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Earth Day at Vernier
In honor of Earth Day, employees worked with SOLV to pick up garbage around Beaverton Creek. Vernier Software & Technology donated $1,500 to SOLV for use in their Green Team Program. SOLV’s Green Team Program is a hands-on, student-directed watershed restoration service-learning program. In 2011-12, Green Team will work with 1,000 students in 40 classes in 8 schools in the Portland Metropolitan Area.
In addition, we held an Empty the Parking Lot Challenge to encourage employees to walk, bike, or take public transit in an effort to clear out our parking lot for the day. A T-Shirt/Book/DVD exchange was held, and employees were encouraged to suggest new work-related conservation ideas.
100 Best Green Companies To Work For in Oregon
We were honored to be awarded the #10 position on the “100 Best Green Companies to Work for in Oregon” list from the Oregon Business Magazine.
This award was given to Vernier for its 128 solar panels, recycling practices, providing transit passes to all employees, LEED-EB Gold building, and other sustainability practices.
Earth Day at Vernier
For Earth Day 2010, we continued our annual tradition of cleaning up trash around our building area, recycling tennis shoes, encouraging public transportation, and swapped used DVDs, CDs, and clothing.
New this year, we had an indoor scavenger hunt for employees to learn about all the environmental features at Vernier, such as vermicomposting, recycling, and solar energy.
The Nature Conservancy Honors Vernier with Conservation Leadership Award
We were honored to be presented with the “Business Partner Conservation Leadership Award” by The Nature Conservancy at a ceremony held on October 29, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. In presenting the award, it was said about Vernier Software & Technology:
“In a state renowned for green business, this software company raises the bar not only by making products that connect teachers and students with nature, but also by practicing a conservation ethic that includes sustainably designed facilities, green commuting, employee volunteerism for the environment, and nearly 15 years of supporting the work of The Nature Conservancy.”
100 Best Green Companies to Work for in Oregon
Vernier Software & Technology was awarded the #9 position on the “100 Best Green Companies to Work for in Oregon” list at a ceremony held on June 1.
This award was given to Vernier for its 128 solar panels, recycling practices, providing transit passes to all employees, LEED-EB Gold building, and other sustainability practices.
Happy Earth Day!
In celebration of Earth Day, we held our annual “Swap It,” where employees swapped used books, shirts, and videos with each other. A recycling bin was provided for old tennis shoes, and everyone brought healthy snacks for the afternoon.
We also worked with SOLV to pick up trash and debris around Beaverton Creek. Dave Vernier and Jim McBride took a LabQuest with the Vernier GPS sensor to collect the location of the trees Vernier planted in Beaverton Creek a few years ago.
Did you celebrate Earth Day with Vernier technology? Let us know at info@vernier.com.
New Front Solar Panels
We have added 60, 60-watt Kaneka amorphous silicon solar photovoltaic panels to our roof. This brings our total rated output to 17,744 watts. Our existing solar panel system produced over 15,000 kWh of electrical energy last year, but with our new front panels, we hope to produce 18,000 kWh in 2008!
Check out our energy production on our solar power dashboard »
Solar Power Dashboard
Our solar power production data is available on our web site! Check out our Solar Dashboard to see current weather conditions, live web camera view of our roof, and our solar energy production.
Best of all, you can download solar and weather data for Logger Pro for your own solar experiments and investigations!
Our Green Building
Our company’s sustainable operating and building maintenance practices have earned an Existing Building (EB) Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™.
Vernier Software & Technology is committed to providing an exceptional workplace for our employees, so when we began recent renovations on our current facility, the pursuit of a LEED-EB Gold certification was natural progression to quantify our accomplishments, learn how to further enhance our building’s operations and maintenance, and inspire others to adopt sustainable practices.
Friends of Trees
On October 28th, 23 Vernier Software & Technology employees volunteered their time to plant trees in the wetlands near our office. This was a joint project with the non-profit group, The Friends of Trees. We planted 200 trees and spent a lot of effort to make sure the trees survive. The trees that were planted in the same spot five years ago were all destroyed by nutria from the nearby creek. We used tubes, stakes, and wire to keep the nutria away.
It was a physically exhausting job, but we had a good time and it will be very interesting to watch the trees grow over the next few years.
