Green Office Certification Program

Overview

The Green Office Certification program helps campus offices of any size to become more sustainable workplaces through a three-step certification process. The program is designed to give UW–Madison employees the information and tools they need to learn about sustainability, better understand the impacts of their practices, and create healthy and sustainable work environments.

Join the Green Office program to become part of a campus community where sustainability is meaningful and widespread!

Six students standing in front of a wooden wall.
Members of the Green Office team for 2022-2023. From left-right: Narayani Varanasi, Rae Johnson, Maddy Doeden, Rose Adler-Rephan, Kylie Schedler, Bailey Kestner.

The Green Office Process

What does a green office look like? Some ideas may spring to mind quickly: turning off lights, recycling, and using less paper—and these are a good start! But sustainability encompasses much more, from purchasing choices to employee health and wellness.

The Green Office Certification consists of four levels. For each level of certification, participating offices receive an educational presentation from the Green Office team, a checklist of action items to complete, and a two-week check in to discuss their progress and move forward.

Offices can take a step above and beyond at each level to achieve Platinum level certification. The Office of Sustainability is available as a resource throughout these steps.

These certification steps won’t take up much of your office’s time, but can have meaningful and lasting impacts on our campus and community. The average certification process requires three 30-minute meetings over the course of 3 months, but can be adapted to your office’s needs. Begin your journey through certification now!

Bronze

Waste and Recycling Streams

Silver

Energy and Water Savings

Gold

Sustainable Purchasing

Platinum

Complete Additional Steps at Each Level

How to get started

Contact us

Contact our Green Office Team to schedule an initial overview presentation. The OS interns will visit your office to give a short presentation (around 15 minutes) about the Green Office Program, how it might work for your staff, and why it is important for our campus community. We’ll then invite you to designate a Green Officer to lead your office through the certification process.

Get Educated

The Green Office team will present to your entire office about sustainable practices and what sustainability looks like on our campus, beginning with the Bronze Level. They will give a short but comprehensive overview of how recycling works on campus and will answer questions you might have about office recycling.

Take Action

For each level, complete the action items on your checklist to make your office a more sustainable workplace. If you’re hoping to achieve Platinum certification, complete extra action items during each level.

Move Forward

The Green Office team will check in after two weeks to go over your progress and answer any questions you may have. Typically, offices move on to the Silver Level after four weeks.

To learn more or join the program, read on or contact our staff at greenoffice@g-groups.wisc.edu.

Certified Offices

Green Office Platinum Seal

Department of Biochemistry Office (Room 111) – January 2020
Grainger Hall Facilities (Rm. 1411) – April 2020
UW–Madison Arboretum Visitor Center (1207 Seminole Highway) – August 2020
Physical Therapy Program (Medical Sciences Center, Rm. 5185) – September 2020
Communication Sciences and Disorders/Aquatic Sciences (Goodnight Hall) – September 2021
Office of Sustainability (21 North Park St., Suite 6401) – January 2023
Morgridge Center for Public Service (Red Gym, Suite 154) – February 2023
CALS Office of Academic Affairs – August 2023

Green Office Gold SealDepartment of Economics Office (Sewell Social Science Building, Rm. 7239) – May 2019
Medical Scientist Training Program (Health Science Learning Center, Rm. 2207) – January 2020
Department of Sociology Office (Sewell Social Science Building, Rm. 8128) – April 2020

Green Office Silver Seal

Discovery to Product (1403 University Ave) – July 2019
Department of Political Science Office (North Hall, Rm. 110) – March 2019
College Library – November 2019
International Academic Programs (Study Abroad) (Red Gym, Rm. 301) – February 2020
International Studies Office (Ingraham Hall) – December 2021
Multicultural Student Center (Red Gym, 2nd floor) – May 2019
Office of Compliance (361 Bascom Hall) – March 2020
Student Print Office (333 East Campus Mall, Ste. 3301) – May 2020
UW Makerspace (Wendt Commons Main Floor, Second Level, 215 N Randall Ave) – March 2021

Green Office Bronze Seal

The Daily Cardinal – May 2019
WSUM 91.7 FM – May 2019
Office of Academic Planning and Research – June 2019
Department of Geography Office – June 2019
Dean of Students Office – July 2019
Office of Student Financial Aid – November 2019
Department of Horticulture Office – September 2019
CALS Business Services – April 2022
CALS IT – March 2022
CALS Global – April 2022
CALS Human Resources – March 2022
CALS Research – April 2022
Employee Assistance Office (Lowell Center) – January 2022

Green Office Certified Green Seal

BioChemistry, 433 Babcock Drive

Campus Planning and Landscape Architecture, 30 N Mills

Career Exploration Center (CEC), 114 Ingraham Hall

Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, 1535 Observatory Drive

Discovery 2 Product (D2P), 1403 University Avenue

Economics Advising Department, Sewell Social Sciences Building

Educational Sciences, 1025 W Johnson Street

Environment, Health and Safety (EHS), 30 East Campus Mall

Grainger Hall, 975 University Avenue

Goodnight Hall, 1975 Willow Dr, Madison, WI 53706

Horticulture Department, 1575 Linden Drive

International Academics Program, 716 Langdon Street #301

Medical Scientists Training Program, Health Science Learning Center

Microbial Sciences Building, 1550 Linden Drive

Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, Science Hall

Office of Compliance, 361 Bascom Hall

Physical Therapy, 1300 University Avenue

Primate Center (WNPRC), 1220 Capitol Court

Student Print, 333 East Campus Mall Suite 3301

Sociology Department, Sewell Social Sciences Building

Wisconsin Energy Institute, 1552 University Avenue