Green Office Program reaches 100 office milestone

More than 2,000 staff at Harvard have collaborated to help their offices adopt greener practices that reduce energy and conserve resources as part of the Office for Sustainability’s (OFS) Green Office Program. In just 18 months the number of offices participating in the program has grown from 17 to 118, an exciting milestone for the University’s efforts to integrate sustainability into the way we work and live.

The Green Office program, created in 2009, provides offices throughout Harvard’s 12-plus Schools and administrative units with the opportunity to receive recognition for their progress in meeting the University’s sustainability goals. The program designates four levels of recognition: leaves one through four—the higher the leaf, the more environmentally sustainable the office.

Three recent offices to join the program include, Office of the Vice President for Campus Services, the Fine Arts Library, and the Fine Arts Library’s Digital Image and Slides collections.

“OFS has done an incredible job with their outreach for support towards Harvard’s GHG reduction goal of 30% by 2016,” said Lara Adams, executive assistant at the Office of the Vice President for Campus Services. “Our office is home to Vice President Lisa Hogarty and we felt a responsibility to set an example for others in Campus Services as well as the wider Harvard community.”

While the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has by far the largest number of recognized green offices — there are currently 35 — the other Schools at the University are beginning to get involved as well. All of the departments and offices in the Divinity School are now Green Office recognized and Radcliffe had its first office qualify in November 2010 when its Finance Office received for leaf one.