Go green and get work done

By Kate Levinson
Less than a year after I graduated, Ithaca College officially opened the first ultra-green undergraduate business school–and one of less than 100 buildings in the world—to be certified “platinum” by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Green Building Rating System by the U.S. Green Building Council. (Yes, thank you, IC, for making me tromp through construction and opening this sweet building right after I left.)

Its four-story atrium lets light into 98 percent of the building, the glass and steel front and orientation harnesses power from the sun and wind and the roof is a two-tiered vegetable garden that captures rainwater for the circulation system. And if that’s not cool enough, it might just help students get their homework done.

The relationship between earth-friendly work environments and productivity has yet to be totally pinned down in research, but many case studies seem to prove the point: Not only do office-greenifying moves reduce energy costs, but they also help people get more work done.

Michigan-based furniture company Herman Miller is a leader in the corporate eco movement. Sure, they offer green products, but they are pretty green themselves. By 2020, their Perfect Vision initiative aims to meet some impressive company goals: to produce zero pounds of waste (compared to the 41 million pounds produced in 1991 and 3.3 million in 2007) for landfills, no hazardous waste, no air emissions, no process water use, 100 percent green electrical energy use and more. All of their buildings will also be built to at least the “silver” level LEED standards. They have 12 years to go, and they’re well on their way.

But do they get more done? Documentary “The Next Industrial Revolution” (watch the trailer), which highlights Herman Miller, says they do. The company has constructed buildings, such as their factory, with sunlight, fresh air and community-promoting design—and their savings from increased productivity and energy use covered the cost ($52/square foot) of the building in its first year of operation. Though productivity can be difficult to measure, sick time is not. According to the film, more than half of employees have perfect attendance records.

Once there’s some solid research done on this, I think things may change. Also, projects like Herman Miller’s Perfect Vision, are, as you can imagine, a ton of work. They require changes in nearly every facet of running a company and do require a lot of money up front, even though chances are good improvements will pay for themselves.

This, I think, is where the case studies will be extremely helpful. Once there are more success stories to model after, companies will be able to go through the steps to greendom more easily.

Want to learn more about companies that have made being green—for the environment and their own good—a priority? Check out GreenBiz.

Photo: aeron-chair.com
Photo: hermanmiller.com