How to Make Your Office Environmentally Friendly
How to Make Your Office Environmentally Friendly
Here are six simple resource-saving opportunities that can make your office a brighter shade of green.
Lighting: Lighting accounts for up to 30% of the energy used in an office. New lighting options can save 50-80% of lighting energy. Some of these options include switching to new, efficient compact fluorescent lamps wherever possible; installing occupancy sensors to turn lights out when no one is present in a room.
Office Equipment: According to the DOE, office equipment accounts for approximately 16% of an office's energy use. Simple ways to cut this use include: turn your computer off when you're not using it for more than 2 hours; install LCD monitors, which use much less energy than CRT monitors; printers, fax machines and copiers use energy even when they are not being used - they should be turned off in the evenings and when not in use.
Paper Products: Follow the environmental standard - reduce (create hard copies only when necessary); reuse (change printer settings to duplex; use 2-side copies whenever possible); and recycle (buy recycled paper and recycle paper on-site).
Heating and Cooling: Heating, cooling and ventilation accounts for 39% of energy use in an office. A few options to improving the energy consumed by heating, cooling and ventilation include setting back the thermostat a couple of degrees; using time-based controls to reduce heating and cooling when the building is unoccupied; if possible, use roof coatings, window films and vegetative shading to protect against extreme heat and cold; use insulation and weather stripping to block drafty areas.
Water: Water heating accounts for 9% of office energy use. Reduce water temperature to 120 degrees - if it was set at 140, this can save as much as 18% of energy use. Another water-saving opportunity is the use of low-flush toilets, which can save 50% over the old-fashioned toilets.
Cars and Parking: Businesses can take steps to encourage employees to drive less and instantly reduce the carbon footprint of an office. Commuting opportunities for offices include subsidized transit; carpool parking preferences; bike parking/showers/lockers; flexible work arrangements that allow employees to avoid heavy traffic and spend less time on the road.
For more information download a free copy of the "Green Office Guide" from the Portland, Oregon Office of Sustainable Development.
How to Make Your Office Environmentally Friendly - To learn more about this author, visit John Gillett's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
There are many ways to define a "green" office. Unless you're working in a jungle and using sharp sticks to write in the dirt, your office can never be entirely environmentally-friendly.
Here are six simple resource-saving opportunities that can make your office a brighter shade of green.
Lighting: Lighting accounts for up to 30% of the energy used in an office. New lighting options can save 50-80% of lighting energy. Some of these options include switching to new, efficient compact fluorescent lamps wherever possible; installing occupancy sensors to turn lights out when no one is present in a room.
Office Equipment: According to the DOE, office equipment accounts for approximately 16% of an office's energy use. Simple ways to cut this use include: turn your computer off when you're not using it for more than 2 hours; install LCD monitors, which use much less energy than CRT monitors; printers, fax machines and copiers use energy even when they are not being used - they should be turned off in the evenings and when not in use.
Paper Products: Follow the environmental standard - reduce (create hard copies only when necessary); reuse (change printer settings to duplex; use 2-side copies whenever possible); and recycle (buy recycled paper and recycle paper on-site).
Heating and Cooling: Heating, cooling and ventilation accounts for 39% of energy use in an office. A few options to improving the energy consumed by heating, cooling and ventilation include setting back the thermostat a couple of degrees; using time-based controls to reduce heating and cooling when the building is unoccupied; if possible, use roof coatings, window films and vegetative shading to protect against extreme heat and cold; use insulation and weather stripping to block drafty areas.
Water: Water heating accounts for 9% of office energy use. Reduce water temperature to 120 degrees - if it was set at 140, this can save as much as 18% of energy use. Another water-saving opportunity is the use of low-flush toilets, which can save 50% over the old-fashioned toilets.
Cars and Parking: Businesses can take steps to encourage employees to drive less and instantly reduce the carbon footprint of an office. Commuting opportunities for offices include subsidized transit; carpool parking preferences; bike parking/showers/lockers; flexible work arrangements that allow employees to avoid heavy traffic and spend less time on the road.
For more information download a free copy of the "Green Office Guide" from the Portland, Oregon Office of Sustainable Development.
How to Make Your Office Environmentally Friendly - To learn more about this author, visit John Gillett's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|||
George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to John's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
|
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Memorandum Template 1 Ezine Choices Setting Priorities Worksheet 7 Strategies to Take Action Personal Leadership |
|
 | ||
 |
The Top 10 GTD Times Posts
Best Posts for Productivity | |
 |
Top 50 HR Blogs 2009
Top 50 HR Blogs 2009 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||