BC Hydro's Green Teams

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Employee commitment to conservation is on the rise at BC Hydro thanks to our "Lead by Example Green Teams." These networks of employee teams across the company create and implement goals to encourage conservation and to reduce their environmental footprint. With the number of Green Teams nearly doubling in the last few months, there are now teams at 27 BC Hydro locations that represent 70% of BC Hydro staff.

The Green Teams are supported by Lead by Example, a department at BC Hydro that is fostering a culture of conservation within the organization through advocating and leading positive change to promote policy, hardwire and behavioural transformation for conservation and energy efficiency.

The department offers:

• A website resource that helps teams get started;
• Media and information including green tips and links to websites; and
• An incentive program where teams can earn "green bucks" for conservation actions that can be redeemed for a number of items including non-disposable mugs, bike accessories, transit passes, and information on how to integrate conservation thinking into the workplace.

According to David Procter, Manager of the Lead by Example Program, "Our people care about the environment, and are demonstrating their commitment by working together to improve energy efficiency, waste reduction and the use of sustainable transportation."

Green Teams take on a variety of challenges, including:

• Encouraging the use of power bars at employee desks and turning them off at the end of the day to eliminate phantom load;
• Reducing heating needs by encouraging coworkers to dress warmly or in layers at the office;
• Challenging various locations to check the tires on fleet vehicles to ensure they are properly inflated to save fuel, to prevent excessive GHG emissions, and to extend the life of the tires; and
• Reducing waste by encouraging the use of non-disposable dishes and staff to drink tap water.

This network of employees is also relied upon to help identify opportunities for energy audits of our locations across the province that lead to retrofits and redesigns.

"Creating a community of people throughout the organization that care about conservation and the environment is a big asset, and the sharing of knowledge and ideas builds momentum and creativity," said Heather Scholefield, Lead by Example's Behaviour Program Manager.

Sharing ideas, stories and enthusiasm is key, and a number of networking opportunities for Green Teams have been offered this year. In April, Lead by Example hosted the first Conservation Café, which was so well received and valued by employees that it will now be expanded to two corporate-wide events per year as well as a number of regional events.

These events will provide opportunities to hear about what works well, common challenges and how to shape policies and programs. The events also provide an opportunity for BC Hydro to recognize employee contributions to meeting our conservation goals, and honour each employee's passion and ideas for positive change.