The project is designed to increase awareness of sustainability and energy efficiency in the workplace for staff and faculty at Humboldt State.
The program rewards those offices taking the initiative to be sustainably minded, and will help others interested in becoming more balanced with the workplace and the environment.
The assessment program is facilitated at HSU by the Alliance to Save Energy’s Green Campus Program. Green Campus is a student-driven program on more than 16 California college campuses designed to educate the campus community on energy efficiency, achieve energy savings and encourage the next generation of energy efficiency professionals.
In addition, Green Campus students at HSU help faculty and staff complete office assessments, award green points, and offer suggestions for workplaces to earn higher levels of certification.
There are seven areas in which a workplace can implement sustainable practices to reduce its carbon footprint, including energy and water conservation, recycling and waste management, purchasing, transportation, community involvement and other creative and innovative options. Each action within these categories is rewarded with a certain value of green points. The total of these points combined will certify a campus office as one of four levels: Green Workplace Assessment Certified, Bronze, Silver or Gold.
Green Campus successfully piloted the assessment program last semester, with the certification of three Humboldt State workplaces. The Schatz Energy Research Center received a gold certification, the Student Health & Wellness Center received silver and Housing Grounds received bronze.
Faculty and staff interested in being Sustainability Champions by participating in the Green Workplace Assessment Certification Program can contact Jenna Bader at greencampushsu@humboldt.edu.
For more information on the Humboldt State Green Campus team, visit the website at hsugreencampus.com.