BOMA Canada has launched BOMA BEST Sustainable Workplaces to help buildings improve key performance indicators.

The latest piece of the program involves a standardized framework that requires managers and owners to benchmark, monitor, and set goals in seven measurable areas: energy, water, waste, e-waste, construction and renovation, procurement practices, business and employee travel and indoor air quality.

Organizations, including Bentall Kennedy and East Port Properties, completed the pilot program and, along with some tenants, offered feedback about the process.

“What we quickly discovered is that many of the tenants of the pilot program, who had a green mandate, were already doing much of the work required to earn certification,” said Gloria Young, chief financial officer and director of operations at the law firm Cox & Palmer. “What was missing was a blueprint which gave them the ability to record what had already been done and set a plan for continuous improvement.”

Results from the audit of the law firm’s waste showed its largest source of waste was their garbage bags, quarter filled or less, being deposited in landfills.

“It benefits everyone, we’re reducing what’s going to the landfills, we’re reducing our energy consumption, we’re trying to be healthier, and it’s not difficult when you realize some of this is common sense and comes quite naturally,” she adds.

The Sustainable Workplaces program is now ready for all workplaces.