Every day, we make improvements to our building and lifestyles that exemplify our mission to conserve Earth's living heritage and to demonstrate that human societies can live harmoniously with nature.

At the office, we take the old “reduce, reuse, and recycle” adage above and beyond. Our “Greening CI” program establishes environmentally sensitive goals and parameters for paper use, energy consumption, travel, purchasing, and meetings and events.

A spring 2006 report from United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Sustainable Construction and Building Initiative found that even the small steps we take to reduce energy use in buildings go a long way in curbing climate change.

Here are just a few of the steps we took while relocating CI headquarters to Arlington, Virginia earlier this year:

	Minimize waste Sustainability was an immediate priority, and renovating an existing building rather than building a new one was the first step in that direction. CI’s contractors diverted 75 percent of demolition and construction waste away from landfills for reuse or recycling. Our floors, walls, and countertops reveal a commitment to recycled materials; some 35 percent of materials used to finish our space contain recycled elements, with 9 percent coming from post-consumer material. We also reused 80 percent of the furnishings from our previous building. Most employers reuse only a third of their furnishings when they move.
	Choose low and no-emitting materials CI sets the bar high when it comes to indoor environmental quality. All paints, coatings, carpets, adhesives, and furniture in our new office are low- or no-emitting materials.
	Use water efficiently To reduce water consumption by 80 percent, we requested that our building management install aerators on restroom faucets – a recommendation they eventually employed in restrooms throughout its five-building office park.
	Conserve energy We installed daylight-responsive controls on all ceiling light fixtures within 15 feet of a window. The controls automatically adjust the light level and energy consumption to complement the level of daylight available.

Beginning in July 2006, CI also decided to procure green power certificates for our annual electricity consumption through an e-certified green power provider. We continue to offset the rest of our carbon footprint through land-based conservation carbon projects. The previous year, we offset greenhouse gas emissions of roughly 16,400 tons of CO₂ by investing in the Makira Forest project in Madagascar.

In working to protect the world’s most threatened places, the simple things we do to conserve resources make a difference. CI continues to "green" our office environment and is in the process of obtaining LEED certification, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. This is the U.S. Green Building Council’s voluntary national standard for developing high-performance sustainable buildings.

To learn more about how you can take action, check out our Top 10 Things You Can Do lists.

Related Links
> Feature Story: The Cost of Waiting
> Feature Story: We Have What It Takes to Overcome Climate Threat
> Feature Story: Global Warming May Trigger Wave of Extinctions
> Carbon Calculator: Offset your emissions, help stop global warming
> Quiz: How big is your eco-footprint?
> What You Can Do: Our Top 10 Lists
> Web: U.S. Green Building Council
> Web: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
> Web: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)