GOPB

Promise 7: I pledge to invest in the best possible building envelope through insulation and high-performance windows.

For the vast majority of us this isn’t really an option unless we want to start some sort of letter writing campaign to the owner of the building where we lease space or begin breaking window in hopes of getting them replaced. Construction decisions are rarely in the hands of lessees and probably with good reason. If you don’t own the building it is easy to imagine that something like replacing all the stairs with slides and fireman poles is a good idea (I already have some preliminary drawings).

There are, of course, some exceptions. Those of you who own the building in which you work or those who have some say in fitting out a new space can influence these choices. Even those of us who rent might be able to put in our two cents during a renovation if we have been good tenants up to that point. In these cases it is important to realize that improving the envelope of the building is the most effective “greening” you can do.

Insulation, windows and the materials used in the exterior of your office (or any other structure) far outweigh nearly any other green element you might use. Your fancy solar panels and geo-thermal system are all for naught without the proper envelope. Even if you don’t have control over you office environment this is important to remember for your home and any other structure you might build. I know my 100k birdhouse would be far less impressive if I hadn’t paid the proper attention to its insulation and windows.

Chad’s Green Tips

Chad is on vacation and after WordPress erased this post once, I have lost some of the will to research this topic myself. So, until Chad brings his green geekiness back from California, you will have to settle for a couple of useful links.

First check out this 100k house post on insulation from January of this year. I know that in internet terms that makes it 85 years old, but there is some good stuff in there.

If that doesn’t quite do it for you, I’ll take the lazy man’s way out and refer you to this Wikipedia article on r-values. After working your way through that beast you should be fed up enough to forget that I didn’t give you any window related information.

Don’t worry, we’ll make Chad update this when he gets back or maybe someone will give us some tips in the comments . . . anyone?

This post is part of our ongoing, 30 part series breaking down the Green Office Pledge. Sign up for the pledge and be sure to check out the rest of the series for more tips and anectdotes.

Promise 5 - I pledge to adjust the settings on my computer so that it automatically goes into standby mode when it is inactive for 30 minutes.

The standby setting on your computer is a beautiful thing. It automatically shifts the machine into a low power mode whenever you leave it alone long enough. In a way it reminds me of Chad. If he receives no outside interaction for a given period of time, he will eventually take a nap.

While this is obviously a great power-saving tool, I have also found it serves a second purpose. I have a tendency to “zone out” while working. My mind finds some strange path away from the present task and follows it until interrupted by some external stimulus. The monitor of my computer flicking off seems just the right sort of signal to bring me around. Mid-daydream the screen goes dark, and I am instantly back where I belong.

So, while the pledge suggests a thirty minute setting on your computer, I think those of you with a tendency to “space” might want to consider something a bit shorter. It will save energy and your workday. I am so prone to mental shutdown that I have programed my computer sleep alarm to 5 minutes. Chances are if I’m not responsive for 5 minutes, I’m not going to be without some intervention.

Chad’s Green Office Tips

I don’t have much to add to the computer settings as it is pretty straight forward, but I do have one other tip that goes hand in hand with this topic. While we are reducing the power our PC’s are using at work, why not take care of other peripherals at your desk that are also sucking power while you are away from your desk. Most modern electronics will use standby or vampire power even when not in use while they are plugged in and sitting in standby mode.

There are fancier options out there but I really like this simple, $30 7 Outlet Smart Strip Surge Protector that will automatically help you reduce your vampire energy usage while away from the office. All you do is plug in you PC to the blue “control” outlet and the strip will sense when your PC is on or off. When it’s off it will also cut the power automatically to the other devices that are plugged into the strip such as your monitor and cell phone charger. There are also two red outlets in the strip that will remain on no matter what for your clock or anything else you don’t want to cycle on and off every night.

Also, check out the PowerSave software by Faronics which claims to save over $25 per year on every computer in your office by analyzing usage patterns and optimizing each computers power management actions.

This post is part of our ongoing, 30 part series breaking down the Green Office Pledge. Sign up for the pledge and be sure to check out the rest of the series for more tips and anectdotes.

I pledge to turn off my lights whenever I leave my office for extended periods (15 minutes or longer) and ask my employees to do the same.

This one doesn’t seem to need much in the way of exposition. I mean, generally it is common sense, right? I know as a kid this was a constantly repeated mantra. “When you leave a room,” my parents would say, “turn off the light.” There was nothing green about this. It was simply economics and basic logic. After all, my mother was probably right when she said that my stuffed monkey wasn’t scared of the dark.

Chad’s Green Office Tips

Turning off the lights is pretty straight forward. There are advancements in this pledge that include occupancy sensors on lights. Most of them basically have a sensor near the door that senses when you enter the room and when you leave. If you forget to turn off the light when leaving, it will automatically do so for you after a set period of time. This may be worth looking into during your green office renovations.

I’ll add one more tip to this post to go along with the lights. Ceiling fans and all types of fans for that matter should be turned off when leaving a room for a prolonged period of time as they only serve a cooling function when they are blowing directly on people in the room.

This post is part of our ongoing, 30 part series breaking down the Green Office Pledge. Sign up for the pledge and be sure to check out the rest of the series for more tips and anectdotes.

I pledge to regulate the thermostat to minimize energy use during unoccupied periods.

I’ll be honest. I don’t even know where the thermostat is in the office. I know . . . I’m a terrible green office advocate (but a great rock-paper-scissors player).

Even if I did know where the thermostat was it is unlikely I would need to adjust it often. Our office is also Chad’s home and, as such, is occupied pretty much all the time. The temperature is also kept at such a level as to provide the minimum necessities of comfort.

Now, some of you may be fortunate (or foolish) enough to have an office space separate from your home. This space is probably empty 50% of the time unless you are a severe workaholic in which case . . . seek help. For you non-workaholics (or at least less severe) this means you might be heating or cooling a bunch of stuff that doesn’t care how hot or cold it is like desks and chairs. Some quick adjustments to the thermostat on the way out could go a long way toward saving energy and a few bucks on the bills.

Chad’s Green Office Tips

Regulating the thermostat in your home or office is one of the easiest and most cost effective methods to reduce energy use. . The basic idea is to set the thermostat to a comfortable temperature only when people are occupying the office and then to change the setting when the office is empty to a temperature that will be easier to maintain.

This can be done manually or automatically with a programmable thermostat and can save up to $200 a year on your energy and cooling bills. It is relatively easy to assign someone, say your green office advocate, to adjust the temperature on the thermostat in the mornings and then again in the evenings when everyone is leaving work. An even easier way to make sure that the thermostat is being adjusted to the exact temperature desired at the right time every day is to buy a programmable thermostat.

A programmable thermostat can run as little as $30 so the payback is well under one year from energy savings. You can purchase models that will have one setting for the weekdays and another for the weekend (5+2), 2 different settings for each weekend day (5+1+1) or an individual setting for each day of the week (7-day). A 5+2 day model should be sufficient for most offices.

Currently I monitor and manually adjust our thermostat in our home/office based on the time of day, outside weather conditions and visitors we have in order to maximize efficiency. For most others that are not as crazy as I, a programmable thermostat is the way to go.

For more detailed info on this topic including recommended setpoints and times as well as purchasing guides, visit the energy star website brought to us by our lovely federal government.

This post is part of our ongoing, 30 part series breaking down the Green Office Pledge. Sign up for the pledge and be sure to check out the rest of the series for more tips and anectdotes.

Promise 2: I pledge to make any office renovation a green renovation.

This promise should be easier to keep than most of the others on the list as it is something that probably doesn’t come up every day or even every week. Unless you are masochistic and/or easily bored, you aren’t renovating the office very often. In fact, most of you have probably never renovated your offices and are just looking around now and thinking, “this place could use some sprucing up.” Well, before you spruce up take a minute and make sure your spruce is sustainable.

The home office we currently work out of hasn’t demanded too much in the way of renovations, and since we didn’t take before and after pictures it may be kind of hard to see what has changed. In order to better illustrate the green renovations we have made we have been forced to borrow before pictures that approximate the state in which the place began.

A Postgreen Renovation Example

(Before picture not actually of the Postgreen office.)

The Conference Table
We thought our original conference table was a little out of date and a lot uncomfortable.

So, we (by we I mean Chad) grabbed some construction scrap materials and some low VOC finish and went to work on building our beatiful new table for talking across. Now, we just need to find enough people who want to talk to us to make this thing look full.

There have been a few other small renovations like sealing doors & windows and low VOC painting and staining, but nothing really exciting. Don’t worry though. You’ll be the first to know if we undertake a larger, more interesting renovation project.

Chad’s Green Office Tips:

Performing office renovations falls outside of the realm of more minor items on the list like using CFL light bulbs and regulating the thermostat more wisely. A renovation could include painting the office, installing a new bathroom or kitchenette or simply setting up a new workstation for a new hire.

Below is a list of recommendations when embarking on such green renovations for the office. I do not go into detail on specific products as there are quite a number out there now and the list is growing every day. A simple Google search should reveal good options and if not, feel free to ask in the comments and we’ll look into an item for you.

1. Use Low or No VOC paints, stains, sealants, caulks and finishes of any kind.
2. Incorporate used items from a local thrift store or architectural salvage shop when possible.
3. Use low-flow plumbing fixtures including dual flush toilets when renovating kitchens and baths. If you are really adventurous, try a composting toilet.
4. Use recycled/reclaimed and low-VOC content materials when possible for things like flooring, tile and ceiling panels.
5. Consider possible solutions to encourage natural daylight and views for all employees.
6. When replacing HVAC equipment always use high-efficiency equipment and don’t be afraid to explore innovative solutions that may use significantly less energy such as natural ventilation.
7. When using lumber or sheet products, try to use FSC certified and zero formeldahyde products as much as possible.
8. Use local labor, material suppliers and consultants when renovating.
9. Be creative.

Many green renovations can also save money for new businesses tight on cash. For example, two used filing cabinets and a used door make a great desk for a fraction of the price and carbon footprint of a new one. Be creative and focus on the renovations that are going to provide you and your employees a healthier and more pleasurable work environment.

This post is part of our ongoing, 30 part series breaking down the Green Office Pledge. Sign up for the pledge and be sure to check out the rest of the series for more tips and anectdotes.

Last week we received an email about the Green Office Pledge. This pledge, designed by a group of Philadelphia organizations, is a challenge to local businesses to green up their act. Basically, the hope is that each business will fill out the online web form to “sign” the pledge and then attempt to abide by thirty different promises. Naturally, we liked the idea behind this and quickly added our name to the growing list of pledges. Now we are going to take it one step further.

This intro is the first in a thirty-one (yes I said 31) part blog series which will look closely at each promise in the Green Office Pledge. We will discuss the merits of each promise and the ways in which one might seek to abide by the pledge. We will also probably engage in tangental rants, witty digressions and bizarre, semi-related antics. Hopefully, in the end, we will have a plethora of possible ways in which each of our businesses can positively impact the environment, or at least impact it less negatively.

This series, due to its daunting scope, will be a collabrative effort between all of us at postgreen (Chad and Nic). We will work together to fashion an educational, entertaining expansion of the pledge’s concepts. Well, maybe that is promising a bit much. Let’s say we will attempt to at least slog through all thirty promises and come out with one or two good ideas amidst the inevitable wanderings of my prose and Chad’s eclectic green geekdom.

Hopefully the input of our wonderful readers will fill the gaps in our efforts. We are all counting on you.