When our son Ian first started riding a bike, he was a bit reluctant. He watched other people do it, talked about it and was interested in how the equipment worked but wasn’t so sure he was ready. An early incident didn’t help matters. Ian was just starting to feel comfortable when he sailed down a hill, careening on one training wheel while he wobbled the front wheel back and forth trying to regain control. He didn’t know how to use his brakes and eventually toppled. Ian had pads on and wasn’t physically hurt, but his confi dence was shaken. He figured he would leave bikes alone and let other people ride them.
Ian’s experience is similar to how many of us approach “going green.” Watching, listening, talking, interested-but not really pushing off into it yet. Hearing about mercury in compact fluorescent lightbulbs leaves our confidence shaken. Is it going to do us harm? Maybe we’ll leave it alone and let someone else do it.
The old analogy about bike riding is true though; you can read about it all you want and you can watch others, but until you try for yourself, you really can’t know how to do it and you can’t gain the benefits. And there definitely are benefits to greening our businesses on a personal, collective and organizational level because saving energy saves money.
If you reduce the amount of paper you use, you reduce the amount you have to buy. If you reduce your travel, you reduce transportation costs. If you improve the efficiency of your lightbulbs or turn them off when not in use, you reduce the amount of electricity you have to buy.
Making the green transition means taking a number of factors into account. The weather affects the appropriate solutions for greening your offices and other facilities. For instance, in colder climates, you want to use designs, materials and habits that encourage heat to enter the buildings. In warmer climates, you want to keep the heat out. In all cases, you want to minimize the heat transferring in and out unintentionally.
Social environments make a difference on how accepted and expected a green existence is. Peer pressure makes a difference. Media coverage in your area makes a difference. Attitude is important. A gloom-and-doom feeling is not very inspiring. Focusing on problems and fear freezes action. Focusing on solutions and success motivates and moves us.
Baby Steps
A recent family trip to Chicago inspired Ian to venture out once again on the bike. He started out with a death grip on the handlebars and needed a push to get going. He focused on every obstacle within 20 feet (6 m), sure he was going to fall victim to it. But he kept going. He began to notice how little changes in the way he moved made big differences in how smoothly the ride went. At the end he was riding leisurely, looking around at the dogs, the lake and the boaters, confident and proud, truly enjoying the ride. Like anything, it gets easier when you get into motion.
If you’re hesitant about becoming a green business, find someone to give you a push. You’ll find it’s fun to play the game of energy efficiency. What if we kept the temperature 1 degree different? Would we notice the difference, and how much energy would it save? How few lights can we use? How about if we stagger work hours so employees could avoid rush hour traffic and use less gas during their commute? What if we allowed more telecommuting? How about if we used teleconferencing in place of some of our business travel? How can we reduce paper and other waste? How much energy could we save if we installed motion sensors in the bathrooms?
Simple Ways to Save
No matter the size of your business, everyone can contribute to making a greener office environment by starting small. Each small movement will make everyone more comfortable with bigger steps. For instance, replacing lightbulbs is relatively simple and inexpensive to do. Have a lightbulb smashing party for the old bulbs, signifying the company’s commitment to being a green business.
Don’t smash the new bulbs though, because they contain mercury. If a compact fluorescent bulb breaks, treat it like the mercury from those old thermometers-make sure to clean it up thoroughly. Treat broken or burned-out bulbs as hazardous waste-put them in a bag and put them out with other hazardous wastes. When you bring those to the hazardous waste recycling center, bring the bulbs, too.
Computers generate heat and provide plenty of opportunities for energy savings. Make sure defaults are set to standby or hibernate when idle; screensavers still use energy. Encourage staff to start the habit of turning computers off when going home or leaving the office for an extended period. Consider using power strips to shut down all electronics completely.
When you’re ready to move onto bigger projects, your computer networks are a good place to look. Get more efficient equipment, install energy-efficient chillers for data centers and check into computer power management for large-scale networks. Consider using solar water heaters, acquiring your own energy storage to take advantage of off-peak electricity prices or xeriscaping the grounds to reduce the water usage. Use alternative fuels and alternative vehicles in the company fleet. For those with dedicated routes, see if fully electric vehicles will do the job. Share your research with other companies so they can benefit, too.
Knowledge dissipates fear, so continually educate yourself and your employees. Knowing you’re contributing to the solution just feels good-like riding a bicycle.
Susan Meredith is an engineer; MBA graduate; professional speaker; and founder of Austin, Texas-based HumanExcel, a corporate educational firm that helps organizations improve efficiency, reduce waste and save energy. Her forthcoming book, “Beyond Lightbulbs: Lighting the Way to Smarter Energy Management,” provides insights about the innovative ways consumers, companies and government organizations can reduce energy consumption and dependence on oil while curbing global warming.
