Street in Southeast Washington, DC. The office is an environmentally friendly building with added features that are mindful of energy efficiency and resource conservation. The US Green Building Council gave this building a Gold Rating under the LEED© rating system, the first office building in the city to achieve this certification. Green features of the building start at the top with a roof designed to reduce heat island effects. Other benefits include plumbing designed to reduce water consumption, storm water management for landscaping re-use and high efficiency HVAC systems to reduce energy consumption.

Not only is the 20 M Street building built to the highest Green standards, it is located just across the street from a Metro stop to encourage the use of public transportation. The firm took this one step further to help reduce employee commute times and support a more flexible workplace. Employee commute times are ever-growing and technology now makes telework a much more viable solution; however, telework lends to large amounts of unused office space. They found that about one third of their employees were not in the office on any given day, at the same time they were adding new employees faster than they could add office space.

In order to better meet employees’ desires to reduce commute-times and allow for a more flexible work environment, without overspending on underutilized real estate, this leading edge firm brought in AgilQuest to implement a “hoteling” system. In an alternative workplace environment employees do not have a traditional permanently assigned desk or office, but instead reserve a space only when they plan to work in the office. With the use of OnBoard, the firm has been able to lease 30,000 square feet of office space and reduce their workspace to staff ratio down to 4 to 1.

AgilQuest made the move for this firm to their new location that much easier, having the OnBoard system set up and ready to go as employees settle in the new space. As a large part of the Green initiative, OnBoard provides a long-term solution to their growth as a flexible and Green workplace by supporting more people in less space, all while helping them save money in the long run.