Laura Armstrong is the pollution prevention coordinator for the Maryland Department of the Environment, which provides services to help Maryland businesses go green.
What are some steps businesses can take in the office to protect the environment?
Start with an environmental policy or mission statement and create a team to address your facility?s biggest environmental impacts.
Take a look at your lighting design to make sure you?re making maximum use of daylight. Replace incandescentlightbulbs with fluorescent and make sure employees turn off lights when not in use or, better yet, install occupancy sensors. Use timers for any outdoor lighting.
Make sure the heating and air-conditioning systems are operating efficiently and that the building is limiting heating and cooling losses. Use programmable thermostats and make sure all equipment including computer monitors have a sleep mode.
What about out of the office?
Businesses with fleet vehicles can take advantage of gas savings through proper maintenance of vehicles, combining trips and using the most fuel-efficient vehicle for the job required.
Encourage and reward employees who use public transit, ride-share and make use of teleconferencing to minimize travel.
Why do you think more businesses have placed an emphasis on green initiatives?
This environmental movement seems to be more of a bottom-up approach driven by rising energy and commodity prices and consumer and employee environmental awareness. There is a strong correlation between businesses that are performing well environmentally and those that are performing well overall.
