The following is taken from an article published on Greenerbuildings.com by Carrie Langford, a "green advisor" at Ecker Green, a business unit of Howard Ecker + Company that focuses on providing green office services to commercial office tenants. The original article A Dozen Tips for the Total Greening of Your Business can be found: (HERE)
Tips to Green Your Business:
1.The time is now for companies to start thinking about sustainable practices. It isn't something we are going to see coming in the future. It is already happening.
2.Businesses that align their practices with core values, such as sustainability, are often better positioned to recruit and retain employees. 58 percent of people working in office environments are under the age of 44 (bureau of labor statistics), placing them in the Millennial and Gen X demographic categories. A business's sustainability practices are increasingly important to people within this age group.
3.Energy aware real estate strategies, space selection and efficient design can cut energy costs and increase work productivity and employee retention.
4.Reducing total energy use by 40 percent (average Energy Star Building reduction) would net savings of $1 a day per employee.
5.While LEED-certified buildings are designed to perform based on a set of prescriptive data, it's how you live and occupy the space after the building is built that will ultimately decide the buildings performance. How you live and occupy your space also defines and demonstrates your commitment to the environment and the health of your organization.
6.Computers are proliferating and it appears growth will continue to be exponential. Computers use a great deal of power and disposal is a big problem. Server consolidation or cloud computing will reduce a company's carbon footprint and save a lot of money.
7.Employees are often looking for a better work/life balance and telecommuting accomplishes this objective and at the same time improves productivity and the bottom line.
8.Avoid seeking the elusive environmental "silver bullet." It doesn't exist. It's essential to look out for opportunities to use less. If an asset doesn't improve customer service or productivity, get rid of it.
9.Design performance is all about beginning to research strategies on how to measure from four primary drivers: emotional, cultural, economic and environmental. The most important thing to do is to develop an understanding of space utilization and design accordingly.
10.The regulatory environment surrounding green building will change drastically in the next year or two, from a market-driven, locally-regulated environment, to a mandated, federally-regulated one.
11.Cities and counties, armed with federal funding and resources, are adopting climate change plans and regulations and are not waiting for federal direction, but are moving forward with a wide variety of programs and regulations.
12.Developers and building owners who are considering green construction practices or retrofit projects now will be ahead of this regulatory curve.
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