Johns Hopkins University Office of Sustainability logo

GREEN OFFICE
PRACTICES

Faculty and staff at Johns Hopkins play an important role in helping the institution become a leader in sustainability. These JHU affiliates can easily transition to a more sustainable workplace by using the resources compiled below. 

GREEN OFFICE CERTIFICATION

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Due to COVID-19, the Green Office Certification program will be put on hold until fall 2021. 

The Green Office Certification program is managed by the Office of Sustainability and gives offices at Hopkins an opportunity to showcase their sustainability achievements. While the certification process is not required, we encourage offices to follow the sustainable practices listed in the checklist to help Hopkins be a more sustainable institution. If your office is interested in completing the checklist and becoming one of over 60 Green Office Certified offices, please follow the steps below:

  1. Review the Green Office Checklist.
  2. Complete the checklist and send to Jessica Bast in fall 2021. 
  3. Schedule a walk-through with the Office of Sustainability. Plan for this to take about 1 hour.

GREEN CERTIFIED OFFICES

  • Human Resources – Carey Business School
  • Department of Environmental Health and Engineering – Whiting School of Engineering
  • Facilities Management – School of Medicine
  • Facilities and Real Estate – Johns Hopkins at Keswick
  • Donor and Volunteer Engagement – Homewood
  • Mental Health – Bloomberg School of Public Health
  • Chemistry – Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
  • Journals Production – Johns Hopkins University Press
  • Center for Educational Resources – Homewood
  • Manuscript Editing – Johns Hopkins University Press
  • Student Services – Carey Business School | Washington, D.C.
  • Faculty and Research – Carey Business School | Harbor East
  • Finance – Carey Business School | Harbor East
  • Marketing and Communications – Carey Business School | Harbor East
  • Office of the Provost – Homewood
  • AMR II Housing Office – Homewood
  • Project MUSE – Johns Hopkins University Press
  • Admissions – Carey Business School | Harbor East
  • Career Development – Carey Business School | Harbor East
  • Development and Alumni Relations – Carey Business School | Harbor East
  • Institute of NanoBioTechnology – Whiting School of Engineering
  • Institutional Data and Analytics – Carey Business School | Harbor East
  • Student Services – Carey Business School | Harbor East
  • Campus Operations – Carey Business School | Harbor East
  • Campus Operations – Carey Business School | Washington, D.C. 
  • Information Technology – Carey Business School | Harbor East
  • Office of Communications – Johns Hopkins at Keswick
  • Residential Life – Homewood
  • Department of Cognitive Science – Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
  • Department of Nephrology – School of Medicine
  • Office of the Dean – Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
  • Research Administration – School of Medicine
  • Shared Services – Sheridan Libraries
  • Transwestern – Johns Hopkins at Keswick
  • Academic Liaisons – Sheridan Libraries
  • Department of Anthropology – Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
  • Facilities Management – Bloomberg School of Public Health
  • Special Collections – Sheridan Libraries
  • Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research – Bloomberg School of Public Health
  • Advanced Academic Programs – Krieger School of Arts and Sciences | Homewood
  • Journals Marketing – Johns Hopkins University Press
  • Journals Customer Service – Johns Hopkins University Press
  • Center for Language Education – Homewood
  • Welch Medical Library – School of Medicine
  • Campus Operations – School of Education
  • Custodial and Recycling – Homewood
  • Department of Biology – Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
  • Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering – Whiting School of Engineering
  • Mind Brain Institute – Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
  • Office of the President – Homewood
  • Purchasing Services – Johns Hopkins at Keswick
  • Comparative Thought and Literature – Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
  • Academic Advisement – Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
  • Engineering for Professionals – Whiting School of Engineering
  • Department of Philosophy – Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
  • Digital Research and Curation Center – Sheridan Libraries
  • Entrepreneurial Library Program – Sheridan Libraries
  • Facility and Support Services – Sheridan Libraries
  • Financial Analysis Unit – Johns Hopkins Medicine
  • Information Technology Services – Peabody Institute
  • Office of the Dean – Peabody Institute 
  • Office of the Dean – Whiting School of Engineering 
  • Office of Undergraduate Admissions – Homewood
  • Patient Access – Johns Hopkins at Keswick
  • Patient Financial Services System Support – Johns Hopkins at Keswick 
  • Department of Biomedical Engineering – Whiting School of Engineering 
  • Business Office – Peabody Institute 
  • Development Office – Peabody Institute 

PRINTING PRACTICES

Although technological advancements have allowed for the transition to a more paperless office, many people still struggle with documents that require printing. When printing is necessary, following the steps below can help reduce your paper consumption and environment impact:

  • Set your printer to default to double-sided printing
  • Reduce paper margins to 0.5 inches or less
  • Print on 30% or more recycled content paper

ENERGY REDUCTION

We use a countless amount of energy everyday in our offices and homes everyday through our computers, personal appliance, lighting, A/V equipment, heating and cooling, and so much more. By reducing your energy consumption at work, you can help the university reduce its emissions on its path to meet Hopkins’ 51% reduction goal by 2025. By following the steps below, you can help reduce your office’s energy consumption:

  • Turn off lights when leaving a room if there are no sensors 
  • Turn off A/V equipment or set to standby default mode
  • Send your computer to energy saving mode instead of using screensavers
  • Use power strips for equipment and appliance that can be turned off at night (computers must stay on for software updates)
  • Set printers and copiers to energy saving mode
  • Turn off your lights and use natural light instead whenever possible 
  • Reduce use of personal appliances like space heaters, mini refrigerators, and coffee makers

OFFICE ENGAGEMENT

Many offices have sustainability champions who lead the way to make their offices greener, however, it can sometimes be difficult to increase participation and engagement amongst office peers. To mitigate this challenge, we recommend launching a Green Team, which is a group of sustainability-minded faculty and staff at Johns Hopkins who come together to be sustainability change agents in their workplace. Green Teams can be formed at the office, department, or division level, but we recommend forming a team with colleagues that are located in the same space. 

As a Green Team, you can work to evaluate your office’s current sustainability practices, determine areas of improvement and make recommendations to your office’s decision makers, and host educational events and luncheons for colleagues outside of the team. The Green Teams program is managed by the Office of Sustainability, and to receive updates about the Green Office Certification program and Green Team networking opportunities, please sign up for our listserv! 

OFFICE RESOURCES

We’ve compiled several resources and guides to help you and your peers easily make your offices more sustainable. These resources can be sent to your departments or printed in common spaces to help spread the word about sustainability and greening practices. If you have further questions or would like additional resources, please email us at sustainability@jhu.edu.