Healthy offices

Smart Office Audit
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/smart-office-audit.html

Before you start a campaign to make your workplace healthier, you should conduct a smart office audit. This audit is a systematic way to determine the good and bad aspects of your work environment. A complete, smart office audit looks at a variety of things, including:

Air Quality

• Ventilation. (How often air is exchanged/hour, fresh air sources, e.g. loading dock.)
• Toxins. (Paints, carpets, glues, resins, plastics, pesticides used, manufacturing processes.)

Ergonomics

• Keyboards.
• Chairs.
• Desk arrangements.

Heating/Cooling

• Cost.
• Method.
• Efficiency.

Lighting

• Efficiency.
• Quality (glare, color).
• Degree of manual or automated control.

Materials Used

• Virgin vs. recycled.
• Toxic vs. non-toxic.

Production Processes

• Indoor toxins.
• Open loop manufacturing processes (characterized by unnecessary waste).
• Direct mail/publications (recycled/recylable papers, soy-based inks).

Check with your local utility to find out if it offers free or inexpensive energy audits. In addition to knowing what to look for in your lighting, heating and cooling, your utility may help to pay for the changes it recommends.

Eco-assessment for homes and businesses (Sydney based)
http://springwise.com/eco_sustainability/eco_assessment_for_homes_busin/
Sydney-based Todae offers businesses practical advice for cutting down energy and water usage and reducing their environmental impact.

For AUD$399, a Todae consultant will come to an office or store and check everything from recycling to heating and cooling systems. The business is then provided with a detailed report that explains how to cut costs and go green. Todae's service is geared to small to medium businesses looking to save money, be less harmful to the environment and create a "strong environmental brand ethos" amongst customers and staff.

It's an excellent concept, and Springwise believes many consumers would also be interested in environmental assessments. Plenty of people would like to diminish their negative impact on the earth, but aren't sure exactly what to do about it. Or are too lazy or busy or both ;-) Having an environmental expert come to the door and give a home a full check-up would definitely help. Besides compiling a checklist of very specific issues to improve, 'home greeners' could of course offer to implement the necessary changes, too. So, set it up, brand it well (how about eco badges for homes?), and start knocking on doors. Before you know it, you'll be running your own franchise.

P.S. Todae also sells a wide variety of eco products for homes and businesses, both through their website and from a recently opened shop in Sydney's Glebe district.

Website: http://www.todae.com.au/Contact: info@todae.com.au

Green concierge reduces home's carbon footprint (domestic version)
http://www.springwise.com/eco_sustainability/green_concierge_reduces_homes/
Last April when we wrote about an Australian firm called Todae that helps companies monitor their energy usage, we noted that many homeowners would likely use a similar service. Sure enough, one of our spotters found a London start-up called Green Homes Concierge which does just that.

For GBP 199, Green Homes Concierge inspectors will come to a customer’s home, toting heat-detecting cameras and other devices to help them evaluate its leaks, wall insulation and appliances. Afterwards, the inspectors will recommend ways the home’s owner can reduce CO2 emissions, and hopefully save some money in the process. Significantly, GHC’s services don’t end there. For a full year the firm will act as a helpful concierge. Should customers wish to make the inspection’s recommended improvements, GHC will help them locate contractors and suppliers able to do the work or tell them where to buy low-energy light bulbs and other environmentally friendly items. That kind of handholding can be a big help, as anyone who has tried to negotiate with contractors can attest.

GHC gets financial help from the London Development Agency, according to an article in the Guardian. The agency wants to reduce the city’s CO2 emissions by 500,000 tons by the decade’s end. And it has targeted homes for good reason. Collectively, the city’s homes produce 40 percent of London’s CO2 emissions. Without the city subsidy, GHC’s concierge services might cost several thousand pounds.

GHC’s service could easily find a home in any reasonably affluent community. True, competing public and private services exist. In the US and elsewhere, for example, energy companies, with an eye on their own bottom lines, have long encouraged homeowners to reduce utility bills by offering counseling and rebates on fuel-efficient appliances. Also common are government tax breaks to encourage homeowners to invest in energy efficiency. But, sorting through the paperwork to qualify for rebates and tax breaks can be a major chore for homeowners. So who wouldn’t want an affordable concierge to handle the paperwork? And while start-ups modeled on GHC’s services might not benefit from the municipal subsidies available in London, the companies’ real income could come from commissions earned through contractor referrals as well as project management fees.

Website: http://www.greenhomesconcierge.co.uk/
Contact: www.greenhomesconcierge.co.uk/contact

Growth predictions for environmental services industry (in The multi-billion dollar industries of the future)
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/Premium-Articles/Industry-Trends/20080604-The-multi-billion-dollar-industries-of-the-future.html
Extract: Outsourcing of environmental services could also be a growth area for Australian SMEs. For example, companies are already looking at ways to outsource functions such as the measurement of carbon usage and energy management.