Sustainability Liaisons

The Green Office Program is designed to update and inform CU's Faculty and Staff about sustainability programs on the CU-Boulder campus.  Increasing staff and faculty awareness of environmental policies, operations, resources at the university will maximize participation, reduce resource consumption and save money, and provide practical knowledge to pass along to students and employees. As the employer of over 7,000 faculty and staff, CU Boulder has a tremendous impact on the community. 

In 2005, the Environmental Center initiated the formalized faculty and staff Environmental Liaison Program. Over 50 building proctors, office managers, and department heads attended brown bag lunches on conservation topics tailored toward office practices, attended Sustainability Liaison orientation training sessions, and received a monthly e-newsletter.  Currently, the Green Office Program involves Sustainability Liaisons in a voluntary role. 

The responsibilities of the Sustainability Liaison can be divided into the following segments:

When the office is in the process of becoming certified, or recertified, the Sustainability Liaison's duties include:

• Fill out the Self-Assessment and submit via email to greenoffice@colorado.edu *Please save your assessment as "departmentname_GOSAT"
• Schedule meeting with Green Office Coordinator at their office for the Verification Visit (less than thirty minutes).
  • This is time to give for the Sustainability Liaison to give a tour of office, ask questions and meet the Coordinator one-on-one
• After Verification Visit, theSustainability Liaison will review a compiled list of improvements created by the Coordinator and inform the Coordinator if there are gaps or areas in the list
• The Sustainability Liaison will facilitate scheduling a one-hour training program for their department.
  • It is suggested that the presentation be incorporated into an existing departmental meeting in order to increase participation. The training presentation is conducted by Environmental Center staff.

After receiving the Green Office Certification, the Sustainability Liaison's duties include:

• Utilize and share information provided by the Green Office Newsletter
• Disseminate relevant information to their departmental colleagues.
• Attend informational functions and/or luncheons.
• Train new staff on the department's environmental practices.  
  • The self-assessment form can be used to guide training.

The Environmental Center has partnered with staff in Facilities Management, Parking and Transportation Services and other operational departments where appropriate to ensure accuracy of information and effective utilization of the Sustainability Liasons. As you can see from the outlined responsibilities, the program is not intended to create undue demands on staff’s valuable time, but to create educational avenues. It is our hope that this program will build a community and culture of support for resource conservation on campus resulting in financial and environmental benefits.