Green operations Keck lessons learned

It is important that the W. M. Keck Observatory demonstrate real action toward sustainability measures as stewards of Maunakea, our place in the Hawaii island community and our role in the global community. Green operations should also be financially beneficial for any organization. W. M. Keck Observatory presented a paper in 2022 that outlined a methodology for viewing and measuring the sustainability challenge in order to inform the development of a sustainability strategy applicable to any observatory. Now, two years later, we are in a position to reflect on the results and to forecast future actions. This paper presents lessons learned from pursuing a green operations strategy for WMKO and how those lessons learned guide our future decisions. One of the most important lessons is how our actions support our duty to achieve balanced and reciprocal relationships within the community that we share. We also share some surprising insights about the reality of implementing apparently simple steps toward a green operation. These lessons learned might benefit any other observatory that is also pursuing green operations.