For many people every day begins with a commute to work, either by public transport or battling the traffic on the motorways. In fact, almost 1 million people commute into London alone every day.
Commuting has been in the spotlight in recent years because of the impact it has on the environment, with people encouraged to carpool and bike to keep carbon emissions down.
Now there is a new guilt-free way to commute. A commute that takes one minute, incurs no fares, petrol costs or congestion charge and has no impact on the environment. This is the daily reality for the growing number of 'green commuters' who are opting to work from home, without the distractions that working from home often comes with. They are working from their garden.
Garden room specialist, Rooms Outdoor, says it has seen a steady increase in enquiries for its range of contemporary garden office rooms initially since the extension of the congestion charging zone and now with jitters in the housing market. Staying put and working from a bespoke office has become an even more attractive option. Added to this is also the environmental feel good factor - avoiding an average 10,000 annual travel-to-work car mileage, the green commuter is reducing his or her carbon footprint by 3.5 tonnes of CO2
Garden offices created by Rooms Outdoor buildings use a number of sustainable materials, as well as exceeding the required British housing standards of insulation. A carbon offsetting scheme is an optional extra for those wishing to avoid any environmental impact due to the construction of their new garden office.
Among those to have already made the switch is Annie Stevens, one of the UK's leading designers and chairperson of the British Interior Designers Association. Annie recently installed a Rooms Outdoor Moderno and moved her highly successful interior design business from a London office back to her garden. The studio is large enough for two employees to work with her and also provides room for a meeting space. At the end of the day, thanks to clever storage, the area is transformed into a chill zone for her teenage children.
"While work-life balance has always been a factor for people choosing to work from home," says John Keenan, Managing Director of Rooms Outdoor, "We are seeing more people making the decision based on a range of problems associated with the housing market and commuting to work. This can simply be concern about the uncertainty of house prices, the frustration of travelling as well as an increasing number of people taking their impact on the environment very seriously."
He continues: "The choice of Rooms Outdoor designs means that garden offices can fit into even the smallest garden, are suitable for year round use and are extremely energy efficient and environmentally friendly."
Construction time on the Rooms Outdoor range is typically eight weeks from the first survey with planning permission only required in a minority of cases There is also minimal disruption to the home with all the work contained in the garden, meaning that the garden office can be prepared with almost no impact on the household or existing working arrangements.
John Keenan adds: "Adding a garden office is almost an instant solution to a better quality of working life and certainly compares very favourably when weighed against the average length of time it takes to buy and sell. In such uncertain times having this additional time to focus on your work could be vital to the success of your business."
For more information visit >www.roomsoutdoor.co.uk