For Businesses
Green Business Practices
Environmentally responsible and energy efficient business practices enable businesses to lower expenses by improving efficiency and gain a competitive edge to attract customers. Several strategies are available for greening your business:
Overall Efficiency
- Track water and energy usage and solid and hazardous waste generation.
- Adopt a written environmentally preferable (or green) purchasing policy.
- Establish a 'green team' that can help guide efforts to green your business.
- Provide ongoing incentives or training opportunities to encourage management and employee participation.
- Inform your customers about your efforts to green your business.
Water Conservation
- Monitor water bills for sudden rises in use and contact your water company should this occur.
- Regularly check for, report and repair leaks.
- Install low-flow faucet aerators, toilets and showerheads.
- Use dry methods for outdoor cleanup.
- Implement low maintenance landscaping.
Waste Reduction and Recycling
- Conduct a waste reduction assessment of solid waste streams.
- Eliminate the use of individual water bottles and styrofoam.
- Set printers and copiers to double-sided.
- Provide recycling containers at convenient locations.
- Purchase paper and other materials with recycled content.
Energy Conservation
- Conduct regular maintenance on heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and refrigeration systems at least twice a year.
- Install energy efficient light fixtures, task lights and exit lights.
Pollution Prevention
- Check labels for cleaning products, building maintenance and other materials and seek safer alternatives.
- Properly store and recycle or dispose of all hazardous wastes.
- Ensure only rain enters the storm drain.
- Keep dumpsters covered.
- Use low-toxic cleaning products such as those that meet Green Seal certification standards.
- Replace aerosols with pump dispensers.
- Eliminate products that contain the anti-bacterial agent Triclosan.
- Reduce or eliminate use of pesticides by implementing Integrated Pest Management.
- Reduce vehicle emissions by encouraging employees and customers to use low emissions transportation options such as walking, biking, carpooling and using public transportation.
Adapted from the Bay Area Green Business Program
Green Buildings
Clayton gets its first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building! Many projects in Clayton are registered for LEED certification, but Shaw Park Plaza at 1 N. Brentwood Boulevard is the first to become certified for Existing Building Operations and Maintenance. Click here to read the press release.
The Clayton Green Sheet is available to provide information on sustainable development resources to Architectural and Site Plan Review applicants. Energy efficient offices and buildings that are designed, constructed and operated for optimal performance and resource conservation are able to demonstrate reduced negative environmental impacts, improved occupant wellbeing and profitability from energy savings.
For new development or redevelopment projects, Low Impact Development is a comprehensive approach to land planning and engineering design. The purpose of Low Impact Development is to preserve and enhance the hydrologic system affected by the proposed development. By maintaining natural landscape features and maximizing site drainage, the impact of the built environment can be lessened on the hydrologic and ecologic systems. Click here to learn more about Low Impact Development.
Are your office appliances stealing your money? Not if they have the Energy Star seal of approval! Energy Star is a government program that offers energy-efficient solutions, making it easy to save money while protecting the environment for future generations. Energy efficient choices can save businesses on their energy bill with similar savings of greenhouse gas emissions without sacrificing features, style or comfort. Click here to learn more about the Energy Star program.
Multimodal Transportation
Pedestrians enliven the streets of Clayton, reduce automobile traffic congestion and improve public health from increased physical activity. Clayton businesses also benefit from the foot traffic in this vibrant walkable community.Clayton's bike routes are designed to make it easy for people to bike the entire distance to work. Alternatively, people may bike to a MetroLink station or MetroBus stop, where for the standard Metro fare, they can transport their bike to and from work at no extra charge. Bike carriers are available on all MetroBus vehicles in St. Louis City and County, and on MetroLink trains riders may transport their bikes in designated cars.
Ever wish you had more time to yourself to read, work, meet people or relax? Riding public transit gives you all of these opportunities with the added benefits of keeping our air clean, saving you money on automobile maintenance, insurance and fuel and eliminating the hassle of fighting traffic or searching for a parking space. For more information, visit Metro Transit.
As part of Clayton's aggressive campaign to promote the use of multimodal transportation to reduce pollution, Clayton businesses are encouraged to participate in the Partial Expense Reduction for Commuters (PERC) program. The program promotes the use of mass transit by offering benefits to businesses and their employees. Clayton is one of the first cities to be part of this program. The City subsidizes passes to encourage its employees to ride Metro. Since the program operates on a pre-tax basis, it benefits employees by reducing their taxable income and out-of-pocket cost for transit. It saves employers money by reducing payroll taxes and payroll liability. It also reduces employers' costs for employee parking and reduces absenteeism and tardiness. Everyone benefits by reducing traffic congestion, improving air quality and conserving energy by encouraging employees to commute using public transit.
Telecommuting is an opportunity for employees to work with more flexible hours and locations. Using telecommunications technology to replace work-related travel reduces traffic congestion, saves fuel, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and lessens the burden on transportation infrastructure. Additionally, circumstantially marginalized groups are given more employment opportunities using telecommuting.
Green Incentives
View the list of state, local, utility and federal incentives and policies that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Clayton is the first Green Power Community in Missouri and one of only 37 in the country.
With the goal of turning 2 percent or 670 megawatt hours of the community energy consumption into renewable energy credits (REC) by Earth Day 2011, the City of Clayton launched its Green Power Community challenge in April of 2010. Through a joint effort with Ameren Missouri Pure Power, Clayton-based Microgrid Energy and Clayton businesses and residents, the City achieved is GPC status in March 2011, a month ahead of its goal.
