George Washington University
EN-8: Staff Professional Development

The Green Office Network is the primary faculty and staff sustainability engagement program at GW. The Office of Sustainability helps facilitate a conversation around best practices among the university faculty and staff through this program. Purpose of the Program •To better understand office behavior and practices on a day-to-day basis •To foster a discussion about how to improve sustainability on the individual and departmental level •To improve awareness, build a sense of community, and empower staff to make positive, healthy changes How it Works •Offices sign up to participate •A member of the Green Office team conducts a short, fun workshop with the office •At the meeting, the office learns about sustainability challenges, areas for improvement and has the opportunity to ask any questions about sustainability at GW •At the conclusion of the workshop, the team sets goals for the office (Sample goal: Increase recycling rates, ensure that all lights are off at the end of the day, set all printing defaults to double-sided) GW also launched a certification program in 2014, in which offices are awarded a certificate indicating how sustainable they are based on a number of criteria. Offices are are encouraged to make improvements to reach a higher certification level in their annual re-certification. Additionally, as part of ongoing GW programming, the Office of Sustainability contributes content to various conference and brown bag sessions. In November 2013, the Office of Sustainability gave a presentation at GW's annual Celebration of Excellence Conference on "9 Steps You Can Take to be More Sustainable at Work," which was attended by close to 100 employees. In 2014, a presentation titled "Green Living at Home: making your home more sustainable" was given as a brown bag open to all members of the Division of Operations.

http://hr.gwu.edu/gw-celebration-excellence