1.0 hours/week for 4 weeks (June 5, 12, 19 & 26, 2012), $ 425/Team (Early Registration), $ 525/Team (Late)

Student Rates: 65% off program investment.

Green Team GAP ASSESSMENT Workshop

 Green Up Your Business Seminar Series:

Develop Your Green Office Action Plan in this Workshop

Assemble your Green Team for this Lunch & Learn series on "greening up" your office and lower your operating costs by as much as 20%.

Here are 3 easy steps to get you started.

 Step 1 - Submit 1 registration for your entire team. If your team has 2 members or 10 it is the same price.

Step 2 - Gather everyone in a meeting room the four sessions. Put the session on speaker phone and watch the presentation on a monitor.  The sessions are live so you can verbally ask questions and submit comments via chat.  But we are recording it too - so team members can catch up if they miss a session.

Step 3 - Complete your Green Team - Green Action Plan during the sessions. Get tips for engaging employees as you roll out your plan.

Audit your office, understand your green office gap and develop a plan to "green up" your facility with your Green Team.   We will walk your Green Team through a Green Action Plan Checklist chocked full of tips, sustainability savings rationale and steps to implementation. Learn about technologies that can save your company money while reducing your environmental footprint.

Greening your office is a triple bottom line initiative – it saves money, creates a healthier and more productive work environment and is good for the planet. Even better, the financial payback can be significant. Studies show that a Green Team can reduce operating costs of an average office building with 50,000 square feet of office space, by as much as $ 40,000 per year through no-cost and low-cost energy, waste and water reduction actions.

In this program develop a Green Action Plan by completing an energy, water, waste, healthy workspaces and transportation checklist. Learn about strategies for understanding your Office baseline. And examine the best practice steps for Green Office implementation.

Who Has Attended & What They Said

This program was originally designed by the Sustainability Learning Centre for Green Enterprise Ontario.

Participating Companies have included:  Bethune Global Sustainable Development Inc, Maureen Lynch Consulting, Green For Life, Customer Clean and Green, Sharp Reminder, The Climate Change Infrastructure Corp., Nikka Design, JMS Group, EcoLog News, YMCA of GTA, PDPSOFT, Ontario Medical Association, NOW Magazine, Vibraclean Corporate Housekeeping, Eva's Initiatives, Halsall Associates, Frank T Ross, Partners in Project Green

Here is what participants say: 

- "informative, more extensive than other workshops"
- "provided information & resources critical to take green action"
- "helped benchmark my footprint and ideas on how to reduce it"
- "identified savings"
- "facilitator was knowledgeable and pleasant"
- "some great ideas, will help my workplace go green"
- "lots of new stuff, lots of fun!, gathered a lot of useful information"
- "allowed me to think about different ideas, gave impetus and encouragement"

Learning Objectives and Modules

Using examples, case studies, best practices, hands-on activities and participation through the on-line Community of Practice and "Peer to Peer" dialogue, you will:

• Explore strategies for understanding your office energy, water and waste baseline.
• Complete a Green Action Plan checklist and examine energy, water, waste, transportation and healthy office opportunities within your facility.
• Create an individual company "green office" sustainability policy
• Examine best practices for implementation of "green office" programs.
• Understand low cost technologies for "greening" your office.
• Explore resources such as paper calculators for measuring, monitoring and celebrating your "green office" accomplishments.
• Receive resources on steps to negotiating a "green lease" with your landlord, templates and checklists.
• Gain tips and best practices through our On-Line "Green Office" Community of Practice

Did you know that lighting is the largest end use of electricity in an office environment;

consuming more than 37%

Download a Sample Page of the Green Office Action Plan

Module 1: Steps, Baseline Assessment & Energy Green Action Plan Checklist

In this module participants will –

• Understand the concept of sustainability/"greening up" your business.

• Discuss common misconceptions and advantages of "greening your business".

• Examine a 6 step "Green Action Plan" process.

• Develop strategies for determining your Green Office Baseline and examine a template for measuring your GAP. (Template & Resources supplied)

• Discuss Green Leasing and strategies for gaining a Green Lease. (Resource supplied)

Module 2: Green Action Plan Development – Water & Waste Green Action Plan Checklist

In this module participants will -

• Understand the impact of water & waste inefficiency on operating costs & the planet.

• Complete a 31 element Action Plan checklist and highlight the business case for making changes. (Checklist/Action Plan Supplied)

• Examine alternative technologies for integration into your facility.

• Discuss resource materials to share with employees and managers.

Module 3: Green Action Plan Development – Healthy Workplace & Transportation Green Action Plan Checklist

In this module participants will –

• Understand the impact of improved air quality and employee travel on operating costs, productivity & the planet.

• Complete a 35 element Action Plan checklist and highlight the business case for making changes. (Checklist/Action Plan Supplied)

• Examine alternative technologies for integration into your facility.

• Discuss resource materials to share with employees and managers.

Module 4: Best Practices for Employee Engagement in Green Action Plan Implementation

In this module participants will –

• Examine the elements of a Green Office/Sustainability Policy and customize a template to create your own policy.

• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Green Certifications & Standards.

• Review the 10 Steps for Green Action Plan Implementation.

• Learn about fun and engaging resources and social networking tools for engaging employees in your Green Office strategy.

• Share Best Practices.

Trainer & Subject Matter Experts

Deepa Kumar, Engineer & Certified Energy Auditor

Deepa is an Engineer with 7 years of experience in the field of energy efficiency; conducting energy audits in buildings, and overseeing the installation of renewable energy technologies with focus on solar thermal and PV technology.   She has expertise in matters of finance as related to energy projects, and provided training on topics related to sustainable energy for engineers, student groups, and the general public.

She has worked with the Energy Management Centre (EMC) in India.  EMC is the designated agency for implementing the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 in the State of Kerala under Ministry of Power, Government of Kerala.  EMC is also the UNIDO Regional Centre for Small Hydro Power, the first Regional Center in the Asia.

She has also served as a Program Officer at Winrock International conducting energy audits.  She undertook audits of the electrical distribution system and pumping system.  In addition she was part of the team handling energy audits in the pharmaceutical industry and adhesive industry.  

Kathryn Cooper, B.Sc., MBA, M.Ed. (Sustainability & Environment) - President, Sustainability Learning Centre

Kathryn Cooper is a committed sustainability practitioner and educator moving companies toward "green" profitability and sustainable competitive advantage by unlocking human creativity and technical innovation. Over the last two years she has had the privilege to work with companies like Dupont, Zerofootprint, WWF Canada, and Partners in Project Green on sustainability issues, best practices and renewable energy.

She is President of the Sustainability Learning Centre. Kathryn developed this program for Green Enterprise Ontario. Other GEO programs include: Green Up your Restaurant, Green Up your Retail Store, and Green Up your Renovation.

Kathryn is a graduate of York University with a Master of Education specializing on Sustainability and the Environment. She holds an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Guelph.

In her spare time Kathryn is a member of the Environmental Advisory Committee for the Town of Erin, the Climate Change Action Group of Erin and an elected member of the Upper Grand District School Board.

• Green Team/Sustainability Leaders

• Office Coordinators

• Facility Manager

• Sustainability / Green Team Members

• Sustainability Coaches and Champions

• Anyone planning to lead the development of green office initiatives within business, government or the not-for-profit sector.