Companies committed to greening their workplace may be missing great opportunities for further energy savings during the holidays, according to a recent survey by the global media company, Genesys Conferencing. Of the 15, 000 respondents, the survey found that more than half work for companies with green office policies, but only 30 percent said that their company has special energy efficiency programs that take advantage of sparsely populated offices during the holidays.

The survey also found that 62 percent of the respondents plan to take extra vacation time during the holidays, but more than half plan to do some work during that time off. One great way to save energy is by helping your workers avoid extra trips into the office by offering virtual meeting capabilities. Almost half of the Genesys survey respondents said that they would be more likely to work during the holidays if they could work virtually from home.

What else can you do to save energy in your facility? Genesys and EPA offer easy tips for every workplace:

• Use holiday decorations that do not require electricity.
• Turn off lights, computers, and office equipment in empty cubicles, offices, and low-traffic areas.
• Offer casual dress days to reduce the need for dry cleaning.
• Close cafeterias and use saved money to reward people for brown-bagging their lunches.
• Use ENERGY STAR office equipment. According to EPA, qualified office and imaging products use as much as 60 percent less electricity than standard equipment.

For more information, see http://www.genesys.com/.