Combined with grassroots efforts, senior-management endorsements will help Green Teams succeed. Green Teams should be treated like any other business initiative, complete with a senior level manager. See Helpful Tips: For leaders for more information.

Resources: See Sample Green Team Structure for more details on leadership structure.

The first step in kickstarting the Team is recruitment. Email staff with interest surveys (see page 13 of the Columbus, Ohio How-To Guide: Forming a Green Team at Work for sample). Make announcements at all-staff meetings or create a sign-up sheet in the break room to get on people’s radars. Include the first meeting agenda and topics' details in recruitment material. Craft Green Team outreach to the culture of the building community and tailor efforts accordingly. See the Columbus, Ohio How-To Guide: Forming a Green Team at Work document for more recruitment details. To maintain an active Green Team, different building offices/agencies should be represented with a cross-section of roles. Team members should include senior manager representatives but should not be limited to them. Potential offices/agencies include, but are not limited to:

• Building management
• Human resources
• Finance
• Marketing
• Production
• Custodial leads
• Those with unique backgrounds/perspectives

Tenants who engage in Green Teams should post a small sign in the entryway stating that they are members of the building-wide Team. This conveys support across the building and from senior leadership.

Note: GSA prefers that agencies take the lead of Green Teams within GSA owned and leased facilities. This allows property management personnel to serve as team members and resources for holding building-wide events, such as Earth Day.

Resources: Visit the Structure and Team Roles for detailed descriptions of member roles. Use the Columbus, Ohio Green Team Member Pledge & Green Team Member Supervisor Commitment forms (page 12) for supervisor-member agreement documentation. Refer to the Green Team Jackson Federal Building Charter Template (GSA employees only) for more information on the Team’s mission, membership, and norms.

Hold a formal kickoff meeting once Team roles have been identified. Suggested activities for the first meeting include introductions, important laws/policies identification, goal development, commitment to the mission, charter development (see the EPA’s list of Laws and Executive Orders, Summary of the Energy Independence and Security Act, and Laws & Regulations), and familiarization with tools and templates.

GSA’s Property Management Office can provide details regarding energy and water use, recycling, and resources for assessing GHGs for GSA owned or leased properties. The results of the assessment should inform the Team’s priorities. If not, the following questions should be discussed:

• What can be accomplished easily as a quick success to build support?
• What would provide the most visibility for building occupants to build commitment?
• Where are we at the most risk within the building safety, health, regulatory compliance or financially?
• Where could we achieve the most impact on reducing our negative environmental footprint?

Hold productive and engaging meetings with an appropriate frequency (e.g., twice a month in the beginning to every month thereafter). Without setting clear goals, timelines, roles, and expectations or recognizing the progress made, the Team can lose commitment and momentum.

With any changes, there can be resistance and uncertainties. The key to combating challenges is to accept incremental progress, as long as it is progress. Using planning and prioritizing actions at the start, Green Teams can track their progress.

• Start small
• Involve building services
• Create campaign calendars
• If creating an “official” Green Team faces resistance, form an “unofficial” team through Lunch & Learns
  • After gauging staff interest level, the case for a formal team could be made

• Maintain a core group of people (3-4) focused on setting the green goals and recruiting fellow occupants to work on those action items
• Hold regular meetings with updates on projects
• Encourage project ownership

• Breakdown borders and work across divisions
• Be flexible
• Make it fun to encourage active participation

• Explicitly outline the Team’s role in and relevance to building and organization goals
• Establish a reporting structure and timeline
• Request SMART (Specific, Measurable/Monitored, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound) goals from the Team
• Promote Green Team effectiveness through Team activity engagement and participation
• Support innovation and collaboration
• Expect success
• Value superior quality and service
• Pay attention to details
• Value recommendations/suggestions from the team and others
• Reward teamwork rather than individual performance on an ongoing basis

• Green practices to implement at home:⁴
  • Recycle and look for recycled furniture, etc.
  • Lower your heat
  • Drink tap water over bottled water and clean with green cleaners (can be made at home)
  • Make adjustments to your daily water use habits
  • Use green transportation (walk or bike) instead of driving
  • Make use of natural light and turn off lights to reduce electricity use
    • See Optimizing Daylighting for more tips
  • Incorporate biophilic elements (e.g., plants, natural light) into your workspace
  • Cook lunch from scratch over frozen meals
  • Print double-sided when possible and have a Good On the Other Side pile for reuse
  • Set your computer screen settings to turn off after 15 minutes of being idle instead of having a screen saver
  • Furnish with used pieces
  • Use CFL light bulbs over LED bulbs
• Recommendations for Green Team leaders to promote inclusivity
  • Hold virtual workshops via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, etc.
  • Create monthly sustainability challenges that members can participate in virtually
  • Share at-home sustainability tips for not only remote individuals, but all employees
• Visit FlexJobs, a virtual company, for more detailed tips
• See the SFTool Personal Control, Choice, and Workplace Customization section for information on how to make adjustments at the workplace, at home, or at “third-party” locations (e.g., coffee shop, hotel, etc.)

• Reduce, reuse, recycle waste
• Institute a recycling program
• Purchase products made of recycled materials
• Ensure that paper towels are compostable
• Behavioral changes:
  • Encourage recycling and rethinking of whether single use items are needed among fellow occupants

• Institute composting for food scraps
• See the University of Texas at Austin case study for a success story
• Behavioral changes:
  • Hold a “Food Waste Week” to increase awareness
  • Disseminate tools for occupants to use in their food waste reduction efforts

• Switch sink faucets to WaterSense labeled products
• Behavioral changes:
  • Encourage occupants to report water leaks and other water issues
  • Remind occupants to turn off the faucet when not in use
  • See the Rockefeller Foundation Food Waste Toolkit for the Office for more tips on how to enact behavioral changes

• Use rebate programs to retrofit lighting to LED
• Perform an energy audit
  • Requires resources and funding
• Behavioral changes:
  • Remind occupants to turn off the lights when not in use

• Encourage use of alternative transportation
• Install a bike rack outside the office building
• Designate at least one parking spot for “green” vehicles
• Install electric vehicle charging stations
• Provide a bus pass/public transportation reimbursement program

• Behavioral campaigns
  • Examples: workplace competitions and encouragement from fellow occupants and other champions of sustainability
  • See the behavioral sections of the waste reduction, food waste, conserving and protecting water, and conserving energy items for more specific examples
• Include a green tip to staff each week in newsletters
• Local organization sustainability presentations to staff
• Volunteer opportunities for staff with a local environmental nonprofit
• Visit a local landfill or recycling center

• Work with custodial staff to identify current product use and if green alternatives are possible
• Install floor mats at front doors to improve indoor air quality
• Email or spread information on green cleaning tips in the office and at home

• Encourage building occupants to practice personal health measures through health programs that include, but are not limited to, the following components:⁵
  • Health education programs
  • Workplace environment that is free of recognized health and safety threats
  • Instituting a means to detect and address new problems as they come to light
  • Company policies that promote healthy behaviors (e.g., tobacco-free campus policy)
• See the CDC Workplace Health Promotion for detailed guidance and resources for creating a healthy workplace and promoting health for all

• Potential topics:⁶
  • Food access
  • Lead contamination
  • Education and training
  • Clean water
  • Smart growth
  • Air quality
• See the EPA Environmental Justice page for more information and resources