GREENOFFICE

MANUAL

I. GREEN OFFICE PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Toronto Community Housing is one of the largestconsumers of electricity, natural gas and water inToronto. We produce hundreds of thousands of

tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year. That iswhy we are taking a leading role in reducing con-sumption by ‘greening’ what we do. The Green Officeprogram puts ‘green culture’ into action for TorontoCommunity Housing staff and sets an example for ourcommunity.

The Green Office program is based on low and nocost solutions for changing behaviour at work with afocus on making that change positive. The GreenOffice (GO) Program puts green culture into action byfocusing on behavioural change in the office.

The program has specific goals including: reducingenergy consumption by 20%, achieving 90% wastediversion through recycling, eliminating non-recycled,non-biodegradable and/or non-recyclable products,eliminating harmful products and solvents, eliminatingnon-Energy Star products and reducing single occu-pancy automobile use by 20%. These goals should beconsidered benchmarks to guide action with a focuson making behavioural change at work.

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II. ACTIONS FOR A GREEN OFFICE There are seven (7) actions for a Green Office:

1. REDUCE, RECYCLEThe goal is to reach a 90% diversion rate while elimi-nating all non-recycled/recyclable material includingdisposable water bottles and Styrofoam. Why?Recycling saves energy, protects natural resources andreduces the amount of waste going to landfill. As thevast majority of office waste is recyclable, once thisrecycling program is underway, there will be very lit-tle garbage. An organics program in the future wouldfurther reduce the garbage produced by TorontoCommunity Housing.

Practices:

• Recycling containers at all work stations, commonareas and meeting rooms supported by signageon how and what to recycle.

• Recycling bins appropriately installed.

• All printed material double sided as appropriate.

• Print only when necessary.

• Limit packaging where possible.

2. TEMPERATURE CONTROLThe goal is to reduce consumption of energy related toheating and cooling devices. Why? Every 1°Cdecrease in temperature during the winter can save 2 - 3% on heating bills. Staff have been encouragedto wear appropriate clothing for comfort. This includesputting on a sweater in the winter and lighter clothingin the summer. Use window blinds to help keep insidetemperatures stable throughout the year. Blinds canreduce summer air conditioning energy use and makeworkspaces more comfortable. They also allow the sunto heat space when needed.

Practices:

• Adjust the thermostat in the office to 21°C in thewinter and 25°C in the summer.

• Eliminate space heaters.

• Use window coverings to moderate temperaturecontrol.

• Adjust heating and cooling during office hours.

3. POWERING DOWNThe goal is a 100% powering down of computers andperipherals including fax machines, radios, electroniccalculators and lighting at the end of the business day.Why? Computers and other electronics continue to usepower even when they're turned off, sometimes asmuch power as when they're on. This is called stand-by power. Although these appliances may seem small,they use power twenty-four hours a day.

Practices:

• Power bars for all work stations to facilitate shutdown for computers.

• Assigning powering down responsibilities to par-ticipating staff for office machines and lighting

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4. FOOD PRODUCTSThe goal is to increase the use of locally grown food,served on re-usable or recycled and biodegradableproducts. Why? Because eating local food uses lessenergy to transport food to your table and supports thelocal economy. Biodegradable plates mean less wastegoes to landfill.

Practices:

• Use reusable material in kitchens during meetingsand other events: coffee cups, pitchers, glasses, etc.

• When ordering food for meetings and other events,order from “green” catering companies. This meanscompanies that are socially and environmentallyresponsible with food that is local, fresh and season-al with zero waste.

5. PROCUREMENT & ORDERING

The goal is to use environmentally friendly productsresponsibly. Why? Using environmentally responsibleproducts means reducing waste through recycling,using less hazardous products and reducing energy use.

Practices:

• Ordering Energy Star qualified products to replaceold office machines.

• Using certified Green custodial products

• Environmentally responsible paper products (office,food and personal hygiene), toner cartridges, clean-ing products, food services and products and allother office materials, including envelopes, pensand presentation folders.

6. TRANSPORTATIONThe transportation-related initiatives include: a masstransit incentive program for staff discounts; bike racksat all offices and shower facilities where possible; acar pool program; promotion of bike and car shareprograms. Why? In Canada, the transportation sectoras a whole produces 25 percent of greenhouse gasemissions. In the morning rush hour, it takes 50 cars to

carry 61 commuterswho can otherwise beseated on one double-carstreetcar heading downtown.

7. HOMEAlthough this program is an office related program, staffhave been encouraged to take this behaviour home withthem. Why? Because this program is about changingbehaviour, staff have been encouraged to take thesechanges home with them.

Examples of tips on going green include:

• Replace regular light bulbs with compact fluores-cent bulbs

• Wash clothes in cold water

• Turn lights off when leaving a room

• Reduce the temperature of your home at night bya few degrees

• Take your own bags to the grocery store

• Reuse glass bottles, jars, yogurt containers andplastic bags

• Use reusable products (cups, pens, containers,plates, razors)

• Recycle paper, cardboard, glass, metal cans,scrap aluminium

• Turn taps off tightly

• Install a water efficient shower head

• Don’t run water continuously when washing dishesor brushing your teeth

• Take showers rather than baths

III. SUMMARY OF THE STEPS INCLUDEDIN THE GREEN OFFICE PROGRAM

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The program began with areview of offices to create abaseline for evaluation as wellas a survey of all office staff todetermine habits and usage ofenergy, office equipment, trans-portation and materials. Theevaluation and monitoringcomponent of the Green Officeprogram tracks audit and sur-vey data to confirm awarenessand behavioural change. Foran example of the audits andsurveys used in this program,see Appendix A and B.

1. AUDIT AND STAFF SURVEY

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2. PROGRAM LAUNCHThe program launch included a ‘lunch and learn’ session, lobby display with posters in key areas and a training tooldescribing actions to improve the environmental performance of the office.

An alternative program launch format was carried out by some offices in the Green Office program. These offices par-ticipated in an online webinar rather than the in-person format. Webinars are an efficient, economical alternative tocommunicate the goals of the program to a large audience. In a webinar, information is conveyed with a start andend time. The presenter speaks over a telephone line, pointing out information being presented on screen. There is anopportunity for participants in the webinar to participate by asking questions and responding to polling questionsasked by the presenter.

3. POSTERS AND EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

The Green Office program included the preparation of a variety of materials to go up in Toronto Community Housingoffices – in lunch rooms, printing areas and next to elevators. These materials were distributed during the launch.They included the Green Office wheel, which contains many useful tips to reduce energy at work. Other materialsincluded “What does a Green Office look like?”, “This is a styrofoam free zone,” “I Take the stairs,” “I Switch offlights” and “Recycling starts in my workplace.”

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4. PURCHASING INFORMATIONStaff received information on green purchasing for office supplies, ‘green’ catering and custodial products. Thisincluded the contacts of ‘green’ catering companies, suppliers for ‘green’ disposable food service products, and linksto sources for green office supplies and green custodial products. The Green Office team is working with TorontoCommunity Housing suppliers to ensure they meet the needs of our organization when it comes to green products.For example, many units have begun to use caterers that are green and that participate in community economic devel-opment activities. This means companies that are socially and environmentally responsible with food that is local,fresh and seasonal with zero waste.

5. STAFF CHALLENGEA challenge took place between offices focusing on turning off computer screens, other office machines and lights.This challenge served as an incentive for behaviour change and to gather more date on the program’s outcomes.

6. REPORT CARDA report card documenting the results of thestaff challenge was created for each officeparticipating in the program. Report cardsfor each office were distributed via e-mailand posted for the staff to see.

7. CHECK-UP: SECOND AUDITA secondary short audit was carried out to track changes in the program and behaviour change based on theinitial survey.

8. ONGOING ‘GREEN’ TIPS Tips are e-mailed on an ongoing basis to staff to remind them to be ‘green’ at work. Tips sent out bi-weekly to date include:

• Double-sided printing

• Using power bars

• Recycling

• Water bottles

• Cleaning tips

• Transportation

• Local food

• The carbon footprint

• Plastic bags

• Start your day the green way

• Recycled paper

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IV. CASE STUDIES

TORONTO COMMUNITY HOUSING HEAD OFFICE

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The head office for Toronto Community Housing islocated at 931 Yonge Street, in downtownToronto. The office has seven floors and approx-

imately 200 staff.

The Green Office program was launched at 931Yonge Street in June 2007. The program began witha ‘lunch and learn’ session and lobby display withposters in key areas such as lunch rooms and photo-copy areas to remind staff to turn off the lights, takethe stairs and use recycling bins. Staff took part in theGreen Office Primer, a training tool describing actionsto help improve the environmental performance of theoffice. They also received information on purchasing(for office supplies, ‘green’ catering information andcustodial products), the Green Office wheel (seeAppendix A on educational materials), informationexplaining the program and posters for each floor.

Staff taking part in the launch of the program wereoffered a healthy ‘green’ lunch as an example of agreen catering option.

Part of the launch of this program included abehaviour survey completed by staff on eachfloor. A specialist in Green Office practices alsodid an audit of 931 Yonge Street. The auditreviewed things like what kind of equipment isin use, if lights and computer screens are turnedoff at the end of the day, if recycling bins arebeing used and whether Styrofoam and dispos-able water bottles are being used by staff.

Once there was a broad perspective of staff behaviourat 931 Yonge, a floor-to-floor challenge was launchedthat looked at things like which floor turned off themost computers and screens, had the highest percent-age of recycling and turned the lights and printers offat the end of the day. However, staff behaviour willcontinue to be tracked into the spring of 2008. At thatpoint, staff will be surveyed once again and anotheraudit will be conducted on a floor-by-floor basis thatwill provide an opportunity for staff at 931 YongeStreet to challenge each other to be greener.

The program is being rolled out over a period ofmonths, with a second challenge and follow-up surveyto act as a reminder and to gather more data on theprogram’s outcomes. Green Office tips and other com-munication will continue as an ongoing component.

TORONTO COMMUNITYHOUSING HEAD OFFICEACHIEVEMENTS FOR THE2007 YEAR

• Meallennium café, a restaurant in the building,began using ‘green’ take-out containers.

• Offices Services began to remove unnecessarylights in the lobby and on the floors of 931.

• Kitchenettes, board rooms and meeting roomsreceived recycling bins.

• The Green Office challenge

TORONTO COMMUNITYHOUSING HEAD OFFICE PLANS FOR 2008

• Pitchers and glasses will be placed in all board-rooms and meeting rooms at 931 Yonge for a threemonth trial, in partnership with Meallenium whowill provide dish washing and set up services.

• Plans are underway to design new communicationmethods, including the use of elevator space, andadditional water saving initiatives are being consid-ered for staff washrooms.

• Recycled paper and new paper-saving dispenserswill be installed in washrooms on each floor.

• Options for greener alternatives to the current printersand copiers are being explored.

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SATELLITE OFFICES

In addition to the head office at 931 Yonge Street,Toronto Community Housing has twenty-seven satel-lite offices. Two of these offices were selected to take

part in the Green Office program.

The Green Office was launched in two satellite officesin June 2007. The Green Office Program began inboth community housing unit (CHU) offices with a‘lunch and learn’ format alongside a lobby displayand posters to remind staff to turn off the lights, takethe stairs and use recycling bins. In addition toposters, all offices participating in the programreceived a package with information explaining theprogram, purchasing information, and the GreenOffice wheel. Staff members took part in the GreenWorks Primer, a training tool describing actions tohelp improve the environmental performance of theoffice. As an added incentive, staff participating in thelaunch of the program were offered a healthy ‘green’lunch as an example of a green catering option.

As in the case of 931 Yonge Street, the launch of thisprogram included a behaviour survey completed bystaff in both CHUs and an audit done by a specialistin Green Office practices to determine habits andusage of energy, water, transportation and materials.Once there was a comprehensive understanding ofthe situation in these CHUs, a CHU-to-CHU challengewas launched as an added incentive. Staff in the satel-lite offices excelled in this part of the program andshowed each other how they could challenge eachother to green Toronto Community Housing offices.

The program is being rolled out over a period ofmonths, with a second challenge and follow-up surveyto act as a reminder and to gather more data on theprogram’s outcomes. Green Office tips and other com-munication will continue as an ongoing component.

The remaining satellite offices began the Green Officeprogram in November 2007 using a webinar format.A webinar is an economical alternative with a presen-ter speaking over a telephone line and pointing outinformation being presented on computer screen ineach of the participating offices. Staff on the receivingend of the webinar presentation can participate byasking questions and responding to questions askedby the presenter. Four webinars were carried out dur-ing the week of November 12th - 16th, with an addition-al one on January 15, 2008. Though there were sometechnical difficulties at first, the general idea was wellaccepted and many of the participants had positivecomments about being able to 'meet' on a virtual levelwithout the need for time and travel. Prior to takingpart in the webinar, each office received informationexplaining the program, Green Office posters, GreenOffice wheels and procurement information.

Next steps for these offices will include a review ofeach office and survey of all the remaining staff. Achallenge will also be held focusing on energy useand recycling, specifically on things like turning offcomputer screens, other office machines, lights, andrecycling bins in the CHU offices. Green office tipsand other communication will continue as an ongoingcomponent.

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XI. CONCLUSION

The Green Office program helps to achieve a num-ber of goals that respond to environmental con-cerns, cost containment and a healthy workplace.

Increasing the use of recycled products, conservingenergy, diverting waste and reducing harmful chemi-cals also help to reduce Green House Gas emissions.

The program serves as a team building experienceand creates an overall sense of leadership amongstthe participants, while helping to create a more efficient,healthy workplace. It also serves the community atlarge and builds the important message of an organi-zation that is prepared to ‘walk the walk’.

By following this simple program, organizations candevelop a green culture from within, setting an examplefor partners, stakeholders, associated vendors and thecommunity at large.

Green Works!

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WHAT WASINCLUDED IN THE

GREEN OFFICELAUNCH?

‘Lunch & learn’ formatProgram informationGreen Office Primer

Purchasing informationGreen Office Wheel

Posters‘Green’ lunch

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APPENDIX A

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APPENDIX B

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