GPP Academy – Your Guide to a Better Office: Sustainable Office Design and Certifications

Designing for Impact: Sustainable Offices that Boost Performance

The average person spends 90% of their time indoors, so it’s no surprise that the design of our workspaces directly influences performance.

To help tenants translate sustainable design into sharper wellbeing and productivity, Swire Properties’ Green Performance Pledge (GPP) Academy organised a workshop titled Your Guide to a Better Office: Sustainable Office Design and Certifications. Bringing together 24 participants from 18 tenant companies and partners, the session explored sustainable building standards and demonstrated how the GPP’s Sustainable Fit-out and Renovations (SD Fit-out) scheme enables tenants to put sustainability principles into practice.

Decoding Sustainable Building Certification 

Global certification systems set the standard for sustainable and wellness-driven design. Whether you’re working with a new build, an existing structure or retrofitting interiors, these benchmarks guide the journey:

• LEED (North America): The international benchmark for environmental sustainability and resource efficiency.
• BEAM Plus (Hong Kong): A local standard tailored to Hong Kong’s high-density urban context.
• BREEAM (UK/Europe): One of the world’s longest running and most widely used international standards.
• WELL (US): Focuses on occupant health and comfort — from air quality to mental wellness.
• China Green Building Label: Ranks performance from Basic to 3-Star.
• EDGE (IFC): Affordable, impact-driven system for emerging markets.
• WiredScore & SmartScore: Global standards for digital connectivity and building intelligence.

Obtaining certification is a step-by-step process that begins at pre-design and continues well beyond construction. Taikoo Place and Pacific Place demonstrate these standards in action. To date, 13 buildings have achieved Quadruple Platinum across existing building schemes including BEAM Plus, LEED, WELL and WiredScore. In particular, Two Taikoo Place and Six Pacific Place have achieved even more, securing five Platinum ratings — including SmartScore. Notably, Taikoo Place is also the first development in Hong Kong to achieve Platinum in LEED for Communities.

Turning Smart Design into Daily Impact

What does this mean for those of us who spend hours in offices every day? The session brought these technical standards to life through a case study of a fictional employee named Carol. Her journey maps a typical workday enhanced by tech and wellness-first thinking.

Carol begins her morning at a workstation with adaptive lighting and direct views of natural daylight. During lunch, she moves to biophilic breakout areas designed for mental wellness. By the afternoon, she attends meetings in collaborative spaces where smart air-conditioning systems adjust fresh air rates based on real-time CO2 levels. Throughout the day, indoor air quality (IAQ) sensors monitor key parameters, including humidity and particulate matter, to ensure a clean, healthy atmosphere. By following Carol’s day, participants visualised how smart design and wellness initiatives translate into real benefits across comfort, connection and productivity.

From Insights to Implementation

With the business case clear, the workshop moved into practical application through the GPP’s SD Fit-out & Renovations Scheme, a structured roadmap for Swire Properties’ tenants to put sustainability initiatives into action. Designed to support tenants every step of the way, the scheme awards ‘SEED Points’ across five core areas: Energy, Resources and Circularity, Water, Wellness and Bonus Points. Participants tested the framework through an interactive group exercise that involved mapping sustainability measures across office scenarios. Solutions they discussed included:

• Installing occupancy sensors to reduce energy use in empty rooms
• Adapting existing partitions to eliminate fit-out waste
• Using demountable walls and workstations
• Adding wireless meters to monitor energy and water usage
• Ensuring desks have external views and height-adjustable features for comfort

The exercise helped participants pinpoint which measures deliver results with minimal disruption, making it easier to prioritise actions for their own fit-outs. It demonstrated that attaining the scheme’s highest ‘Three-Seed’ rating is well within reach, showing how even modest design shifts can add up to meaningful progress. Tenants now benefit from a streamlined recognition pathway launched in 2025. Those with BEAM Plus and LEED certifications can now fast-track their Seed rating: Gold or above earns ‘Three Seed’; Silver or Bronze secures ‘Two Seed’. 

By simplifying sustainable fit-outs and aligning with global certification standards, the GPP’s SD Fit-out & Renovations Scheme empowers tenants to create healthier, more future-ready workspaces.

What simple step could you take today to create a better office for tomorrow?

Want to be a part of the change? Join our next GPP Academy session and discover how practical sustainability strategies can drive real impact across your business. 

¹  World Green Building Council, Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Offices.

² Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, The Impact of Green Buildings on Cognitive Function.

³  U.S. Green Building Council, Benefits of Green Building.