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Sustainable Building Operations and Maintenance Services
Follow these sustainable strategies as your space renovations are complete and the building and interiors are operated in an environmentally sustainable manner. Operations staff should endeavor to establish best practices in energy efficiency, resource conservation, ecologically sensitive products, and other sustainable practices, and implement them.
Refer to the Share Section for a representative project Case Study to discover key practices, benefits, results and checklists.Sustainable Strategies
Sustainability In Action
Education is the key to changing behavior: provide training for building operators and occupants and help them support sustainable workplace initiatives.
Provide information regarding what has been done and how they can support the following sustainable efforts:
- Indoor air quality (adequate outside air, high quality filters)
- Resource conservation (water, energy, materials)
- Waste reduction (recycling)
- Responsible procurement (ecologically sensitive materials/vendors)
- Transportation (mass transit and alternative commuting)
Operations Best Practices
- Seek opportunities that leverage the scale and diversity of buildings as well as the depth and breadth of experience and operational expertise across the Federal Government
- Test promising sustainable technologies in real-life circumstances to implement innovative products, services and ideas that offer the broadest possible value to the Federal Government, industry, communities and environment
- Provide quick response to occupants' comfort concerns to help with occupant satisfaction
- Provide feedback to occupants on energy use to help adjust their behaviors to help achieve energy goals
Indoor Air Quality
- Ensure the building maintenance staff is conducting the preventive maintenance on all building exhaust systems (restrooms, garage exhaust fans, etc).
- Adjust occupancy based systems like HVAC and ventilation to actual occupancy times of the building
- Retrofit existing cooling systems to run on environmentally friendly HFCs
Energy Conservation
- Monitor energy consumption by using the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager; with precise thresholds for HVAC operations to ensure energy efficiency, comfort, operations and productivity
- Monitor unnecessary electrical demand and ensure it is curtailed immediately
- Adjust occupancy based systems like HVAC and ventilation to actual occupancy times of the building
- Provide high degree of responsiveness for equipment malfunctions. Ask for occupant cooperation in turning off lights as employees leave in the evening and on weekends. At the same time encourage cleaning staff to turn off the lights in these same areas once cleaning is completed
- Explore using day time cleaning to improve air quality and cleanliness of office spaces
- Install motion sensors in utility closets, mechanical rooms and restrooms when space is not used
- Set guidelines for high impact energy use days in summer or winter months with practices such as closing or lowering blinds, turning off equipment and lights that are not in use all the time or when vacant such as conference, copy and kitchens
- Schedule large copier jobs for off-peak times, usually early morning
- Replace old fluorescent lighting with, for example, high-efficiency low-mercury T8/T5 and compact fluorescent bulbs
Water Management
- Consider Sub-metering of water systems to identify future opportunities for improvement
- Provide training for occupants use of water efficient fixtures
- Provide training for proper maintenance of waterless urinals
Water Reduction and Management
- Use electronic communications versus printed material for facilities guidelines and announcements
- Institute a program to recycle materials and investigate use of mixed or co-mingled paper, newspapers, aluminum cans and plastic bottles
- Hold trash and recycling workshops to education occupants about what can be recycled and how it?s collected
- Provide desk-side and kitchen/copier room recycling containers and extra containers for trash and recycling for major office clears
- Integrate waste reduction and management with local municipalities
- Divert construction waste from landfills and facilitate the recycling of construction waste through the standardization of processes
Custodial Services
- Require cleaning contractors to implement green cleaning practices including and not limited to using resources for recycled content paper stock and trash liners, environmentally friendly cleaning products, and vacuum cleaners with filtration systems
- Use cleaning products that meet Green Seal Standard GS-37, products with low volatile organic compound (VOC) levels and products with high post-consumer recycled content
- Conduct cleaning audits to ensure cleaning is done properly
- Use less or non-toxic chemicals or remove pest harborages to manage pests
- Explore using day time cleaning to improve air quality and cleanliness of office spaces
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