GREEN BUSINESS VIEWS

Posts Tagged ‘sustainability plan’

It would appear to the casual observer that sustainability programming is a little like watching people at a horse race.  Each one is betting on their favorite horse, not caring that there are a dozen other horses in this frantic race.  The spectator’s singular interest is a good example of sustainability applications.  Present day Green programming tends to be myopic and not a little biased toward the person’s favorite subject.

Right now, energy is the favorite horse in the race.  After all, it is commonly understood that this segment of a sustainability plan has the fastest ROI, and everyone likes to see the bills go down while “doing their part to save the earth.”  Solar panels, lighting systems, new insulated windows are sold based upon the time it takes to get a return on the investment.  Of course, there are the other coincidental solutions like reduced CO2 and less demand for foreign oil that make everyone feel downright patriotic.

Maybe your horse is named recycling.  There is not as big a savings to these programs, but they are fairly easy to install and manage.  Invest into some recycling bins, hold a few in-house training programs, and starting buying recycled paper goods; and you’re now about a Green as anyone can imagine.  Right?

Of course, there is the dark horse in every race.  This one is CO2.  By conducting a rather complex (and expensive) carbon assessment (footprint calculation), the amount of carbon output is determined.  The next step is to buy enough carbon credits to offset the company’s carbon footprint.  And, there you have it.  The company is “Carbon Neutral.”  By the way, the company may have made no real change to the operation, but some will assert that the company has “Gone Green” because it is carbon neutral.

Which horse does your company favor?  Regardless of your choice, a fundamental flaw exists in this myopic planning effort.  A serious plan is not built on just one leg of environmental concern.  The topics to consider are more than a single issue.  In fact, consider some of the topics in a full sustainability plan, a sustainability officer would consider all these topics:

1. Indoor Air Quality
2. Source Reduction and Recycling
3. Energy Reduction Strategies
4. Water and Waste Management
5. Paperless Office Transition
6. Green IT
7. Green Fleets
8. Green Purchasing
9. Corporate Social Responsibility
10. Green Facility and Landscaping
11. Carbon Footprint and Offsetting
12. Environmental Risk Management

This is not an exhaustive list, but it serves to demonstrate that there are many elements to a winning sustainability plan.  Rather than single out one part of a serious plan, the sustainability plan is designed to create a short list of sustainable ideas that will move the company further down the road this year.  Don’t try to do it all, but do not choose one element and neglect the other important concerns.

It is the clear duty of a sustainability officer to understand the company’s operation and opportunities.  Measuring against the many ideas that could be done, the CSO will set the sort-term goals for the year to a time table for the year.  This is something to present to management so that everyone is supportive of the effort and funding is available.  The long list of items are a kind of “Wish List” that are part of the planning for the next year.  We believe that any Green company transition is a three to five year project.

Avoiding near-sightedness as a sustainability officer is important to the company.  We did not create the environmental issue in a year, and we will not solve it in a year.  The most important commitment is that we must start that journey today.  As a sustainability officer, the practical skill is the ability to develop a sustainability plan that fits the company, established credible milestones of achievement, and results in a progressively Green operation.

Learn to be an effective sustainability officer by taking a proven course of study such as the Certified Sustainability Officer training.  This course can be taken online and contains one of the most compete programs for integration to the workplace.  It seems clear that every company will eventually need a sustainability officer in-house.  It is simply unwise to appoint anyone to this task unless they have had the basic training needed to do the job well.  The in-house sustainability officer is obvious far less expensive than outsourcing the task.  The benefits of the CSO is a more cohesive and custom approach to sustainability planning.

Frankly, the idea of a Green officer in the company is relatively new and ill-defined so far.  The concept, however, is fairly simple.  The Green officer is the appointed, in-house  liaison for an environmental program for a business.  This person often wears more than one hat and may not be fully prepared to fulfill the duties of this important office.  A little training is the recommended next step for your Green officer.

The Green officer is often an appointed role, but does not come with a book of instructions.  The development of a Green officer is perhaps one of the smartest moves for a forward-thinking company.   Therefore, the Green office should be encouraged to take some quality training which will actually be the smart move for the company.  A trained Green officer can grow into  a Certified Green Officer.  The training is offered online and seems to be everything needed for the job.

Executive Order #13514 is one of the best references for this topic.  This was signed by President Obama in Sept. 2009 and provides a basic guide for a sustainable operation.  The Green or sustainability officer was to prepare a “Sustainability Plan” for the company.  A sustainability plan is simply a step-by-step program for the Greening of the company over a one year period.  This requires a working knowledge of the company that can be merged with a doable plan that will transition of company to a sustainable operation in doable steps.

Regardless of the actual position in the company, this person provides a valuable service to the company.  The CSO is an important contributor to the decision-making information flow.   The management of the company should not isolate this person, but allow them to have a voice or opinion in the planning of the company.  No environmental program should overwhelm to company program, but sustainable improvements should provide some better ideas for management to consider in the plans and decisions that will be made.

Take, for example, a decision to remodel some part of the office.  Such opportunities can go forward poorly or smartly advised.  Low-VOC paint and glues, recycled carpet, and furniture that will not send out harmful fumes are good ideas.  Knowing that some remodeling projects have sickened workers and created lawsuits, there is more to the decision than the cheapest price.  To be effective, we must acknowledge that decisions are dynamic and do occur at one time.  This is why the CSO needs to be ever-present in the dynamics of the company’s operation.  Consulting forms do not have the capacity to provide this ground-level type of input.

Could company energy costs be dropped 25% to 50% with some better planning?  Could employee satisfaction, health, and productivity be improved with making the right choices in upcoming decisions?  Even risk management can be greatly improved through better information?  These and many more cost-connected decisions can make the company Greener in more ways than environmentally.  Cutting operational costs and improving the public value of the company will make it more profitable.

More than the guidance from Executive Order #13514, hundreds of forward-thinking companies are installing Green or sustainability officers.  It no longer matters if your company is large or small, it is just a good business decision to appoint a Green officer and then train them to be a CSO for the company.

Lastly, the small cost to install and train a CSO will avoid the immense cost of bringing in an environmental consulting firm.  It is also smarter than taking the foolish path of greenwashing that will soon prove embarrassing.

So, take the hint from the recent executive order and install a sustainability plan in your company by first appointing a Green officer.  If your company is very small, this is something that any business owner can easily accomplish with the help of the Green Path Assessment software.

If the sticker-shock of a Green consulting firm has kept your company from moving forward with a sustainability plan, then consider a more organic approach to a Green program.  Find a good quality person that will serve as the Green officer.  Get them trained as a Certified Sustainability Officer, and give this person a voice at the table.  In the end, the company will be be far better off with a serious program in place.

Okay, there is an ugly rumor running about that business leaders have an aversion to the basic idea of Green.  If we investigate this mild phobia, we would learn that the sustainable word is considered a more business-friendly concept.  But, why?  Well, it seems that the concept of Green had a rough time at birth.  It was kidnapped by a band of treehuggers, fed by veggans, and watched Captain Planet save the world from ravaging corporate polluters.

Green has a legitimate meaning that is best defined as “health impact on living things” from our actions.   I am sure that no one is really against this concept of a better life for all, but the concept has been skewed from it’s best intentions.  At this point in time, the taint of extremist has faded from this valuable term.  The real meaning is valuable to any business because employees are one of the biggest assets of any company; and if the workers are take less sick days, have fewer claims, and are more productive, the company will be more profitable.

I prefer to include four key topics in the environmental plan for a company.  Environmental program include: Heath and Safety (Green), Sustainability practices, Pollution reduction, and Conservation.  Regardless of highjacking tactics, there are core elements of any environment-conscious company’s plan.  This creates a holistic approach to the subject that allows a company to avoid the piecemeal approach to the whole project.

It is a good idea to do an energy audit, a carbon footprint, address indoor air quality, include recycling, or adopt Green purchasing protocols.  Unfortunately, these ideas alone are still acquired in a piecemeal and random fashion.  Start with an assessment of the current environmental practices that results in the completion of a holistic sustainability plan for each company.  This allows all subjects to be considered and included as they might apply.

Do not avoid the Green factor, the sustainability practices, pollution reduction, or conservation options.  It is frankly a matter stepping up to the plate in an honest way.  Building an environmental program is also progressive.  By this, I mean that you don’t have to do everything at inception, but you need a good start.  A Green business is assembled over a period of years as more elements are added to the sustainability plan.

If your company wants to start the process, it is recommended that you appoint a Green officer (also known as a Certified Sustainability Officer or CSO).  Training if this person can be done online, and having a in-house Green officer makes the effort seamless, affordable, and holistic.

Okay, so far Going green has been a lot like a karaoke night at your favorite bar.  Talented or not, people set up to the microphone to “give it a try.”  We all can laugh and poke fun because this is not a serious performance where people paid money to hear great music.  Frankly, expectations are low, and anyone who might have talent seems like an unexpected surprise.

So far, Green and Sustainable efforts have been inclusive of very bad performances, amateur efforts, and guesswork investments into the mysterious world of Green.  As the world evolves, it is becoming evident that our early efforts have been embarrassingly weak and sometimes out of tune with the level of environmental commitment that this world problem demands.

We are now seeing an emergence of a standard for sustainable compliance that has been long overdue.  This standard of performance has been recently seen in the latest executive order that President Obama signed in late 2009.  Executive Order 13514 has set a simplistic format to sustainable business that now applies to governmental agencies.  This same set of standards seems destine to grow and pass over to corporate America as well.

The central aspect of this order is the requirement of a sustainability report.  The sustainability report seems to be the benchmark of a truly environmentally-committed business.  The development of a sustainability report is not a random amalgam of Green ideas.  The sustainability report is a comprehensive review of all factors that impact a company’s environmental plan.  In other words, please realize that the carbon emission is not the singular issue of an environmental plan.  One issue, like recycling is not a plan.  As the executive order illustrates, each of these good ideas are just one of a dozen broad topics that should be considered.

The key to this new reality is that a Sustainability Plan is the primary criteria for a serious business in this new era of Green.  This stands in contrast to the piecemeal approach that has been prevalent so far.  A sustainability plan is not a speculative concept as seen via the demands of the executive order.  It seems that we now have a floor in place that the smart Green professionals have been searching for so long.   Green certification is not merely putting forth a Xeroxed checklist from a local community project.  Any Green program must be a tailored for every company drawing from a reliable set of core disciplines.

Therefore, the way forward now seems much clearer.  A company needs two key items.  First, is installation of a sustainability or Green officer.  Second, the sustainability officer needs to produce a comprehensive sustainability plan that has the scope that has a breadth of environmental considerations and a timeline for implementation.   Such a plan is a graduation of any business from its meandering period of environmentally childhood where guesswork substituted for a knowledgeable plan of action.

Like a tailored suit, the pieces are all known; but the skilled tailor knows how to make it fit the customer.  There is no universal formulation though there will often be common elements seen in each program.  Nonetheless, the sustainability plan is destined to be the new and recommended discipline for the Green business of the future.

Websites that have touted Green business certification by self-assessment program will certainly want to ignore this trend toward honesty and audited results, but the marketplace cannot long endure the “gaming of the system.”  Self-assessment invites abuse and abusive people whereas audited programs are the only way to assure honesty.

Presently, there is one organization that has a trained field force of Certified Green Consultants that conduct an audit of the business each year.  The Green Business league took the long view to this industry and invested heavily into trained consultants who were trained to do life assessments, prepare sustainability reports, and conduct annual audits.  The validation of the Green or sustainable will be the audit of the performance of the sustainability program.  We are beyond the day of good intentions and marginal commitments.  If any sustainability plan is not willing to allow an audit of the results, it is likely that it cannot be considered worth the effort.