Sustainability: The Right Thing To Do?

www.sebesta.com

Sustainability: The Right Thing To Do?

Judy Purman

Sustainability Specialist

Three Main Themes

1. Sustainability Defined

2. Sustainability Metrics

3. Implementing Sustainability

Economically profitable

Environmentally responsible

Healthy places to live and work

Meeting the needs of the present without compromising

the ability of future generations to meet their own

needs.

Sustainability Defined

People•Image and social

responsibility

Planet•Environmental

impact

Profit•Economics

Triple Bottom Line: Traditional Model

Triple Bottom Line: More Balanced Model

People•Image and social

responsibility

Planet•Environmental

impact

Profit•Economics

Balance


Notes: (1) Book: Business Strategies for Sustainable Development: Leadership and Accountability

Source: A.T. Kearney Analysis.

http://www.atkearney.com/shared_res/pdf/Sustainability_Report_S.pdf


• Facilities

• Business Travel

• Purchasing/Procurement

• Energy

• Human Resources

• Outreach/Community Support


Facilities


Facilities

• Healthy Environment

• Waste and Recycling

• Landscaping

Business Travel

• Environmental Impact – GHG

• Teleconferencing

• Carpooling


Purchasing and Procurement

• Supply Chain

• Office Paper

• Green Cleaning


Human Resources

Healthy Environment

Benefits

Employee Development

Outreach/Community SupportTime

Dollars

The Business Premise

People. Occupants. Employees.

1%

11%

88%

Associated Building Costs

Design & Construction

Operations & Maintenance

Employee Salaries & Benefits

Source data: NIBS 1998.Image from : Dahl (2008)

Three Main Themes




Sustainability Metrics

How does one achieve sustainability?

How does one go green?

Commitment to sustainability must be founded on

quantitative, verifiable results.


Environmental

Energy consumption per sq ft or unit of production

Renewable energy used or bought

Compliance: Notice of violations

Water conservation and quality

Waste generated and recycled

Human Resources

Employee retention (%)

Number of sick days

LEED Certification for buildings

Carbon Footprint


• Baseline data points

• Benchmark against which to track changes

• Guide for decisions on what to change

• Scorecard

Sustainability Scorecard: LEED Certification

LEED Is– a tool to measure sustainability.

– a tool to promote sustainability.

– becoming a language for sustainable buildings.

Available For• New Construction

• Renovations and Alterations

• Operations & Maintenance (existing buildings)


Design/Operation Must Balance Impacts

• Site

• Water use

• Energy use

• Materials

• Indoor Environmental Quality

SiteAverage American Requires

25 Acres of Ecologically

Productive Land

Sustainability Scorecard:

LEED Certification

• Preserve undeveloped land, farmland

• Plant native species

• Minimize hard surfaces

• Minimize dark surfaces

• Minimize light pollution

Buildings use 12% of US Water

Water


LEED Certification

• Install efficient fixtures

• Minimize irrigation

• Identify alternative sources of water for

non-potable use

• Optimize whole building to

operate efficiently

• Perform Building

Commissioning

• Use BAS to

monitor energy use

Buildings use 40% of US energy

Energy Use


LEED Certification

Buildings use 40% of US Materials

Materials


LEED Certification

• Reduce material use

• Reuse materials

• Use recycled materials

• Recycle

The Average American Spends

90% of Their Time Indoors


LEED Certification

• Provide sufficient ventilation

• Use low-emitting materials

• Provide occupant control

• Maintain thermal comfort

• Provide daylight and views

• Manage acoustics

Indoor Environment


Benefits of LEED

• Identify savings

• Third Party Verification

• Ongoing Program

Start with Energy!


Measure of the Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Environmental Impact Into Numerical Calculation

• Defined Boundary

• Unit of Measure

• Metric Tons CO2e Emitted


• GHG and Global

Warming Potentials

• GHG will be quantified

and traded in terms of

CO2e

– A ton of methane has

the value of 23 tons of

carbon dioxide

Greenhouse

Gas

Global Warming

Potential (CO2e)

Carbon

Dioxide (CO2)

1

Methane (CH4) 23

Nitrous Oxide

(N2O)

296

HFCs 120-12,000

PFCs 5,700-11,900

Sulfur

Hexafluoride

(SF6)

22,200


1

51

101

151

201

251

301

351

CO2 CH4 N2O

GW

P

Greenhouse Gas

Global Warming Potentials Compared

Source: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change, Third Assessment Report


• Calculate footprint using standard methods

• World Resources Institute Protocol

• Consistent, verifiable

Snapshot in Time of the Total GHG Emissions


61%19%

2%

2%

2%1%

3% 10%

Electricity

Natural Gas

Air Travel*

Fleet Fuel

Farm

Aviation School

Business Cars

Commuting*

7,000+ mtons CO2eq in 2007

Three Main Themes




Corporate Sustainability Plan

What is it?

A strategic action plan with short- and long-term goals

Roadmap for sustainability as a decision criterion

Integrating sustainability into corporate culture

Documents past and current sustainability initiatives

Metrics for tracking progress

Built in method for plan revision


How do you develop a CSP?

Participatory planning process

Facilitated stakeholder meetings

Policies

Targeted action items

Drafts for review

Formal adoption

Publicize


• Short Term (0 – 6 months)• Risk Assessment• Stakeholder Mapping• Core Capabilities Assessment• Priority Action Plans• Pilot Projects

• Medium (6 – 18 months)• Develop an environmental tracking system• Strengthen education and awareness efforts• Promote individual ownership of the process

• Long Term (18 months and beyond)• Re-thinking processes and re-examining markets• Stakeholder management and partnerships


Sample Sustainability Initiatives:

1. Reduce energy use by 10% in 2 years.

2. Implement a green building policy.

3. Increase recycling by 20% by 2015.

4. Implement a green cleaning policy.

5. Reduce the use of herbicides by 30% by 2015.

6. Decrease employee turnover by 5% in 3 years.

7. Replace laptops every 3 years (instead of every 2).

8. Reimburse employees 50% of public transportation costs.

v


People, Planet, Profit


“Such organizations appear to have realized that the cost [of

implementing sustainability programs] is far outweighed by

the benefits and opportunities it creates.”

(Making Advances in Carbon Management: Best Practices from

the Carbon Information Leaders. A Joint Carbon Disclosure

Project and IBM Study)

Implementing Sustainability

Measure

and

Analyze

Plan Implement Assess

Why Sustainability?

It’s the Right Thing to Do….. Better serve your clients and customers

Increase shareholder value

Streamline internal operations

Improve productivity

Reduce costs

Increase your ability to compete

Achieve a competitive advantage

Minimize environmental impact

Energy market volatility and expenditure reductions

New regulations – you need to prepare