Modern Building Services

16 MODERN BUILDING SERVICES DECEMBER 2022/JANUARY 2023 FEATURE WORKING BUILDINGS T he recent Platinum Jubilee celebrations highlighted just howmuch has changed over the past 70 years. The Platinum Jubilee events included lots of retrospectives on evolving tastes and fashions, and they provided a stark reminder that theway we live andwork now is completely different from the lifestyles of a generation ago. The “job for life” promised in the 1960s is neither realistic nor desirable these days, and the cumbersome filing cabinets and computers that accompanied every workstation just a decade or two ago are nowhere to be seen in the contemporary paperless, agile office. And yet, many of the commercial spaces that people have been migrating back to following the pandemic are legacy buildings that were constructed for a different era of working cultures and office equipment. New décor, furniture and IT equipment may have been brought in to replace the old, but the building services lag behind. What does that mean in practice? Often a network of ugly cable protection mats allows workstations to be connected to inconveniently placed sockets. Or, worse still, a nightmare of trip hazards from loose cables, along with regular scrambles under the desk to find a socket when something new needs to be plugged in – not the most professional start to a meeting! For those buildings already using a powertrack or power hub power distribution system, adjusting to new working practices has been easier because these systems are designed to enable adaptations during the lifespan of the installation. Additional tap offs and/or a reconfiguration of the tap off scheme allow a revised layout of floor boxes and grommets, sockets and workstations. We have certainly seen high demand for reconfiguration and upgrade projects over the past two years, as more and more occupiers adopt hot desking and hybrid home/office working models. There has also been a significant trend for flexible power distribution layouts installed in co-working environments and serviced offices. The question now is how can specifiers predict the right power distribution strategy as evolving working cultures and innovative technologies continue to drive accelerated change in commercial office trends? Flexibility, sustainability, resilience The key to futureproofing the building services upgrade for any commercial environment is to combine an understanding of the current needs of the occupier with insight into evolving trends and an acceptance that we cannot accurately predict either working cultures or the technologies that will be used in offices more than fives years into the future. The growth in smart buildings, wireless technologies, VR, AR, and Bluetooth or RFID enabled tech all present the potential for rapid, sudden and exponential change, so the focus for the power distribution network needs to remain on flexibility. It may be that future occupiers will need fewer electrical sockets and more USB, wireless and data-driven connectivity, but the power distribution system should provide the flexibility to work with changing layouts and varying demand. Another essential area to consider is sustainability. Developers and landlords are increasingly accountable for the environmental performance of their buildings, and the specification of the power distribution system is relevant to this agenda in several ways. Notably, it’s important that the power distribution system has a long, low maintenance service life, to reduce the potential for strip- out and waste, even if occupiers’ needs should change. The use of a high-quality powertrack system that has a proven extended service life and can be reconfigured or scaled up as required is an ideal response to this imperative. Paul Allen , head of power distribution at CMD Ltd, discusses the need for flexibility in the specification of power distribution systems for office buildings as the commercial property sector continues to adjust to newworking cultures and practices. The power to deliver rapid change in office environments