IU Office of Sustainability

Green Team Office Certification

Overview: After a green team has been created, its members may be left wondering, "What next?"  To help limit the amount of time a team commits to deciding what actions to take within their office, the IUOS has created a system of certification! The included checklists provide teams with actions that guide them through four stages, allowing them to:

• First, establish their team within their immediate work environment. 
• Second, assess the sustainability of their office's current operations.
• Third, enact tasks that make their office a more sustainable unit. 
• Fourth, present themselves as an example for other campus units to follow. 

The Process: Before a team can begin the certification process, they must first register their team. 

Once registered, a team can begin to pursue certification.  The certification process consists of a linear series of 4 certificates.  Each certificate includes a list of feasible sustainable actions distributed amongst 7 categories: 

• Education and Outreach
• Resource Use
• Recycling
• Sustainable Computing
• Energy and Built Environment
• Transportation
• Food

The categories correspond to both the IUOS working groups as well as categories included in the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education's Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS). IUB is a charter member of AASHE, and the IUOS believes that the association's STARS will soon be the standard that all American colleges and universities follow.  By attending to the rating system's categories now, green teams will be setting IUB up for high marks.  Fulfilling the actions included within the checklists also allows teams to contribute to the goals put forth by the Campus Sustainability Advisory Board.  Simply put, by pursuing certification green teams will help ensure that Indiana University continues to be regarded as a leader in sustainability!

 

After a team has fulfilled the actions contained within a particular certificate's checklist, they will need to fill out and submit the designated online form.  The form will be sent directly to the Green Teams Coordinator for review. If everything is in order, the team will be awarded a physical certificate and be granted access to the application for the next level of certification. 

 

Review the checklists before applying:  Included below are PDFs of the proposed checklists.  Feel free to look them over as your team plans its next sustainable move.

• Seed
• Sprout
• Sapling
• Tree

 

Office Toolkit: 

The Green Teams Office Toolkit contains necessary resources-- e.g. informational prompts and contact information.  Rather than searching for those resources, teams can spend their already limited time fulfilling sustainable actions!

• Resources for Level 1:  Seed