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Greening Your Business: Improving the bottom line

Greening Your Business: Improving the bottom line. Greening Your Business: Improving the Bottom Line. Learning Objectives Find out what sustainability is and what it means to operate a sustainable business. Learn where to start if you’re interested in “greening” your building.

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Greening Your Business: Improving the bottom line

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  1. Greening Your Business: Improving the bottom line

  2. Greening Your Business: Improving the Bottom Line • Learning Objectives • Find out what sustainability is and what it means to operate a sustainable business. • Learn where to start if you’re interested in “greening” your building. • Understand the various certifications available to green your business and building. Presented By: Laura Steinbrink, MBA, LEED-AP

  3. What is green? Being green commonly refers to strategies, products and activities aimed at protecting or restoring the planet. Examples are recycling, waste to energy and non-toxic products.

  4. A focus on energy reduction, energy efficiency or renewable energy generation is green. Reducing energy, being more efficient or producing renewable energy certainly helps the planet. Is Energy Green?

  5. Is Green Sustainable? Being green or doing green is not sustainable if it isn’t profitable, or if it isn’t helpful to people. Doing things just for the sake of the planet isn’t sustainable.

  6. Sustainability involves being mindful of the future as we make decision today. Sustainability means meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Note: “needs” includes profitability! What is sustainability?

  7. Introducing the Triple Bottom Line people planet profit

  8. The Triple Bottom Line Sustainable businesses recognize the undeniable connection between people, planet and profit and work to keep all three in balance.

  9. Sustainable Firms: Outperforming their peers Sources: Dow Jones Sustainability Index, Green to Gold, Harvard Business Review

  10. Whole Systems Accounting Recognizing the Cost of Business • Identify all potential alternative choices • Identify sources of costs and advantages from three perspectives, people, environment and financial • Initial outlay & usage cost • Hidden costs & externalities • Overhead and indirect costs • Past and future outlays • Identify actual financial / personal / environmental value associated with each source of cost / advantage • Weigh criteria based on corporate values • Calculate costs / advantages Whole systems accounting helps to ensure financial performance is balanced with planet and people

  11. Whole Systems Accounting Case Study SITUATION OVERVIEW: Restaurant ABC (organic pizza) holds as it mission, “to provide good, flavorful, nutritious food that gives both joy and health, and to share this food with others in ways sustainable to all.” The restaurant is preparing to open its doors for an additional night -- BBQ night. The suggestion was made to consider using paper plates for the BBQ menu. The owner wants to understand whether or not using paper plates is consistent with its mission ‘to share food with others in ways sustainable to all’.

  12. Whole Systems Accounting Case Study • Step 2: Identify sources of costs and advantages from three perspectives, people, environment and financial • Initial outlay & usage cost • Hidden costs & externalities • Overhead and indirect costs • Past and future outlays

  13. Environmental Care & RenewalFinding Innovation through Planetary Health Name First Steps Celebrate Small Wins Declare Bold goals

  14. Environmental Care & RenewalFinding Innovation through Planetary Health Together, waste and energy can be sources of first steps, small wins and bold goals. Can your waste be someone’s energy or raw material? Source: EPA

  15. Taylor declared a zero waste goal and has already achieved 90% diversion from landfill…and is generating revenue from “upcycling” leather scraps into wallets and purses.

  16. Transparency, Engagement & NetworksPeople make it all happen Stoneyfield Farms reduced GHG impact from cows by publicly stating the need to address this source of pollution in its value chain – suppliers responded Transparency: Know your blind spots Commit to fix them Be honest about them

  17. Transparency, Engagement & NetworksPeople make it all happen Engagement: Renew your employee engagement efforts Reach out to suppliers, customers, non-profits and governments Employees at Great Lakes Brewery found ways to put their waste to work on local farms

  18. Transparency, Engagement & NetworksPeople make it all happen Networks: Commitment to learning and exploring Focusing on reaching common goals Patagonia uses a network of organic cotton farmers to create competitive advantage

  19. Don’t be Shy – Tell the World!Certifications to validate your story GreenPlus: for small business www.gogreenplus.org Energy Star: for building energy use www.energystar.gov LEED: for building construction & operations www.usgbc.org Global Reporting Initiative: for larger companies www.globalreporting.org Green Label, Green Seal and others for products

  20. Summary Being green and energy efficient is good Being sustainable is better Triple Bottom Line focus results in stronger performance Whole systems accounting recognizes true costs Bold goals create transformation Transparency, engagements and networks support change By all means, tell the world!

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