How Your Business Can Go Green
Conserving energy, lowering harmful chemical emissions, and improving air quality are important issues pressing the community today. Business development can affect air quality in many ways, from choosing the right appliances for your business to using the correct building materials, every decision counts in the fight to protect and maintain the environment we live in. Listed below are some strategies for businesses, developers, institutions that outline some clean air strategies that have potential to reduce business operation costs as well as smog and other dangerous air pollutants.
Use Energy-Efficient Lighting
Lighting is responsible for 20%-30% of total energy usage in the business place. By switching to energy-efficient lighting (i.e. fluorescent light bulbs) and relying on natural daylight you can:
• Conserve energy used in lighting
• Reduce the amount of fossil fuels being burned
• Lessen your electricity costs
• Reduce air pollutants that affect the ozone negatively. Explore New Commute Options
By driving a car to work as a single occupant commuter a person can add to traffic congestion, emission of smog-forming pollutants in the air, bad ground-level ozone, and the depletion of the non-renewable natural resource of gasoline. Some alternatives to single occupancy commute are:
• Carpooling/Ridesharing
• CTA, Metra, Pace, the South Shore
• Telecommuting (working from home)
• Biking and walking
Explore Low-VOC Building and Cleaning Materials
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are hazardous chemicals that are found in many building and cleaning materials. Using low VOC building and cleaning materials such as less polluting paints, adhesives, solvents, cleaning agents, caulks, wood products, carpets,sealants and eco-friendly cleaning supplies can help to:
• Reduce eye/respiratory irritation, headaches, fatigue and other symptoms associated with traditional building and cleaning materials
• Lessen smog forming chemical emissions
• Improve worker safety and health
• Create a more productive working environment
• Add value to your property.
• Improve indoor air quality
• Possibly lessen supply costs
Invest In ENERGY STAR® Office Equipment
Office equipment accounts for approximately 7% of energy use in businesses. ENERGY STAR® office equipment is suggested by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as a way to promote energy-saving office equipment. By using ENERGY STAR® you can:
• Improve power management
• Reduce unused equipment energy output.
• Realize energy savings of up to 75%
• Lower dangerous chemical emissions
• Improve air quality.
For more information on ENERGY STAR® energy-saving office equipment click on the link.
ENERGY STAR
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