NEWS FLASH: As of 4/2013, 108 offices involving over 4,000 staff and students have joined ‘GO!’ and committed to green office practices!

What is the CUHK Green Office Programme ('GO!')?
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is committed to sustainable practices and the enhancement of campus environmental quality. Small steps when taken collectively can make a big difference, and the collective efforts of staff and students are indispensable for helping CUHK move towards sustainability. The Green Office Programme ('GO!') is developed to promote a number of simple actions staff and students can take to make their workplaces more environmentally-friendly. For details about 'GO!', please refer to this document.

Why join 'GO!'?
- CUHK has pledged in its Campus Master Plan to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 20% per capita by 2025 (from the campus base figure of 2005). While the University continues to make its building projects and operations more environmentally-friendly, CUHK also needs staff and students' support in terms of user behaviour and development of an environmentally-friendly culture in order to reach its goals.

- Participating offices will find it exciting and rewarding to be a part of an important initiative to make CUHK a better place. The actions proposed by 'GO!' in the 'GO! Checklist' are easy to fulfill; relevant tips, guides and contacts that facilitate offices to fulfill the items in the checklist are provided in 'Resources for GO!', to which offices can refer in order to implement 'GO!' successfully. 'GO!' also serves as a platform for offices to share tips on best practices.

- Offices participating in 'GO!' are recognized in the List of Member Office page and various other publications. Offices that fulfill the requirements of ‘GO!’ are listed in the website’s Competent Green Office 2012 and will also receive various recognition as a socially responsible office.

How can my office join 'GO!'?
Invitations are issued to CUHK offices in phases. In Phase 1 (May 2012), offices of university management, colleges, administrative and service units, and student bodies are invited to become members of GO!. Offices of academic and research units are invited to join 'GO!' in Phase 2 (launched in April 2013).

Offices can join ‘GO!’ either by replying to the email invitation or filling in online registration form.

Office interested in joining 'GO!' are welcome to check out a list of frequently asked questions about joining/ implementing 'GO!'

What does my office have to do as a member of 'GO!'?
'GO!' is a programme for voluntary commitment. An office participating in GO! pledges to:

1.Undertake at least one-half (16 out of 32) of the action items in the ‘GO! Checklist’;

2.Undertake 13 required actions (items marked with a checked box ‘’) in the ‘GO! Checklist’, and Note: this is optional for student bodies, i.e. no items are regarded as 'required actions' for student bodies, in order to allow more flexibility for student bodies in devising their action plan.

All members in the office are encouraged to review the checklist and work together to complete as many of the actions as possible-while some actions require collective effort, some actions can be completed as long as one individual takes the initiative. Every office member's efforts count!

The checklist is to be submitted once per year in December. Please click the 'Submit 'GO! Checklist'' button below to access the online checklist, and check the actions your office has successfully undertaken, then submit the completed checklist online before December 31.

A list of frequently asked questions about joining/implementing 'GO!' can be viewed here.


GO! Checklist
Note: Based on feedback received from ‘GO!’ Phase 1 members, some updates have been made to the Phase 1 checklist and a number of new items have been added:
  • Items marked with ‘NEW’ are new action items.
  • Items marked with ‘*’ are items from the Phase 1 checklist that have been updated.
    • A. Energy Conservation Required action
    1. New We support our office’s Energy Warden(s) in their implementation of the University’s energy-saving initiatives, e.g. by enabling Energy Wardens to attend training programmes and providing information on the office’s equipment to EMO.
    2. * We set our office’s/ classroom’s air conditioner thermostat temperature to 25.5°C +/- 2°C in the summer. Where appropriate, we open windows for free cooling or use our air conditioners’ fan instead of cooling function in the winter.
    3. * We turn off unused electrical equipment whenever we are away from office for classes, long meetings and lunch. Where possible, we unplug equipment like computers, printers and drinking water dispensers before long holidays to save energy consumption in standby mode.
    4. We enable our computer monitors to turn off automatically after 5 minutes or less of inactivity. Where possible, we lower monitor brightness. More info
    5. We have invited EMO staff to visit our office and recommend measures we can take to save energy, and have implemented the measures where applicable. More info

    B. Waste Reduction
    6. * When unable to avoid printing hard copies, we do double-sided printing/copying or reuse paper that has text on one side, whenever appropriate. More info
    7. * We try our best to reduce paper use by electronic means, e.g. by making good use of emails, installing an electronic fax system, or by using the electronic document management system (EDMS) for e-filing. More info
    8. We send and use e-copies of agenda and minutes for our meetings, whenever possible/appropriate.
    9. We do not serve water in individual bottles at meetings, seminars, conferences and functions.
    10. We keep recyclable paper, plastics and metals in separate containers and bring them to a recyclables’ collection location regularly. To facilitate efficient waste separation, we have downloaded the ‘Recycling Tips’ poster for posting near waste separation containers in our office. More info
    11. If our office needs to dispose of usable furniture, we try to make the furniture available for reuse by other offices using appropriate channels. We also consider acquiring unwanted furniture of other offices prior to buying new furniture for our office. More info
    12. When using Microsoft Word or other word processing tools, we reduce paper margins and use smaller font size where appropriate, or set them as the page setup default where applicable. More info
    13. For printing drafts and other documents to be circulated within the office, we use a lower printing resolution/Econoprint or Ecoprint mode to save toner. Where applicable, we set it as the default mode. More info
    14. * We issue newsletters, brochures, handbooks & promotional materials in e-format to minimize the number of hardcopies distributed. Where applicable, we include a message on hardcopies to encourage readers to circulate the printed matters and recycle them after reading.
    15. * Our office subscribes to e-versions of publications (e.g. newsletters) or circulate a minimal number of hardcopies of printed matters in the office.
    16. We do not use disposable containers and utensils to service drinks and food in seminars, conferences and functions; and if they must be used, we use eco-friendly or biodegradable ones.
    17. * To raise awareness about locations on campus that enable reuse/recycling of misc. resources (glass bottles, old clothes, etc.), we have downloaded and posted the ‘Recycling Locations’ poster in our office/ pantry. More info
    18. * We arrange appropriate quantity of food for official functions we host and our office’s social gatherings to reduce food waste. More info
    19. NEW We commit to a 10% reduction in office paper use by end of 2013 and will keep a record of our paper purchase figures for self-monitoring and continuous commitment.

    C. Green Purchasing
    20. We make sure that our purchases comply with the mandatory requirements of the Green Purchasing Guidelines. More info
    21. We use 100% recycled A3 & A4 white paper for our in-house printing and copying. (Please visit Buisness Office's centralized tenders page for bulk tender suppliers and infomation on green products.)
    22. * We will not order shark’s fin dishes for official meals and our office’s social gatherings. More info
    23. We request printing companies to print our name cards/letterheads/other materials on 100% recycled paper.
    24. * Apart from the mandatory items in the Green Purchasing Guidelines, we purchase other environmentally-friendly products [Please list at the end of the e-checklist]. Examples include:
  • Refillable pens
  • Mechanical pencils
  • Biodegradable garbage bags
  • Ozone-safe correction pens
  • Eco-friendly dishwashing liquid
  • Environmentally-friendly event souvenirs
    • (Please visit Buisness Office's centralized tenders page for bulk tender suppliers and infomation on green products.)

    D. Awareness and Engagement
    25. We have informed all office members (including any new members) of our participation in ‘GO!’ and encourage them to support our office’s initiatives.
    26. * We have nominated one or more office members as Environmental Sustainability Ambassadors (ESAs). More info
    27. * We have circulated the ‘Green Matters’ e-news flash to all office members. (Please click here to find out more and subscribe online.)
    28. One or more of our office members has shared tips on environmentally-friendly living with other offices participating in ‘GO!’ through Green Matters. More info
    29. We have recommended ‘GO!’ to other offices that are not ‘GO!’ participants yet (Please click here to view a list of offices that have joined 'GO!')
    30. NEW We have read the University’s ‘Guidelines for Sustainable Event Planning and Management’ and taken reference of the green event tips while planning our office’s official functions.
    31. NEW One or more of our office’s staff members/ students have taken the ‘Sustainability Pledge’ (to be launched at the beginning of the 2013/14 academic year).

    E. Other Initiatives
    32. Other environmentally-friendly initiatives [please list at least one such initiative in ‘Additional Information/Comments’ at the end of the e-checklist].


    Contact us
    For questions, comments and suggestions, please contact us at:
    Campus Planning and Sustainability Office (CPSO)
    Email: GO@cuhk.edu.hk
    Telephone: 3943 3924
    Copyright @ 2012. All rights reserved. The Chinese University of Hong Kong.