Just a quick thought. If the concern is the life of the bottle, why not "borrow" one from work, ferment in it once, wash and then take back to work to exchange for a newly finished one.
I have one of those water coolers at home and thinking about cycling the bottles through one ferment after each official use before returning for a replacement. So the cycle will be, shop-watercooler-ferment-shop. Luckily mine at work and home are the #1s.
I was thinking about doing 2.5gal batches in future and these would seem like a good size (and would fit in the small fridge currently used for drinks I already have so just need to buy a temp controller and an appropriate stopper). In time I intend on buying a dedicated chest freezer for fermenting/storing but this may be a good interim setup (as it will only cost me the temp controller).