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Property Management Giant Is "Greening" Offices
New Office Carbon Footprint Tool
Check out our new office carbon footprint tool! It can help your office estimate your greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a variety of sources, including recycling and waste management, company-owned vehicles, purchased office supplies, and electricity use. The tool is not intended to address manufacturing operations or service-oriented businesses that use significant amounts of chemicals, such as cleaning services.
The average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copier paper every year. Citigroup, a financial services company, found it could save $700,000 (and a great many trees) annually if every employee used double-sided copying to conserve just one sheet of paper each week.
Given such numbers, CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc.'s (CBRE) new recycling initiative could make a big dent in the amount of waste produced by office workers: CBRE is the biggest commercial real estate services company in the world. As part of its commitment to assisting clients with environmentally sustainable efforts, it plans to set up or revamp recycling programs throughout the 246 million-square-foot portfolio of office space it manages across 43 states.
EPA is providing technical assistance and logistical support for CBRE's efforts. As a result of EPA and CBRE collaboration, each CBRE facility will carry out a waste audit, develop and implement a recycling plan, conduct employee education on recycling, and measure and report its waste reduction activities.
The initial focus of CBRE's program will be on properties it manages, with a two-year introduction to all markets and properties. CBRE will establish processes for operations and maintenance recycling, focusing on wastes produced through building maintenance, such as thermostats, lamps, ballasts, and batteries. It will also focus on waste generated by tenants, such as cardboard, office paper, bottles, and cans.
CBRE has piloted the recycling program, focusing on fiber (paper), at six Atlanta office properties totaling 2 million square feet and 4,000 occupants. The first data collected, for this past January-April, found that waste-hauling costs had been reduced by 20 percent. The fiber recycling was especially successful, with 0.6 pounds recycled per occupant every day. CBRE did a pre-program audit and was surprised by the sheer number of plastic bottles needing disposal. Expansion of the recycling program will capitalize on this opportunity.
CBRE's workplace recycling initiative is something
that both tenants and landlords can agree on-"It's
just smart business all the way around," says
Marcy Moneypenny, a director with CBRE's Asset Services
Division in Atlanta. "A successful recycling
program not only means a greener tomorrow environmentally,
but financially as well."
For More Information
- Visit EPA's Paper Recycling site
- Visit EPA's Green Meeting site to learn how to make your meetings green
- Organizations implementing or expanding waste reduction programs can gain national recognition through EPA's WasteWise program
- Visit CBRE's environmental
initiatives
to learn more about their environmental
stewardship