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Steps to green your building

The information in this article could be out-of-date or no longer relevant.

Taking positive steps to green your office environment will reward both your business and the planet. To get the best results:

  • Conduct an environmental audit
  • Prioritise your green building goals
  • Develop an environmental policy
  • Engage your staff
  • Set targets and measure your results
  • Talk to your building owner about green improvements.

Conduct an environmental audit

The first step is to assess your building's ecological footprint.

  • If your company is small, working through our checklist of questions about your building's green features may help you gain a clear picture in a few hours
  • If your company is large, you may consider engaging an energy or environmental auditor.

By gaining a snapshot of your building's green features, you'll be able to determine where to make changes, and gain a benchmark for future improvements.

Prioritise your green building goals

Once you've determined your building's environmental strengths and weaknesses, you need to assess which areas to tackle first.

Greening your building may be as simple as implementing a few small changes or as comprehensive as undertaking a complete refurbishment. In this section of the website, you'll find a range of measures, from simple and low cost solutions, to interior fitout ideas that involve medium cost and effort, as well as major refurbishments that mean significant changes to the building.

Find out more about how you can improve your building's:

Develop an environmental policy

If you're serious about your company's commitment to the environment, you'll need to create an environmental policy. This policy can help support a healthier, safer workplace, improve your company's financial bottom line and enhance your image in the community. Learn more about setting an environmental policy for your organisation.

Engage your staff

Once you've developed your environmental policy, you'll need to appoint someone to manage it. Many companies employ sustainability or environmental managers to engage with staff, track and measure their companies' performance and develop new ideas for further improvements. Learn more about how you can connect and communicate with staff, and change your organisational culture.

Set targets and measure your results

The best way to motivate your staff, board and stakeholders to make a positive contribution to your green efforts is to set targets and then regularly measure your results. Start your green upgrade by implementing some of the easiest, cheapest changes - a few early 'wins' can help with motivation and morale. By seeing the bottom line benefits of simple measures, you'll find it easier to initiate more challenging changes.

Talk to your building's owner

If you've identified some significant opportunities to improve the green qualities of your building, you'll need to speak with your building's owner. Support your case by explaining why a green upgrade will benefit your owner's business too.