By Jake Poinier
When considering the different approaches to making your business more environmentally friendly, it’s easy to get focused on zero—including zero waste, zero fossil fuel energy and zero carbon emissions.
Even if those are the long-term goals, the sheer magnitude of such a task can make it daunting. It’s easier to think of sustainability in terms of a strategic marathon than a sprint — and every day you strap on your shoes, you’re one step closer to making a difference. Here are seven ways to get started on a program or to ramp up your existing efforts.
1. Power play
Few people enjoyed the transition from incandescent to buzzing fluorescent lights when they became the office standard, but LEDs haven’t met the same resistance.
"Thanks to years of research and development, LEDs have come a long way in light quality and cost, which makes them a better option for retrofitting,” says David Russell, senior vice president of corporate real estate and facilities for CB&T. “Not to mention that the CALGreen portion of California’s Title 24 has put a lot of urgency into energy efficiency, including lighting."
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, LEDs use up to 90% less energy, can last 25 times as long as incandescent bulbs, and can even reduce air-conditioning needs since they produce very little heat.
While you’re in the process of doing a retrofit, motion-sensitive light switches can also make a difference on utility bills. Energy Star-certified appliances are yet another way to conserve on power, especially if that office refrigerator is getting up in years. If you’re looking to augment your power with solar panels, it’s worth investigating the tax-credit subsidies available for corporations.
2. Watch your waste
Talk of the "paperless office" has been around for decades, but we’re not quite there yet. Nonetheless, using digital transactions wherever possible represents a significant way to reduce waste, storage and costs.
Transitioning away from single-use water bottles—one of the largest office-waste culprits—can help on multiple fronts. By switching to a water cooler or reverse osmosis, you’re sending less plastic into landfills and probably saving enough money to buy everyone in the office a reusable company-logoed plastic cup.
If you prefer recycled cups, the good news is that they’re now about the same cost as Styrofoam, without the environmental harm.
3. Recycle
The list of materials that can be recycled today continues to grow, from plastic and paper to toner cartridges and all types of electronics.
"If your business requires document shredding, look for a vendor that also recycles," Russell says. Different cities, counties and municipalities have standardized programs to handle recycling of plastic and other products. Participating can help save money in some cases, or it might just be doing the right thing. The other side of the recycling coin is buying products with recycled content, whether it’s paper, furniture or even carpeting.
4. Compute the commute
If you have the option, leasing or owning a building near mass transit makes environmental sense on a variety of levels. By having employees take a bus, train or trolley, you’re decreasing the volume of emissions from their vehicles, with the side benefit of helping them avoid the frustration of traffic jams and eliminating parking problems.
But there are other commuting aspects to consider, too. In particular, vehicle chargers have become a popular trend with California leading the way in EV adoption and companies such as Amazon planning a move to all-electric fleets.
“Charging stations are relatively inexpensive to put in and maintain,” Russell says. “Our landlord installed high-voltage quick chargers and let everyone use them for free for a year. It’s not designed to be a major revenue source, but rather trying to make it convenient for tenants.
” Finally, for those employees who’d prefer to get in a workout and cycle, run or walk to work, offering shower or locker facilities is an appreciated perk.
5. Evaluate your office footprint
Even with energy-efficient lighting, recycling and other green programs, simply running an office is a sustainability factor.
"COVID-19 has really made a lot of companies reexamine how large a footprint they need," Russell says. "Along with the cost to lease or own, you’re paying the costs to operate and maintain the office with utilities and everything else. To the extent that you can downsize and become more efficient, you’re being a wiser and more frugal consumer."
6. Encourage responsible construction
Licensed contractors should adhere to California regulations as a matter of business practice, but you should still confirm they’re using low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) materials for tasks such as gluing down carpet, painting, and other chemical usage. A healthy building equals healthier workers!
Watch your water use
Water use is an obvious place to start a sustainable initiative, given California’s extreme drought conditions. Inside your building, low-flow toilets and sink aerators are an easy fix.
If you have landscaping responsibilities as an owner or tenant, paying attention to the environment around your building makes a difference, too. Adding drought-tolerant plants and a low-flow irrigation system will ensure you’re not prone to overwatering—and will save on water bills, as well.
Another less-obvious aspect of water management in the outside environment is when you're doing landscape work or exterior construction. Larger projects may have regulations in place that require netting or other mitigation to control runoff, but don’t ignore smaller jobs.
"Just taking that little added step to control the runoff into the local sewer system plays a part in overall water quality," Russell says.
7. Promote your sustainability efforts
One of the most important things you can do to support your sustainability programs is to talk about them.
"If a company is truly making an effort to use environmentally sound practices, they should be shared through informative pieces with employees and customers," Russell says. “Who doesn’t want to feel good about where they work or the company they’re doing business with?” In addition to regular internal and external communications about specific initiatives, an annual corporate social responsibility report is a popular way for businesses to highlight the good they do.
Sustainable business is smart business
As a leader in environmental initiatives, California has many of the strictest and most sweeping regulations in the country. Still, creating a true culture of sustainability is a matter of taking ownership in meaningful change, not just reacting to new laws.
The best approach, according to Russell, is to create a plan. "It can be as simple as a green initiative checklist or as detailed as the project may require," he says. "Ideally, you want to look at all the different attributes of a space and ferret out all the opportunities to minimize consumption, reduce waste, or improve efficiency, and revisit them regularly. Even if you don’t take advantage of all of them, you know what they are and can address them when it makes sense.
"Whether you keep it simple or go beyond government initiatives, working toward sustainable goals for your business can often pay off on the bottom line in the long run.