Staff & Faculty Sustainability

Sustainability Stewards

Each fall and spring semester, the Office of Sustainability hosts a three-part Sustainability Stewards certification. This virtual certification, open to students, staff and faculty, is an overview of basic sustainability principles such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, zero waste, renewable energy, climate change, environmental justice, sustainability on campus, and more. Participants are encouraged to ask questions, interact with the course content, and participate in a short voluntary quiz at the end of each training session.

At the end of this training, participants will receive the Sustainability Steward designation, certifying that they understand basic principles and concepts of sustainability, as well as a certificate and a Sustainability Steward sticker to display.

 

Green Office Certification

The Green Office Certification Program, hosted by the Office of Sustainability, is designed to be a fun, user-friendly and engaging tool to help assess how “green” offices on campus operate on a department, office and individual level. Offices can rank as platinum, gold, silver or bronze based on the sustainable practices that have been implemented by the department.

The Green Office Certification Program is a tool that can be used to help your office in adopting sustainable practices. View a training video on how to be a successful Green Office. Certified Green Offices will also receive the Office of Sustainability newsletter, which provides updates, news, and upcoming events on sustainability on campus.

• Become a Certified Green Office In 4 Easy Steps!
• Eligibility
• Celebrating Green-ness
• Sustainability Ambassadors
• Program Participants
• Sustainability in Remote Offices

 

Become a Certified Green Office In 4 Easy Steps!

1. Get support from your office leadership to participate in the program.
2. Download the Green Office Certification Worksheet (XLSX [Office Open XML Workbook] ).
3. Coordinate with your colleagues to complete the worksheet.
4. Submit completed worksheet to sustainability@utdallas.edu for review and optional consultation.

 

Eligibility

• Must be a University department or an office/unit within a department.
• Must have more than two full-time employees comprising the department and/or office
• Must operate in an in-person or hybrid work format.

 

Celebrating Green-ness

• Employees in certified green offices will receive an “I Make UTD Green” coffee mug, hat, or other branded items, as supplies last and are available.
• Certified green offices will receive signage to hang in recognition of their sustainability efforts.
• All certified offices will be recognized on the sustainability website.

 

Sustainability Ambassadors

The contact listed on the Green Office Certification application will be designated as a Sustainability Ambassador. The Sustainability Ambassador will be the point of contact between the Office of Sustainability and the certified office. The ambassador will share sustainability news, information, and educational material with their office and other employees on-campus.

 

Program Participants

Office / Department		Rank	Completed On
GR 2.816		Gold	October 28, 2021
Operations Management Department	Naveen Jindal School of Management	Silver	February 17, 2020
The Office of Sustainability	Facilities Management	Platinum	September 24, 2018
Admissions Processing	Admissions & Enrollment	Gold	October 22, 2018
Sign & Key Shop	Facilities Management	Gold	October 24, 2018
Custodial Shop	Facilities Management	Gold	November 7, 2018
Grounds Shop	Facilities Management	Gold	November 7, 2018
Engineering Office	Facilities Management	Gold	November 12, 2018
Library & Technical Services Department	Eugene McDermott Library	Bronze	December 6, 2018
The Office of Facilities & Economic Development	Facilities & Economic Development	Gold	February 13, 2019
Plumbing Shop	Facilities Management	Silver	February 14, 2019
The Office of Student Volunteerism	Student Affairs	Gold	February 15, 2019
Business Services	Facilities Management	Platinum	March 8, 2019
Comet Card Office	Student Affairs	Silver	April 18, 2019

 

Sustainability in Remote Offices

Work remotely? No problem! While we don’t certify remote offices through the Green Office Program, here are some tips to help you incorporate sustainability into your remote workspace:

• View a training video on how to be sustainable remotely.
• Utilize natural light in your space
• Incorporate indoor plants
• Go zero waste by recycling and composting
• Set your computer to power save when idle
• Turn off power strips and unplug devices when not in use
• Utilize LED [Light-Emitting Diode] lights in your space
• Adjust your AC [Air Conditioning] to be marginally warmer in summer and cooler in winter
• Utilize a renewable energy power plan
• Avoid single-use plastic coffee pods
• Utilize digital filing for documents
• Set your printer to print double-sided

More Information on Remote Green Offices (PDF [Portable Document Format File] )