Business Math in Action

Creating a Greener Office

Green offices are the wave of the future. Energy-efficient and friendly to the environment, they are often more cost-effective over the long term than traditional offices. Green offices are designed with materials that are either recycled or sustainable (easy to grow and not endangered). Inside, you might find tiles made of glass recycled from windshields; used furniture, wall dividers, and phones that have been refurbished; and flooring, wallpaper, and countertops made of sustainable materials such as bamboo, wheat, and soybeans.

Green offices have been around for at least twenty years, but it’s only recently that green has come to mean not just smart, but stylish. The design emphasizes natural light, and green buildings have windows that open to the outdoors (as opposed to being sealed shut to allow for air-conditioning). Some of the world’s most innovative architects and designers are drawn to the green cause, creating workspaces that use the latest in solar technology and renewable resources.

But you don’t have to be a cutting-edge designer to think green at work. Green also means saving energy, recycling supplies, and cutting down on waste. You can apply the concepts to any office. Here are some suggestions to get you started.

Take advantage of natural lighting. Place your desk near a window in a position where the light falls over your shoulder.

Open the window whenever possible instead of turning up the air conditioner.

Find out if the paper your office uses has the highest possible recycled content.

Use both sides of the paper for photocopying.

Keep a tray next to the copier for paper you would normally throw away; use it for scrap paper.

Reuse packaging material, including cardboard boxes, which can be flattened and stored.

Use recyclable ink cartridges for printers and copiers.

If your office doesn’t recycle glass, plastic, and paper, suggest that they start doing so. Be diplomatic. You might even offer to track down a supplier that sells the color-coded plastic recycling bins.

Turn off computers at the end of the day. (Screen savers do not save energy.)

Turn off equipment when it’s not in use.

Turn off lights when you leave the room.

The National Resources Defense Council, which has branches in New York, Santa Monica, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., estimates that the energy-wise design of its four offices saves more than 350,000 kilowatt-hours a year. They claim that if all U.S. commercial buildings were as energy-efficient as their offices, it would save enough electricity to supply power to ten major U.S. cities and avoid the need for nearly 300 power plants. It’s a worthy goal for the newest generation of businesspeople.