Green Office Program

The Green Office Program allows employees to work together to adopt environmentally friendly behaviors in their offices and earn Bronze, Silver, and Gold certifications. Certification checklist items align with the University’s Climate Action Plan and Tailloires Declaration commitments. Through the process of earning these certifications, faculty and staff build community across offices, learn more about sustainability, minimize environmental impact, and help establish a culture of sustainability.

USAC's sustainability committee and the Office for Sustainability established the Green Office Program in 2011. Since then, more than 30 administrative and academic offices have participated in the program.

Employees throughout the entire University are invited to participate. Each office is encouraged to define its own space based on what is appropriate, even if your "office" does not easily fit within four walls. You may want to certify an entire department or work toward certification within a subset of the department

Each checklist builds off of the accomplishments of the last. Offices re-certify every two years to maintain their Green Office Program certification. Re-certification involves scheduling a presentation and filling out an updated checklist.

Become a Green Office

First, form a Green Team. Green Teams consist of people in your office who are interested in supporting sustainability at UR. Two-to-five people is a good size.

Next, appoint a Green Team Leader. This person is responsible for ensuring that your office registers with the Office for Sustainability, organizes the team, and acts as a point of contact for the program.

Contact the Office for Sustainability at sustainability@richmond.edu to schedule a Green Office Program presentation. This presentation is mandatory for certification and re-certification.

When your office is ready to proceed, review the bronze checklist. Be sure to share the environmental impacts of each action and the tools offered to help your office achieve each goal. Work with the Office for Sustainability to select additional office-specific goals and to have new checklist items approved.

Complete the checklist and submit to the Office for Sustainability. At least two-thirds of an office must sign the achievement form. After the achievement form is completed, the office will be listed as a Green Office on the sustainability website. The office will also receive a certificate to display.

After completing the bronze checklist, begin work toward earning silver, and then gold.