Washington University in St. Louis

Initiatives & Outreach

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Washington University in St. Louis Office of Sustainability

Green Offices Program

WUSTL's Green Office Program is presented by the Office of Sustainability and Resource Management and aims to encourage offices across all WUSTL campuses to be champions of our university sustainability ethic.

The program is a point-based, self-assessment checklist with which offices can assess their current practices, set goals and be recognized for their sustainable practices. As participants complete the checklist, points are automatically tallied. When an office earns points above a set threshold, it will be certified as a Green Office.

The checklist is broken down into seven sustainability categories:

  • energy
  • waste
  • documents
  • purchasing
  • transportation
  • awareness
  • innovations

There are seven steps to participation:

  1. Define office space and elect a Green Offices Representative.
    • An office can be defined as 3-20 people who share office equipment (large offices can be broken down into more manageable groups).
  2. Register your office by filling out this quick form.
  3. Orient yourself (and your office) to the program by downloading the Green Offices Program Introduction (PDF).
  4. Download the Green Office checklist (XLS).
  5. Work with your office to complete the checklist. It will be helpful to reach out to office members to get a sense of current individual practices and to raise awareness about more sustainable practices.
  6. Email checklist to the Office of Sustainability.
  7. The Office of Sustainability will review the completed checklist and confirm the certification level. See details about certification levels.
"Green Offices is a great way to keep sustainability on our radar and remind us that in our everyday ecosystem of the office we can choose to act better and with intention, to act responsibly."
-Rachel Binstock, SU Executive Advisor for Sustainability
"I asked my colleagues to bring to the office their at-home conservation and recycling practices by turning off their lights, monitors and printers and to use the recycling bins."
-Christine Berry, Continuing Medical Education
"Office environments throughout the university’s campuses are major consumers of energy and materials and significant contributors to our waste stream. The Green Office Program is a framework and set of resources that has the potential to significantly reduce the environmental footprint of our university community."
-Phil Valko, Director of Sustainability

Certification Levels

The program has five levels of certification automatically calculated as you fill out the checklist. After completing the checklist, the Office of Sustainability will confirm your certification level:

  • Platinum: 90% +
  • Gold: 80%
  • Silver: 65%
  • Bronze: 50%
  • Registered: below 50%
Offices must be re-certified annually but have the option of re-submitting the checklist every 3 months to allow recognition for improvements.

Recognition

In order to celebrate offices that have made strides to reduce their environmental footprint, the Office of Sustainability will recognize certified Green Offices in a number of ways:

  • Recognition at Staff Day
  • Supply an icon that can be used on the department website
  • Provide a plaque/certificate for office
  • Inclusion on the "Green Offices" list on the Office of Sustainability's website

Certified Offices

Registered

  • Room 167 (Medical Campus)
  • Design and Construction Business Office (Medical Campus)
  • Orthopedic Surgery Insurance Billings & Collections (Medical Campus)
  • Career Center (Danforth Campus)
  • Office for International Students and Scholars (Danforth Campus)
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences Department (Danforth Campus)
  • Accounting Operations (North Campus)

Bronze

  • University Registrar (Danforth Campus)
  • University Accounting and Reporting (North Campus)
  • Environmental Health & Safety (West Campus)
  • Engineering Student Services (Danforth Campus)
  • FMD Supply Room (Medical Campus)
  • Purchasing Services (North Campus)
  • Quadrangle Housing Services (North Campus)
  • Campus Card Services (Danforth Campus)
  • Engineering Finance and Human Resources (Danforth Campus)

Silver

  • Continuing Medical Education (Medical Campus)
  • Campus Operations (Danforth Campus)
  • Law School Office of Administration and Finance (Danforth Campus)

Email the Office of Sustainability at sustainability@wustl.edu for more information.

Resources