University of California, Santa Cruz
EN-7: Employee Educators Program

The Green Office Certification Program works to empower campus offices to implement sustainable practices in their everyday operations. We perform water audits and energy and waste assessments in campus offices and work with participating staff to identify actions they can take to decrease waste, conserve resources and improve their overall environmental performance (while saving money!). There are four levels of certification, and offices have the opportunity to improve their rating by improving their performance and re-applying.

Staff interested in having their offices certified and participating in sustainability trainings volunteer themselves. They are required to have a Green Team of 2-3 individuals who are the sustainability champions for their office and liaisons between their office and the Green Office Certification (GOC) program staff during the assessment and training process.

Step 1: Create a Green Team The main role of the Green Team is to be the champions for their office and to be liaisons between the office and the GOC staff. The GOC Green Team is a key component in the green office certification process. Here are their roles: Two members is the minimum but we encourage four Green Team members will need to assist GOC staff in scheduling meetings and communicating with Building Managers/Office Manager/Department Head regarding waste assessments, building information, etc. Students are allowed to be a part of the Green Team but limit to one per office and the impetus to participate in the green office certification program must be driven by staff. Step 2: Conduct Office Assessments The Office Assessment Involves Three Components: Sustainability Office Assessment (1) observational and (2) verbal components (3) Waste Assessment Step 3: Assessment Results Presentation With guidance from the Green Team, coordinate an office meeting during which a representative from the GOC will report the office’s assessment results. Then a GOC member/s will facilitate a brainstorming session during which the members of your office (with the help of the representative) will put together your Office Sustainability Commitment and Plan based on the results of your Office Assessment. Action items and goals will be set forth with tentative completion dates. The office will get its green office certificate as well as any items that can help the office operate more sustainably. Step 4: Implement your Office Sustainability Commitment and Plan Begin taking the steps your office brainstormed during the final meeting. A representative from GOC will compile all of the action items produced from the workshop and send you a link to the formal online version of your office's Office Sustainability Commitment and Plan. Both your office and the GOC team will have access to this document. Treat it like a checklist, and indicate which action items that your office completes. Of course, representatives from GOC will always be available at any time to answer questions or help address issues regarding the implementation. Step 5: Continue to work hard in incorporating sustainability in your everyday practices! We will continue to work with your office to incorporate sustainable practices in your daily practices. We re-certify offices after a three month check-in so continue working hard! We also offer trainings on specific topics that you'd like to learn more about in order to implement your commitment plan, upon request.

Sustainability Office Programs Manager oversees a team of students to conduct trainings and assessments. The Sustainability Office provides programatic budget and the Carbon Fund has provided funds to support aspects of the program as well.

The Green Labs program seeks to improve energy efficiency and increase green purchasing and waste reduction practices through behavior change, physical improvements, and education. UCSC Green Labs program has 3 goals: ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Lab buildings make up 47.4% of total electricity on campus WASTE REDUCTION: Lab Operations produce 12% of landfill-bound waste from campus GREEN PROCUREMENT: Laboratories are the single largest purchaser from CruzBuy

The Green Labs program works to certify on campus research labs as part of the UC initiative to reduce energy, waste, and water usage in labs. Labs that express interest in certification are contacted through their prime investigator and lab sustainability representative to begin certification and assessment process.

The Green Labs Team educates and empowers the labs' principal investigator and Green Labs Liaison to lead their laboratory staff and students in implementing the sustainable practices they've learned through participation in the program. These new leaders will communicate the resource conservation actions required to operate a Green Lab to their whole team and reinforce the new sustainable processes as needed. It is also their responsibility to provide sustainable practices on-boarding training for all new employees and students. Participating labs are placed through a three-phased process to complete our goal: Phase 1: Self-Assessment Labs must complete a lab self-assessment created by mygreenlabs, an off campus nonprofit organization. The self-assessment is an online survey that asks labs to reflect and review their current sustainable lab practices and environment. By completing the self-assessment, it will allow the Green Labs team to gain more insight on the lab and understand trending sustainable obstacles our campus faces. Phase 2: Walk-through Evaluation Once a self-assessment is completed, the Green Labs team will schedule a 30-40 minute walk-through of the interested labs to confirm the data received in the self-assessment and to view the current lab sustainability situation in regards to behavior, equipment, and safety. These aspects of the lab correspond to a graded checklist which the Green Lab team will fill out to later determine the certification status of the lab. By performing the walk-through the Green Labs program is able to cater its resources to better support and improve the lab environment. Phase 3: Follow Up Meeting A separate meeting with the lab prime investigator/lab sustainability representative and the Green Labs team is scheduled to review the graded checklist and present the lab's certification status. From there the Green Labs will recommend resources and accommodations that they feel would better support the lab's sustainability practices and environment. Lab leaders are educated about all the sustainable components of running a green lab so they are prepared to disseminate their knowledge to all other lab researchers and students.

The Green Labs Program is overseen by the Water and Climate Action Manager and overall supported through the UC Santa Cruz Sustainability Office. Addition assets for the program's resources are offered by the Carbon Fund Program which offers support for on campus sustainability projects.

Sustainability Certificate Program: Campus employees examine sustainability through multiple lenses and develop knowledge and strategies for building a more inclusive and sustainable campus. To complete the certificate, participants must complete the six required core courses and one elective within two academic years. Participants learn knowledge and strategies for engaging coworkers in sustainable behaviors. Courses are taught by UCSC faculty and staff. To date, 174 employees have participated in the program.