Creating a Green Office Certification Program for Iowa State University

We aimed to create a unique green office certification program for Iowa State University that encompassed all aspects of sustainability (social, economic, and environmental); was engaging and educational for faculty and staff; recognized their efforts in motivating ways; and could be used by all offices, regardless of size or facility. We began with a checklist that combined aspects of other schools’ programs, and beta tested our program by periodically gathering feedback from a variety of sizes and types of offices, including a university services office, an academic office, and two small faculty offices. We worked with various university departments to ensure our checklist was in compliance with the university's recommendations and priorities. From this feedback, we dramatically changed the appearance and method of completion of the checklist, included more social sustainability and community involvement components, added definitions of terms and links to resources, and created recognition pieces for participation in this program. We found that faculty and staff are excited about engaging in sustainability, want to participate in this program, and will make sustainable changes when presented with resources and instructions.