Seven Steps to a Greener Office

With Earth Day upon us once again, it’s time to ask, “Is your office doing its part to be environmentally sustainable?

               
“Going green doesn’t have to cost a lot or involve major renovations,” explained Chrissy Hill Rogers, a senior associate and sustainability expert at ARCTURIS, a local architectural design firm. “In fact, there are a number of simple things any business can do that will not only cut down on its carbon footprint, but probably save money as well.”

               
Hill Rogers suggests the following seven steps that businesses of all sizes should consider adopting to reduce their carbon footprint this Earth Day:

1. Reduce the number of printers in your office. Fewer printers mean less energy consumption as well as a reduction in unnecessary printing and paper use.

2. Switch to cloud computing.
Using the cloud reduces your need for in-house servers, further reducing your energy usage (and related carbon emissions). It also helps eliminate wasted time since the technology can be managed at a higher level.

3. Install occupancy sensors that turn off lights in unused rooms.

4. Offer incentives to employees to use public transit, carpooling, bicycling or walking to work.
The average car produces approximately 13,000 pounds of CO2 annually. By encouraging employees to leave their cars at home, you’ll be promoting a significant improvement in the local environment.

5. Promote recycling by providing single stream recycle bins throughout your office. Place trash bins only in break area for things that cannot be recycled or composted. 

6. Purchase locally. Buy consumer office products and other needs from local suppliers that require shorter delivery trips.

7. Promote Green at Home. Distribute weekly green tips to employees to demonstrate ways they can “green” their homes.  Green behaviors at home will often foster green ones at work.

           
ARCTURIS has worked with many of the area’s leading corporations to design and implement sustainable building and management practices. The firm’s own downtown office space incorporates a number of sustainable design principles, such as a “living wall” of green plants and carpet and fabrics with high recycled content. A multiple metal panel sliding wall and poured concrete bathroom sinks were locally fabricated.  The firm’s internal Green Team meets regularly to discuss new strategies for environmental sustainability.

“There is so many little things that each of us can do to make this world cleaner and the environment more sustainable,” said Hill Rogers.  “If every business adopted just one of these ideas, we would see a dramatic impact in a short period of time.”