Sustainability at Work
ORNL has been actively working to make our facilities more energy efficient and sustainable. Much of this is done as part of large projects by constructing energy efficient buildings and building photovoltaic panels to collect solar energy.
Each of us can, however, do many things to make ORNL more energy efficient and sustainable. Our individual efforts may seem minor, but many small efforts can add up to major savings and improve the Lab's overall sustainability.
The categories below aren't mutually exclusive, so read them all to find many good tips.
 General
Many of the things you do at home to save energy will also work at ORNL. Check out Sustainability at Home for some suggestions.
Enter a project in the competition for the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. Self-nominations are expected and must be received by December 31 each year. This Awards Program, managed by EPA, provides national recognition of outstanding chemical technologies that incorporate the principles of green chemistry into chemical design, manufacture, and use and that have been or can be utilized by industry in achieving their pollution prevention goals.
Heating and cooling
Some ORNL offices have individual heating/cooling systems. If your office is one of them, adjust the thermostat when you leave for the day to a lower temperature in winter and a higher one in summer to use less energy.
DOE’s Office Energy Checklist has some suggestions for improving heating and cooling efficiency including the following:
- During warm months close or adjust window blinds to block direct sunlight to reduce cooling needs.
- In the winter months open blinds on south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your workspace. At night close the blinds to reduce heat loss.
Lighting
ORNL has installed motion activated lihgts in some office. If your office is not one of them, here are some tips from DOE’s Office Energy Checklist for making more energy efficient use of lighting:
- Switch off all unnecessary lights.
- Turn off lights when you leave at night or when you leave your office for a long period of time.
- Use natural lighting. When feasible, turn off lights near windows.
- Use task lighting. Instead of brightly lighting an entire room, focus the light where you need it to directly illuminate work areas.
Water
Using water efficiently will conserve supplies for future generations. EPA has a program called WaterSense that makes it easy for Americans to save water and protect the environment. Check out its web site for many ideas on how to save water, including water-efficiency guidance for federal agencies.
If you notice a water leak at ORNL, contact Tim Christopher (e-mail: christophewt@ornl.gov; phone: 574-6758) and let him know where the leak is located.
Buildings
Save energy in your building by unplugging equipment that drains energy when not in use (e.g., cell phone chargers, fans, coffeemakers, desktop printers, radios) or use a power strip that can be turned off when you're ready to leave.
You can get an energy saving power strip, manufactured by APC, from ORNL's Managed Hardware Program (MHP) site. The device senses when your computer is in sleep mode or powered off and then shuts off power to other devices plugged into the strip. Items that are typically not controlled by computer power policy (e.g., scanners, printers) are good candidates to be powered off when the computer is off. Additionally, the strip also serve as a surge protector. You can find this power strip on the MHP site by selecting "Catalog," then "Accessories," and then "Other."
Outdoors—parking
If you arrive early, you may be able to get one of the parking places that provides shade in the summer. You’ll use less energy cooling your car after work than you would if it had been sitting in the sun all day. If it happens to be at a distance from your work place, you’ll get some exercise, too. An alternative is to use a sun screen inside your windshield to keep the interior of your car from heating up as much.
If you have three or more passengers in a car pool, you qualify for a special ORNL car pool parking permit.
Wastes—reduce, recycle, reuse, dispose of properly
ORNL provides a number of services that can help you reduce, recycle, reuse, or dispose of wastes properly. Some of them are described below. Note, however, that recycling of any material at ORNL that has been in a rad or hazardous material laboratory or storage area is prohibited.
- ORNL’s Environmental Protection and Waste Services Division (EPWSD) maintains a waste management toolbox that provides advice and assistance to help prevent pollution and minimize waste.
- Do you have waste or excess materials and don't know what to do with them? EPWSD’s How do I manage this waste? site provides guidance on applying pollution prevention, waste minimization, and waste management requirements for your waste and unwanted materials. Each waste/material information page provides resources on specific waste streams and links to experts who can answer your questions and provide additional guidance. You can find out about dealing with wastes from A (Aerosol Spray Cans) (almost) to Z (Yellow-Tagged Waste). If you don’t find the information you need there, contact Carolyn Waugh for additional guidance.
- e-Prop Shop is ORNL’s tool to aid in the effective reutilization of excess property. You can enter search criteria to find items no longer needed by others that you might be able to use. You can request transportation of the item by completing a Maintenance Job Request for salvage pick-up at the Facilities and Operations Service Request web site.
- The Chemical Management Center (CMC) is an ORNL Laboratory Waste Services, Pollution Prevention project designed to make the exchange and use of surplus or excess chemicals and products quick and easy.
- If you have hazardous items, check out the Hazardous Materials Management Information System (HMMIS), the primary tool at ORNL to maintain hazardous materials inventories and hazard information. It includes a Materials Exchange List that allows you to search for available chemicals from the CMC and from other staff members or organizations who have excess chemicals.
Tips to reduce waste
Here are some additional, simple ideas that you can put into practice to reduce waste:
- Save paper. Photocopy or print only what you need. Use the second side of paper, either by printing on both sides or using the blank side as scrap paper.
- Use your own coffee mug instead of a disposable cup.
- Foam peanuts that have been used for packaging are reused by the ORNL Shipping Department. Divisions can set up a collection point and store the peanuts in large plastic bags. If your division doesn’t have a collection point, volunteer to start one. When two or more bags are accumulated, deliver them to 7001 or call Debbie Dillener (576-7396) for pick-up.
Celebrate National Pollution Prevention Week. The theme for 2008, “Pollution Prevention - Where Sustainable Practices Begin,” was chosen to reminds us that preventing pollution is at the heart of sustainability. It's great to recycle and treat waste, but preventing pollution in the first place saves money and protects the environment.
Pollution Prevention (P2) in DOE
DOE's Office of Health, Safety and Security (HSS), Office of Nuclear Safety and Environment is responsible for DOE P2 policy development, guidance, and reporting activities. Their P2 web site contains policy and guidance documents, announces P2 news and events, and provides a convenient on-line reporting system for DOE sites and program offices.
GSAXCESS SYSTEM
Excess property is available from federal agencies other than DOE through the Government Services Administration (GSA) whose personnel are happy to assist you in finding needed items. If you wish to see more information about this system go to Prop Shop, and click on Other Federal Excess Items, where you will find information on how to review items on the GSA Federal System. Normally your organization will only be responsible for transportation costs or any applicable Tennessee use taxes.
Transportation
ORNL encourages employees to car pool or use alternate means of transportation to reach the Lab. To find potential carpool partners, add your name to the Carpool database and search it for people to share rides with. If you have three or more passengers, you qualify for a special car pool parking permit.
ORNL has teamed with Smart Trips to improve the carpool program by offering employees new incentives and assistance. Smart Trips can be used by all employees who carpool to work with two or more passengers. Smart Trips, a program of the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization, serves the urbanized areas of Knox, Blount, Sevier, Jefferson, and Anderson counties. (You cannot join Smart Trips if you live in other counties as it is limited to counties that do not meet EPA guidelines for air quality.) One of Smart Trips many features, Guaranteed Ride Home, ensures you a free ride home in case of an emergency. This emergency ride home program is available to you as long as you are an active Smart Trips participant (i.e., you log your trips in every 30 days) and you live in one of the counties it serves.
Smart Trips does more than promote car pooling. It promotes all forms of alternatives to driving alone that save you money and help reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. Their alternative options, besides carpooling, include riding the bus, vanpooling, telecommuting, walking, and bicycling. They can help you create a personal program that works best for you by combining these options. And it's flexible—you can use them a few days a week or every day!
Try ORNL’s Bike It Green Program for short trips around the Lab. Pass the Bike It Green web site.
ORNL has built a Park & Ride parking lot on the east end of Bethel Valley Road, the first right after the intersection with Scarboro Road. You will see a sign indicating the Bike Commuter Parking Lot for ORNL employees. Staff members can park their cars there and ride their bikes down Bethel Valley Road the rest of the way to work.
Climate—greenhouse gases
Your office uses a significant amount of electricity for heating and cooling, lighting, and operating equipment. Many of the suggestions on this page can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help make the air cleaner. Check these other topics to help you:
- Manage office equipment energy use better.
- Look for ENERGY STAR qualified products for your office.
- Use less energy for your commute.
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Purchasing choices
If you make purchasing decisions, get the features and performance you want and help reduce greenhouse gases and emissions of air pollutants. Look for ENERGY STAR qualified office equipment, such as computers, copiers, and printers, in addition to more than 50 product categories, including lighting, heating and cooling equipment, and commercial appliances.
Check the list of participants in ORNL's 2009 Green Vendors Fair for businesses that provide green alternatives.
Wellness
Using a distant parking spot rather than a close one will let you easily slip a bit of extra exercise into your day. If that location provides shade in the summer, you’ll also use less energy cooling your car down after it has been sitting in the sun all day.
For more exercise try ORNL’s Bike It Green Program for short trips around the Lab. Once you pass the bike safety training, you’ll receive your own bike helmet that you must wear when riding the company-owned bicycles. The automatic 3-speed bikes are distributed at various locations around the Lab, shown on the Bike It Green web site.
You can get even more exercise by leaving your car in the Park & Ride parking lot on the east end of Bethel Valley Road, the first right after the intersection with Scarboro Road. From there you can ride your bike down Bethel Valley Road the rest of the way to work.
Check out ORNL's Health and Wellness Program web site for more ideas.
Your actions
What have you done to make ORNL more sustainable? What have you learned from those experiences that can help others? What choices and obstacles did you face? Do you have ideas, comments, or questions? Join the information exchange, and share your successes, frustrations, and failures with others. Or send a question to the questions blog, and we'll find someone at ORNL to provide an answer. (You must be signed in to the site as a ORNL user to post items. Click on "Sign In" at the top right of the page. Use "ornl\UID" [note that you must use a backslash] and your UCAMS password.)
More Information
More tips and advice to make our work place more sustainable can be found on the following web sites:
FedCenter.gov, the federal government's home for comprehensive environmental stewardship and compliance assistance information
DOE's Energy Savers: Your Workplace
EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics
DOE's Office Energy Checklist
EPA's Wastes - What you can do at the office
What other facilities are doing
Are you interested in discovering out what other facilities are doing to increase their sustainability? Check out some of the sites below to find out.
- DOE's Office of Nuclear Safety, Quality Assurance and Environment is responsible for DOE Pollution Prevention (P2) policy development, guidance, and reporting activities. Their web site contains policy and guidance documents, announces P2 news and events, and provides a convenient on-line reporting system for DOE sites and program offices. One of their focus areas concerns Sustainable Environmental Stewardship.
- DOE's Savannah River Site received two EStar Honorable Mention
Awards for the Bio-Mass Steam Plant and the DWPF Remote Gasket Replacement System.
- Greening EPA provides information on how the agency is implementing a range of strategies to reduce the environmental impact of its facilities and operations.
- Laboratories for the 21st Century (Labs21®) is a voluntary partnership program, sponsored by EPA and DOE, that is dedicated to improving the environmental performance of U.S. laboratories. Five DOE labs are federal sector partners: Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories. Duke University, one of ORNL's university partners, is a private sector partner in Labs21.
- DOE's Western Area Power Administration provides a daily energy tip on its home page.
- Colleges and universities are also working to make their facilities more sustainable. Find more information about their efforts by following the links below:
Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future
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