If your organization is concerned about its carbon footprint, you should create standards that prize products with low embodied energy, choose manufacturers that have taken steps to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions, and consider local products that don’t need to be shipped or trucked long distances, according to an article from Building Operating Management on the FacilitiesNet website.

If the organization prioritizes the health and wellness of its occupants, choose products absolutely free of neurotoxicants and known carcinogens. And if it’s important to an organization to be a good neighbor and citizen of its city, select products that mitigate the urban heat island effect and reduce light pollution.

But how do you develop these criteria for your product standards in order to best choose the products that contribute to an organization’s environmental philosophy? Here are four questions to ask that can help you look at products objectively, and start thinking about how to tailor your green product standards to the priorities of your organization.

1. How long will it last?

2. Does it help meet other green goals?

3. How transparent is the manufacturer about this product?

4. How can green products really push the envelope?

Read the article.