Examining operations in new and old buildings alike provides opportunities for adjusting institutional behavior to improve operational efficiency and sustainability.

Even though it’s not written with cultural users in mind, LEED for Existing Buildings, Operations and Maintenance (LEED EBO+M) still provides excellent guidelines for improving operational cost- and resource-efficiency in any kind of organization.

These include:

• Instituting a comprehensive recycling and waste-management program, which can save thousands in garbage-hauling fees.
• Improving staff efforts towards energy use reduction (turning off lights, computers, etc.), resulting in improved awareness of energy consumption as well as lower electricity bills.
• Exploring ways to reduce staff and audience car-trips that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions; CO₂ emissions from transportation can dwarf those directly associated with a building.
• Managing landscape and facilities maintenance in ways that use less water and fewer toxic materials, especially for those buildings located in sensitive watersheds.
• Making sure even the little things contribute to an efficiently-managed building: setting printers and copiers to default to double-sided printing can save reams of paper (and money) each year.

Print Friendly