Green office or green bluff? Crown Workspace calls time on corporate greenwashing

A new whitepaper from Crown Workspace has revealed a growing disconnect between corporate sustainability rhetoric and real world action, as businesses face increasing scrutiny over their environmental claims.

The whitepaper, based on a global survey of 1000 office workers and 200 facilities managers, reveals that while sustainability is widely referenced in corporate communications, few organisations can demonstrate measurable impact. Most initiatives are superficial, with limited attention paid to the systems that drive emissions, such as lighting, heating, procurement and asset disposal.

Joy Lam, group ESG director at Crown Worldwide Group, said: ‘A genuinely sustainable workspace starts with materials and furniture built to last. But many green claims crumble under scrutiny. And now, 'greenhushing' is on the rise; companies with real progress are keeping quiet, worried that one slip will unleash a public pile on.’

The report highlights a growing trust gap. Facilities managers rated their offices eight out of 10 for environmental performance, while employees gave just six. The disconnect is fuelled by inconsistent practices and poor communication, from redundant laptops gathering dust due to data wiping concerns, to furniture still under warranty being dumped during cosmetic refurbishments.

Crown Workspace is calling for a shift towards evidence based sustainability, with circular economy principles at the core. The company’s Circulate framework helps organisations embed circular economy principles into workplace change, offering a practical structure for extending the life of assets and reducing waste.

The company believes that transparency, not tokenism, will define the next era of sustainable workspaces. With regulatory pressure intensifying, the report warns that greenwashing undermines progress, erodes trust and delays the shift to genuinely low impact operations.