GREEN BUSINESS VIEWS

Archive for the ‘Green Ideas’ Category

Sure, it’s a great idea to construct a Green building, but who has the money in this economy?  What happens if you don’t have a building in construction?  Doesn’t it seem as though the vast majority of businesses (that rent, lease, or own but can’t afford Green renovation) are frankly left out of the process.  This leaves open the door for more dubious ways to “Go Green.”  How about buying Green Products, and being labels Green in a proxy manner.  We know that owning golf clubs does not make you a real golfer, so how does buying Green products make a company into a Green business?

In 2005, the Green Business League saw a huge gap in the environmental puzzle.  Green buildings and Green products were great ideas; but if the people were not engaged, we were only fooling ourselves.  When it came to Green practices, the best we could see was a scatter gun approach of ideas of all kinds.  Of course, we all heard about CFL bulbs, programmable thermostats, and putting the correct amount of air in the tires.  Was that it?  America lags a decade behind Europe in Green implementation, and all we had to offer was the top 10 Green ideas, and that was it!

Green practices (behaviors) were the third leg of a three-legged stool that would complete the Green puzzle.  It was our daily activities that was the most powerful concept of them all.  Frankly, it is possible to be in a Green building and purchase Green products, and still be an environmental idiot.  Drive through the parking lot of some of these Green buildings and you will find Hummers, Mercedes, and Maxivans, but the bike rake (part of the Green building requirements) is empty.

Under the Green practices concept, the Green Business League has develop more than 400 Green practices and apply a point system to each practice.  This was the first universally applied point system for Green practices.  The practices ranged from simple to difficult, but covered all types of businesses.   From this GBL derived a Master Points List that had several specialty lists for unique types of businesses.  A list by itself is a good road map, but there is a need to actually bring these ideas into the daily operation of the company.

There is an upside and a downside to making Green practices the core of the process.  The upside is that any person, home, agency, school, or business type can now participate in the greater effort.  One of the most important aspects of the environmental movement is inclusion.  So, regardless of your building or the products that may be purchased, any business could install Green practices, and once audited, could earn a bona fide Green business certification.

The downside is that behaviors are not easily changed.  We are creates of habit and convenience.  Therefore, people most often make only transitory efforts into a Green lifestyle, and then revert back if it wasn’t a rewarding experience.  After all, how easy is it to drag around a reusable water bottle than it is to toss a plastic one away when you are done?  Or, how many people want a Prius when they have three kids?

Therefore, we see a need to reinforce the new, Green practices that are treated as an initially good idea.  That is why GBL is calling for a Green Officer (CSO) to be placed in every business.  Some know this job as the sustainability officer.  During the training of a Certified Sustainability Officer, they are taught the implementation is only the starting point.  It will take 3 to 5 years for the Green practices to become institutionalized.

Most Green program degenerate shortly after implementation.  The same thing happens to the numerous community programs that we see cropping up now.  Good ideas have a brief shelf life, and then begin to fade.  When there is a committed Certified Sustainability Officer in place, the Green program has a chance of survival and the expectation that it will become the norm for the company’s operation.

GBL encourages all businesses regardless of size to appoint or install a Certified Sustainability Officer in their company.  There is no urgent need to hire a $90,000 college graduate for this task.  One of the best training programs in America can be found at www.CertifiedSustainabilityOfficer.com. If a company trains and supports a CSO as their in-house Green officer, the potential of a truly Green business has legs and can become a profitable investment into the future of the business and the community.

It may not be the ultimate compliment, but working the way up through the many contenders to be a page one Google site is no small feat.  The Green Business League website is just a part of the overall credibility of the many virtues of the Green Business League, but it is nonetheless a part of the greater effort to show the prowess of this company.

Green Business League ranks well under numerous keywords including the highly-contested “Green Business” keyword.  Unlike the sponsored “paid” ads found on search engines, the “organic” searches by the search engines, like Google or Yahoo, are not easy to achieve.  In the Yahoo search engine, Green Business League ranks page one for “Green business certification.”

Taking the path to an organic Page One listing means that the website must compete with literally millions of other websites in that same category.  The competition becomes exponentially more difficult as companies reach the top three pages.  Only ten websites are listed per page, which means that moving up in these rankings requires both time and money.

Green Business League is the leading Green business certification in the United States with offices opening in Canada, Mexico, South America, Puerto Rico, and South Africa.  The Green Business League takes a bold stand against greenwashing tactics that are prevalent in the increasing number of certification websites.

The Green Business league is also the sponsor of the Corporate Sustainability Officer training program being offered by numerous agencies and colleges.

Green Real Estate Education has been working with the Green Business League to create green education courses online.  The challenge of this cycle of environmental awareness is developing the skills to effectively promote a Green and sustainable program in any kind of business.  Online courses are the perfect (and ecological solution) for a learning opportunity.  And it is reasonable to expect such training to spread like wildfire through universities, colleges, workforce programs, and adult education programs.  Green training courses are now expanding in the southwest region of the United States.

Projects are not as plentiful as other parts of the country but that will change as Green Real Estate Education courses are going to be offered in Oklahoma City.  The company has hired a Regional Director in Oklahoma that will handle expansion in Oklahoma and Texas.

“In the fall, we will have 15 courses in 150 colleges nationwide available. We offer the most cost effective “fast track” green training for job creation for the workforce.” Says Kerry Mitchell, President of Green Real Estate Education.

The courses the company offers fills a gap for much needed green education for workforce and adult education, in colleges and vo-tech centers. With training in recycling, waste management, sustainability, green building, renovating green, the courses feature the benefits of implementing green principles into the marketplace.   Green officer training programs have been developed with the help of the prestigious Green Business League.

Green Real Estate Education also is the leader for “green educational” programs in the United States for those in professions in service to the real estate industry. Mitchell Says. ” Many of our programs include a certification and are recognized by state and national organizations and many grant continuing education credits but they are really for all who have an interest in green building, understanding energy ratings, saving on utility bills or in sustainable construction techniques in either building new or in renovating existing structures.  They deliver courses on line and in a classroom setting.

Some of the courses offer CE credits or are for those who just want to earn a green designation to market.  Many have a curiosity of what “green building” is and how it will impact the building careers. Green Real Estate Education can deliver their courses for CSR, Waste Management, Sustainability Planning, Real Estate Agent or Mortgage Professional courses on line and can all be taken 24/7.

Green Real Estate Education, established in 2006, has educated 6,500 and continues to grow and is on target to educate more than 10,000 professionals in going green by 2011. The company offers their certification programs on site, on line and in webinar formats. Green Real Estate Education welcomes other online affiliate partner opportunities to expand awareness of green training and their Level One Green Leadership certification programs. For more information, visit www.greenrealestateeducation.com.

In my recent visit to Cartagena, Columbia brought fresh light on the subject of the vast difference in the level of practice of Green and sustainable practices.  I have found firms modestly invested, heavily invested, and negligibly invested in the Greening process.   While this is not technically a race, it is an urgent goal that requires something that I feel can be delivered by nearly any business from any level of the economy or world.  That investment is simple stated as “Progress.”

I am utterly convinced that progress is the path to the promised land, and that we only lack in willing participants to turn a modest effort into a highway of environmental accomplishment.  Two factors are the core of the whole subject matter.  Environmentalism will only succeed when there is: 1) Widespread participation, and 2) knowledge of great solutions that can be applied to the challenge.

If the decade of Green rhetoric is finally done, it is then time to progress into an era of increased frequency (participation) and amplitude (more solutions) at any level of life.  The two ugliest lied are that this is the task for more empowered people to address, or that one’s scant efforts are all that is required.  Those of few resources are as obligated as those with many resources, except that the scope of ability changes.  The environment is everyone’s battle and the tasks for each of us will vary.

Europe has taken bold strides forward, other great nations are finally finding their way, and less powerful nations now strive to become a Green and reduce their carbon emissions.  Is it enough?  It is not, but the expectations should not be encompassed in a day or a year; but from the willingness to make progress by greater participation and embracing more solutions.

The world should not be seen in the jaundice eyes of who has resources and who does not, but in the commitment that brings to the collective challenge.  In fact, the progress of the smallest business is not meaningless because a larger business can do more.  The volume may not be as important as the progress made.  A large company should be embarrassed to replace a few lights and say, “Good enough,” because it shows negligible progress for the opportunity is has to do more.  Whereas a small company choosing to recycle paper and plastics may actually be more impressive because it is a serious step forward.

In the global view of Green business, I care less and less for those who promote Green rhetoric while making only token efforts to apply the available resources to install a sustainable plan.  I would suggest that the smartest first step is to install a Certified Green Officer and begin the serious effort of developing a sustainability plan within the company regardless of size.   Find someone in the company who can be trained as a Certified Sustainability Officer and have your sustainable people involved in The Sustainable Forum.

There are good reasons to considered a Green business certification and installing a sustainability officer.  People think they’re healthier and more productive after moving their office space into “green” buildings, according to a recent study published on the American Journal of Public Health’s website.  This is according to a USA Today article taken from Associated Press.  There is more than perception involved in this equation because we know that poor indoor air quality is part of good health and good productivity.  Everyone has felt the afternoon dip in energy, the nagging headache, or even sleepiness that comes without good cause.

The same article says, “The authors estimated a small benefit to employees suffering from asthma and respiratory allergies. Those people would gain 1.75 more work hours per year working in the new building because they would take less sick time.  The biggest boost comes in perceived productivity.  The study’s authors extrapolated that employees could each work about 39 more hours a year in the new building because of different working conditions such as better light, air quality and ventilation.”

This is not only from possible outgassing from building components and furniture in the office.  Bad air is the byproduct of the cleaning service, pesticide use, poor ventilation, pollution infiltration, and the daily wear and tear of every business.

However, getting an building or office on the path to improvement does not come from casual concern.  One of the notable efforts to the sustainability officer is to address the IAQ along with the many issues of making a company Green.  In a holistic approach to environmental improvement, IAQ, energy reduction, water and waste management, lighting, supply chain, and numerous other issues are brought into the planning.  The air quality is a factor, but so is the quality of the lighting.  We have not yet touched on the carbon footprint issue or Green IT.

To solve these issues before the government start clamping down on compliance, more and more Fortune 500 companies are developing Certified Sustainability Officers (CSO) and getting them into a good training program.  The best training program for any level sustainability officer is found at http://www.CertifiedSustainabilityOfficer.com or http://www.CorporateSustainabilityOfficer.com.

Existing sustainable officers are encouraged to look into The Sustainable Forum to build their resources and community impact.