We need to respect a long list of requirements to earn the official green qualification. These requirements include a wide range of sustainability aspects that any office needs to consider when planning its everyday operations: use of energy, heating and cooling system, lighting, handling of IT tools (notebooks, monitors, printers), waste management and recycling, air quality, cleaning materials, use of paper (quantity and type), use of water. These are little, but important steps in the fight against climate change.
In the framework of MET Group’s Mind the fYOUture initiative, in which ‘going green’ is an important pillar, it is essential to think and act green when it comes to the office environment. It is not only important to support today’s greening activities, but also to educate and encourage colleagues to act green individually.
As part of this education, we prepared guidelines about how to recycle, and intranet contents about how to maintain a sustainable office. You can see new screensavers with the most important green messages, and even little posters in the Budapest offices next to the elevators, encouraging people to use the stairs. We organized a drawing competition for the colleagues’ children called “My sustainable green world”, and our last MET Group Christmas card and Christmas Charity activities were focused on sustainability.
As a first step, KÖVET Association – a non-governmental association responsible for the official green certificate in Hungary – held a field survey in the office. Based on their experiences and on a comprehensive questionnaire about the office, answered by Budapest-based colleagues, an action plan was developed. We worked on realizing these actions during several months, and finally we managed to accomplish a successful field audit by the KÖVET Association.
The obstacles mostly come from fix parameters of the building that we cannot change by ourselves. For example, it is not allowed by the owners to put outside shadowing items or foils on the windows, although it could help a lot in temperature adjustments without using additional energy during the summer. Another difficulty was that printers cannot handle recycled papers in a large amount, but fortunately, all papers with “Ecolabel” qualification can be used instead.
There are some changes that have been carried out centrally, even if not all of them are very popular. Certainly, one of them is the termination of Nespresso capsules, using only grounded coffee machines. I truly believe that just like all people on Earth, MET colleagues also need to accept that sustainability is a very high priority, and we all need to adapt even if it requires some extra attention and a little bit of sacrifice from all of us.
The certification is valid only for two years, afterwards it must be renewed. We also need to report after a year about the developments that have been carried out since the last audit. Obtaining the Green Office Certification is a great result, but it does not mean that we can now sit back. We need to further develop all our methods and take actions towards an even greener world in our everyday operations.
Dream big, dream green! We would like to expand this initiative to other MET offices as well. We are happy to share our experiences and best practices with MET Group colleagues.