Cal Poly Humboldt
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

The Green Workplace Assessment Certification Program (GWACP) is designed to assess faculty and staff behaviors and choices in the workplace, to increase awareness and action in sustainability, and to reward departments for taking steps to further incorporate sustainability into their work places. Students in the Green Campus Program coordinate the GWACP with support from the Office of Sustainability and the Waste Reduction & Resource Awareness Program. Launched in 2011, the program has assessed the entire Administrative Affairs division, as well departments in other divisions and auxiliaries for a total of 23 departments. There are seven specific areas in which individuals within a participating workplace are assessed – energy, water conservation, recycling and waste management, purchasing decisions, transportation, community involvement, and creative & innovation options. The process starts with a self-assessment: departments identify a “champion” who then works with others to complete a questionnaire on behaviors and choices in the workplace. Members of Green Campus and WRRAP conduct energy and waste audits of the workplace, talk with staff and faculty about their habits, provide consultation, and develop an action plan that identifies potential savings associated with recommended energy efficiency, water savings, and waste reduction measures. Meanwhile, participants must also log onto the Virtual Green Office, a model green workplace, as part of the process. The workplace receives a certain number of points depending on how they score in each of the seven categories, and when added up can receive a Bronze, Silver or Gold rating and a certificate to display in their department. Members of certified workplaces then complete a pledge identifying how they might change their behaviors and choices to further sustainability in the workplace and in their own lives. Last, departments are encouraged to get re-assessed at a later date to increase their scores.

Sample Questions: • Purchasing: All new purchases of workplace equipment and appliances are Energy Star Certified (Yes, No, Sometimes, Rarely) • Recycling and Waste Management: Workplace re-uses envelopes, paper clips, binder clips, folders, binds, and tape dispensers • Water conservation: Has installed low flow devices on appropriate plumbing fixtures • Energy: Energy-saving power settings are enabled on workplace computers. • Community Involvement: Sustainability champion updates staff members of sustainable practices at one staff meeting per month • Transportation: Video and teleconferencing is encouraged over traveling to off-campus meetings, when appropriate

Green Campus conducts outreach to departments each year to request their voluntary participation. Departments can also contact the Office of Sustainability or Green Campus through their website to schedule an assessment. In 2015 Vice President of Administrative Affairs made participation in the GWACP mandatory for all departments in that division.

To date, 23 departments have completed the GWACP. Of these, 9% scored Bronze, 13% scored Silver, and 39% scored Gold, and 39% scored Platinum. Eight of these departments have gone through a recertification process, and all eight increased their score by at least one certification level.

To find more information on the Green Workplace Assessment, go to http://hsugreencampus.weebly.com/green-workplace-pledge.html To see the Virtual Green Office, go to www2.humboldt.edu/greenroom/office