According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, Americans volunteered over 8 billion hours in 2010. Encouraging employees to volunteer in the community is a win-win for any business. Here are a few tips: Choose to volunteer for a cause that resonates with your employees or tenants. This might mean a cause related to your area … Continue reading Q&A: How Can My Company Set up A Volunteer Program? →

May is National Bike Month. So how can you encourage your employees to commute to work by two wheels? Well, first, consider installing bike racks. Your employees need a way to securely lock their bike in a covered area during the day. Bike racks can help if you are pursuing LEED certification. Your biking employees … Continue reading Q&A: How Can I Encourage Employees to Bike to Work? →

  Early spring is a great time to do an annual cleaning of your building or office space. Here are some tips to ensure your efforts are good for you and the environment. Declutter your file cabinets of old paperwork, making sure to have your recycling bin handy. Reuse folders and binders instead of tossing … Continue reading Q&A: Our office does an annual spring cleaning. How can we make it green? →

Flowers and plants are often used at businesses for events & conferences and in building entrances and reception areas. But how can we bring nature into the office in a more sustainable way?  Great Forest recently met with Irene Woodard of True Blooms to find out more. GF: Why are flower arrangements important for businesses … Continue reading Bringing Nature Into the Office in a More Sustainable Way →

Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) are a technique of assessing the environmental impacts of a product by calculating its energy input and carbon output from cradle to grave. In other words, this technique analyzes all stages of a product’s life – manufacture, distribution, use, repair, maintenance, and disposal or recycling – to understand the environmental, social … Continue reading Q & A: What is a Life Cycle Assessment? →

Spring conference season is nearly upon us. According to a profile of the convention and meeting industry in the San Francisco Chronicle, U.S. meetings are a $107 billion industry serving 136.5 million people attending 1.2 million business events annually. It comes as no surprise then that such events have a large impact on the environment. In … Continue reading Q&A: How can my company reduce our impact as we plan large staff meetings and conferences? →

Q: How Can My Building Increase Our Operating Efficiency? A: According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), commercial buildings use about 40% of all energy consumed in the U.S. However, there are many steps building owners and managers can take to reduce their energy footprint and save money through greater operational efficiencies. For example, an efficiency … Continue reading Q&A: How Can My Building Increase Our Operating Efficiency? →

Q: How do I make sure tenants and employees  recycle properly? A: No matter what type of recycling program you have set up, education is the key to its success. Lack of awareness is one of the major reasons why people don’t recycle. Here are a few ways to increase awareness: * Post Signage – … Continue reading Q&A: How do I make sure tenants and employees recycle properly? →

Q: How do I choose the best recycling and waste bins for my building? A: Choosing the right bins will go a long way to make your recycling program successful. Some factors to consider: size, materials, and visuals. Size: Bins too big will waste space and be hard to move when full. Bins too small … Continue reading Q&A: How do I choose the best recycling and waste bins for my building? →

Q: Can you tell me some quick fixes to green restrooms? A: There are many easy improvements that can be made in restrooms that not only can help lower operation costs but also have big benefit for the environmental footprint of your building. The cheapest and easiest solution for reducing water waste is the installation … Continue reading Q&A: Can you tell me some quick fixes to green restrooms? →

The “green lease” is becoming more popular with building management firms who have committed to sustainability and wish to promote responsible energy and material use within their building portfolios. Green leases typically require both the landlord and tenant to use energy and resources efficiently, regardless of the cost of energy; this usually results in lower … Continue reading Q&A: What is a Green Lease? →