Greening of the Office

UCCS spends nearly $3 million annually on utilities. With increasing water and energy costs it is within our fiduciary interest to reduce waste. In 2007, Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak signed the American College and University President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC,) which commits the university to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and educating the campus about climate change and sustainability. 

In the 2010 UCCS Climate Action Plan, specific, concrete actions were identified to achieve the ACUPCC goal to reduce our carbon footprint 20% by 2020 (from 2006 levels.) Seven percent of that reduction is planned from changes in behavior, such as turning off lights or shutting down computers at night. Every member of the UCCS community is needed to support our goals to reduce our energy use and our greenhouse gas emissions. 

The purpose of the GOTO program then is four-fold:

1. Identify opportunities to improve building occupant comfort and provide a better work environment for employees.
2. Assist in reducing measurable energy use and GHG emissions from user conservation behavior.
3. Inventory office energy use to establish benchmarks for reduction goals and identify opportunities for energy efficiency initiatives and cost savings.
4. Educate and engage the campus community about how they can help us reduce our carbon footprint and become more sustainable in their work environment.

To optimize program goals, the GOTO program will be delivered on a building-by-building basis so that benchmarks can be established to measure the results of the program; within each building every department will be surveyed and reported separately. Office of Sustainability student employees will:

1.  Present the GOTO program to the department,
2. Register faculty and staff members for a one-on-one GOTO survey
3. Perform survey for each faculty and staff member,
4. Analyze survey results and send to each faculty and staff member,
5. Calculate departmental results, send to the director or department chair, and post the information to the GOTO website.

Individual GOTO survey results will be shared only with the individual employee; departmental summary results will be posted to the Departmental Scores web page, and suggestions for departmental improvement shared only with the supervisors of that department. Each individual and department who completes the GOTO survey will receive a sign with the GOTO logo to be displayed in their office, indicating their successful participation in the program.

Greening of the Office Rankings: