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Green offices could save owners up to 拢50 per square metre in operating costs and lead to happier staff, a study by the British Council of Offices has found.

The study found that more energy efficient offices could deliver productivity improvements from staff worth up to 拢50 per square metre.

It said: 鈥淚t is worth considering that energy and water costs usually amount to little more than 1% of business costs, whereas staff costs account for around 90%.

鈥淪o a 1% improvement in productivity swamps utility costs.鈥�

It said building owners and operators should benchmark and monitor their buildings鈥� energy usage in more detail to find areas for improvement, such as new lighting systems.

The study said that many businesses would be 鈥渟urprised鈥� how much energy their buildings use outside of office hours and that this was one of several areas ripe for change.

It added that improved offices would lead to a happier workforce that took less sick leave and improved staff retention, outweighing the cost of making improvements.

Richard Kauntze, chief executive of the BCO, said firms needed to ensure their offices were energy efficient to 鈥渞eap the rewards鈥� of 鈥渆mployee satisfaction鈥� and 鈥渋mproved business performance鈥�.

He added: 鈥淭his study represents a significant shift in attitudes, whereby the actual environmental performance of buildings is in the spotlight and the industry has moved away from focusing on the planning, design and construction of offices as a way of assessing performance.鈥�