LEED as the Seed: Sustainability Beyond Certification
Congratulations. You have been LEED certified. Now what?
The gap between real and potential sustainability lies in the way LEED is perceived. If you think attaining LEED is attaining sustainability, your answer to the "now what?" question might well ge "nothing," since you've already achieved your goal. But you would be missing the point because LEED does not equal sustainability. It merely opens the door to sustainability. True sustainability is a process.
Think of it this way. Would you walk away from your garden after carefully planting your seeds? Or would you continue to tender and monitor it to make sure it thrives? With LEED as the seed, what's next is to ensure that sustainability blooms.
So back to the question. Now what? Well, first go ahead and hang that LEED plaque up on your wall. You deserve it. You've made a great start. To reach your full, sustainable potential, here's what you must do beyond LEED:
1) Establish a long-term environmental management system:
In a nutshell, this means putting in place a plan to ensure the continued improvement of your building's environmental performance.
2) Measure and manage with a sustainability metrics:
Is your building saving as much energy as its LEED certification predicted? Are the bathroom retrofits lowering water consumption? These questions can only be answered if a building's sustainability performance is being measured and managed. USGBC research suggests that a quarter of new LEED building are not saving as much energy as expected, and that most buildings do not track energy consumption.
Your building's tenants and employees have to realize that they do not just work in a LEED building, but that they are in fact part of the green process.
4) Conduct management review:
As a process, sustainability has to be incorporated into your building's or comapny's overall strategy. Sustainability has to be accounted for in capital budgets, risk management, corporate reputation and other decisions. This will ensure that the sustainability process continues beyond LEED as part of your long-term vision.
Richard Fuller and Anna Dengler, Great Forest Inc.
Yellow Pages Faces Another Ban
Two cities are pursuing legislation to ban or restrict distribution of the Yellow Pages, as the directory publishers themselves launch a website to help customers opt out of deliveries. In San Francisco, Board of Supervisors president David Chu is leading the push to ban the books, which he says are wasteful and becoming obsolete. Chu has proposed prohibiting Yellow Pages distributers from leaving them on doorsteps without advance permission. Distributors could be fined up to $500 for each violation. The law would make San Francisco the first U.S. city to ban unsolicited distribution of the Yellow Pages, the San Francisco Chronicle said. "If we're serious about the environment , it's time we recognize that phone books are a 20th century tool that doesn't meet the business or environmental needs of the 21st century," Chu told the Chronicle.
But some distributors are trying to beat the city at that game. The Yellow Pages Association (YPA) yesterday launched an upgraded website, www.yellowpagesoptout.com, to allow consumers to opt out of some or all Yellow Pages deliveries. The association says the redesigned user interface makes opting out more convenient for customers by reducing the need to contact multiple publishers. The website was developed together with the Association of Directory Publishers. "The site, supported by directory publishers across the country, illustrates our ongoing commitment to not delivering a directory to someone who doesn't want one," YPA president Neg North said.
The associations said that Yellow Pages companies have cut the amount of directory paper they use by 29 percent since 2006 and use paper that is either recycled or made from leftover woodchips from the lumber industry. Three-quarters of U.S. adults use the print Yellow Pages every year, the association said. "We believe print remains a central component of our industry's growing portfolio, which today includes digital and mobile platforms," Norton said.
Environmental Leader 2/11
Site Lets Companies Sell Waste
A service has been launched to help companies disposing of their refuse to make money in the process. RecycleMatch is an online business-to-business (B2B) marketplace that allows companies to buy, sell or give away large volumes of waste including plastics, textiles, paper, chemicals, food, metals and building materials. Companies can anonymously post messages on the site, listing materials that they wish to get rid of. Prospective buyers interested in reusing or recycling the waste can then ask the sellers questions, get samples and make offers.
Companies can also use the service to find better pricing for materials they are already recycling, Porch said. "We're the first marketplace designed specifically for the needs of large corporations who want control, protection, and trust in the entire process. This is a large and exciting opportunity to help companies reduce costs, strengthen their brands and help the environment."
RecycleMatch was named on of Entrepreneur Magazine's Most Brilliant Ideas in 2010.
Environmental Leader 2/11
Study: Companies Up Commitment to Sustainability
More than two-thirds of businesses are strengthening their commitment to sustainability, according to a new study by MIT Sloan Management Review and the Boston Consulting Group. This is the second annual study that the two have put together, and the new study is based on data gathered from more than 3,100 corporate leaders, representing every major industry and region of the world. The new study is titled "Sustainability: The 'Embracers' Seize Advantage.
The press release included a statment from Knut Haanaes, a Boston Consulting Group partner and managing director and co-author of the report. "Most companies, whether currently embracers or not, are looking toward a world where sustainability is becoming a mainstream, if not required, part of the business strategy," Haanaes said. "Those not already putting sustainability at the heart of their business will need to do so in the near term."
Boston.com Business Updates 2/10/11
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