greening your office webinar

8/14/2019 Greening Your Office Webinar

1/28

Greening Your Office

Operations

Sustainable Industries

April 16, 2009


2/28

Marlowe KulleySustainability Advisor


3/28

Learning from our successesPortlands Story


4/28

The CITIZENS of Portland

have made it one of thegreenest cities in the US


5/28

Back in 1993


6/28

Per capita, Portland residents have

reduced their emissions by 17%!


7/28

How did we do it?

Biking at 8 times the national average Transit has doubled since 1990Recycling rate has tripled

Home energy use down 5% Highest participation in residential

renewable power programs

Highest number of LEED buildings


8/28

Moral of our story:

Individual decisions add up!

So what can you do?


9/28

Stephanie Schlecht

Director of Sustainability

Give Something Back Business Productswww.GiveSomethingBack.com

Green Teams


10/28

Trends

More of them Formed as employee engagement strategy

Green team goals aligned with companygoals

At basic level: ad hoc formation Advanced level: institutionalized -- seen as

expert base


11/28

Strategies for Starting

Make the business case Measurement, survey Connect to goals and corporate strategy

Have a cohort Get the right people on the bus Find a mentor in a senior role

Make other people feel (and look) good Know what motivates

Understand corporate culture & politics budget cycles, communication, roles


12/28

Common Challenges

Time constraints Keeping the message fresh

Benchmarking, quantifying results Sustaining momentum Developing fresh ideas General lack of resources specifically for

green teams


13/28

Continuous Success

Seek out a mentor Senior Management

Recognition Email signatures Awards

Align GT tasks with job functions Do what youre good at doing

Strategic & consistent communications Keep it fresh & connected to everyday

behaviors

Intranet, newsletter, happy hour, brown baglunches

Time

Support

Message


14/28

Continuous Success

Keep it fun & relevant Intra- & Inter-office competitions

Audit, set goals, monitor and share Start with money-saving, easy wins Share your stories! Net Impact, Impact at Work program Sustainable Industries Green Office Guide

Benchmarking

Progress

Sustaining

Momentum

Resources


15/28

Top Projects

Recycling

EnergyPurchasing


16/28

Top Projects: Recycling

Reduce,

Reuse,and then

Recycle

www.ecologicalmail.org

www.41pounds.org


17/28

Learn what you can and

cant recycle in your area

www.earth911.com



18/28

What else can you recycle?

www.e-stewards.org



19/28

Top Projects: Energy

Equipment

Behavior

You can save energy two ways:


20/28


Energy efficient equipment & controlswww.energystar.gov


21/28


Given a 40 hour workweek,

your building is unoccupied75%

of the time when you account for

nights and weekend


22/28


After you have conserved, its time

to investigate renewable powerwww.green-e.org


23/28

Top Projects: Purchasing

1. Partner with a supply vendor that puts yourgoals first and shares your green vision.

2. Have your current purchasing patterns audited

where are you already green? Where could you begreener?

3. Know your other decision drivers (e.g. cost,

performance, durability, design, etc.).

4. Recycle anything that is not reusable: paper,

boxes, toner cartridges, e-waste


24/28


5. Start with high usage

consumables

PaperToner

Break roomJanitorial

6. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,Rethink

HowthePaperyouchoose

ImpactsthePlanet

Using100%recycledpaperisan

easyfirststeptogreeningyour

officeopera7ons.Compare5

casesofvirginpaperto5cases

of100%recycledpaper:

Source:www.papercalculator.org


25/28


Considerations for Choosing Green Products

Materials: What are they? Where did they come from? Naturally

occurring? Sustainably harvested?

Manufacturing: Who made it? Where? What were the

environmental/social practices?

Shipping: How far did the product travel?

Functionality: Will the product meet quality expectations?

Reusability: Can it be reused? Other uses?

Recyclability: Can it be deconstructed; recycled or composted?


26/28


Considerations for Choosing Green Products

3rd Party Certifications can be trust providers make sure you

understand them.

Evaluating Eco-Labels

Independence of standard-setting organization (avoidconflicts of interest)

Rigor and comprehensiveness of standardsAccountability mechanisms

Transparency of auditsConsideration of product lifecycle


27/28

Green TeamsNet Impact www.netimpact.org

Mark Albion http://www.makingalife.com/ Low Impact Living www.lowimpactliving.com

Recycling & Waste Preventionwww.ecologicalmail.org

www.41pounds.org

www.earth911.comwww.e-stewards.org

Energy Efficiency & Renewable Powerwww.energystar.gov

www.green-e.org

PurchasingThe Green Office Green Screen www.thegreenoffice.com

Sustainable Industries Green Office Guide http://www.sustainableindustries.com/resources

Eco-labelswww.ecolabelling.org

Greener Choices http://www.greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/eco-home.cfm

BSR www.bsr.org Eco-promising: communicating the environmental credentials of your productsand services

Resources


28/28

Contact Us

Marlowe [email protected]

Stephanie [email protected]

greening your office webinar

Documents