From reusing materials to Google’s dragonscale rooftop, employers are making sustainability a top priority in workplace design.

This month, we celebrate the Earth and environmental awareness, and now more than ever, sustainability is embedded deeply into the core operations of workplaces. 

Companies are making pledges of execution, measurable impact and financial profitability. Sustainability will continue to move from ambition to accountability, as the pressures of corporate climate action become more immediate. Energy costs are climbing, climate risks are real, and state-level regulations are filling the gaps in federal policies.

“2026 is the year companies must face the progress (or lack thereof) made on their 2030 climate goals,” says Ty Colman, co-founder and CRO at Optera, a carbon management software firm.

This same mindset about sustainability goes for workplace design as well. Sustainability is part of the planning process, but it’s also one of several factors shaping design, rather than top-line goals, according to DLR Group, an architectural firm in Durham, North Carolina.

“Clients are exploring how design decisions can reduce carbon, support health, and create more equitable experiences across roles and locations,” writes DLR senior interior designer Kate McGoldrick.

Interiors are taking a significant shift towards sustainability. While the textile industry is vital to shaping the aesthetics and functionality of workplaces, it is one of the biggest contributors to waste. At least 85% of all textiles—roughly 11.3 million tons in the U.S. alone—are sent to landfills or incinerators annually, rather than being recycled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Designers and manufacturers are creating innovative ways to repurpose waste for acoustics and furniture, saving virgin materials, conserving resources and diverting textiles from landfills. They’re also prioritizing eco-friendly materials, adopting circular design principles to prevent waste and pollution from occurring in the first place. These steps can dramatically boost the overall sustainability of office spaces.

Artificial intelligence is also being used in the planning process to reduce waste by analyzing building plans and suggesting sustainable options or locally sourced materials. The tech is being used to simulate energy usage across different scenarios to maximize layouts and efficiency and even to calculate a project’s carbon footprint from beginning to end. 

Designers can also recommend how clients can incorporate sustainable design simply by repairing existing materials, avoiding construction with modular design, seeking out locally sourced materials or creating climate-friendly designs that save more energy. 

Projects are incorporating more materials that support sustainability goals, such as mass timber, elements that incorporate biophilia and that are free from harmful chemicals. They’re also paying close attention to energy and water use and analyzing daylight to ensure designs are the most efficient and hitting performance targets, says McGoldrick.

Choosing eco-friendly materials

She points to T3 FAT Village, a six-floor commercial office space now under construction in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The project replaced carbon-intensive materials with sustainably sourced wood, to reduce its carbon footprint while providing the aesthetic appeal of exposed wood interiors and rich amenities, says McGoldrick. Studies show that replacing concrete with mass timber can cut carbon by 20% or more.

Pre-existing materials 

Transa, an outdoor sportswear brand, renovated its Zurich headquarters with pre-existing materials and involved minimal demolition. The company used upcycled fibreboards for acoustic ceiling panels and crafted furniture out of old wooden wall panels. Old advertisements were used for lampshades and table legs were cores from wall drillings.

Transforming existing buildings into eco-friendly workplaces 

Another proposed development to be constructed in Warsaw’s Vistula riverfront, would transform an existing office building into an inspiring example of circular design, material reuse and environmental innovation.

Developed by an architectural bureau with local creative agency and architectural office MJZ and architecture and design studio Loskiewicz Studio, the ReVistula project proposes a system that circulates water throughout the building to regulate the internal climate, with channels that guide water through planted zones with tall grasses that naturally filter and cool the water. The vegetation, which lines rain gutters that ring the building’s exterior, also offer passive shading, to create a layered botanical, energy strategy. 

Google’s dragonscale solar 

Google embraced something called “dragonscale” solar at its 1.1 million square-foot Bay View campus, one of the world’s largest buildings with a LEED certification.

This was a custom-designed building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) roof system with 50,000 to 90,000 silver-colored glass solar tiles that are inspired by dragon scales. Made by SunStyle, a Swiss solar company, the tiles are installed like traditional roof shingles and overlap and shimmer to maximize the amount of sunlight collected for energy. The goal is to help Google hit its goal of 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030. 

Whether it’s recycling materials or innovating new ones, sustainability is emerging as a key priority to creating better places to work, thrive and innovate—that’s also good for the planet.