Professional Services

CivicAction’s Greening Greater Toronto – Reducing Energy Use In Office Buildings

Challenge

Improving the energy efficiency of our building stock presents a vast untapped potential to increase our bottom lines, better our workplaces and protect our environment. Commercial buildings account for one third of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the GTA, and consume 37 per cent of the electricity and 17 per cent of the natural gas. There is a well documented “efficiency gap” between the potential investments in cost-effective energy efficiency and the low levels of investment that are actually occurring. Barriers to broader adoption of commercial building energy efficiency include:

• The lack of a measurement standard for energy performance;

• Difficulty in acquiring data to build business cases;

• Ineffective communication between tenants and building owners; and

• Lack of broader education about energy efficiency

Strategy

Greening Greater Toronto has launched the Commercial Building Energy Initiative (CBEI) in September 2009 to address these barriers and improve the energy efficiency of the building stock in the GTA and beyond. CBEI is guided by a Leadership Council of over 50 dedicated members who are committed to work together to improve energy efficiency. Its membership includes 10 major landlords, 10 large tenants representing 40 per cent of GTA building stock and 40 million sq ft of space, service providers and other partners. In a Leadership Council meeting in early 2010, we developed three projects to build knowledge and to inspire behavioural change and collective action:

• Eliminate Knowledge Gaps: Business Case and Living Library

• Greening Our Workplaces Tenant Series

• Corporate Challenge

Business Case and Living Library

In order to bridge the knowledge gaps between stakeholders, Greening Greater Toronto, with partners from The Boston Consulting Group and Halsall Associates Limited, developed a business case for energy efficiency for both tenants and landlords of commercial buildings. The business case looks at major opportunities for savings, the qualitative and quantitative benefits of green buildings, case studies of landlords and tenants who have undertaken energy efficiency measures, and steps on how to get there.

The Leadership Council has also compiled a “living library” catalogue of case studies and energy benchmarks to promote best-practices for energy efficiency. These case studies are taken from their own experience with energy efficiency initiatives, and serve to showcase the great work that is going on in the region. The case studies have found a permanent home on the Partners in Project Green Environmental Best Practices Database.

Greening Our Workplaces Tenant Series

This project invites tenants to host a meeting for neighbouring tenants of the same building, to showcase tenant-led energy efficiency initiatives, with an objective to share best practices, processes, and results, to support and encourage tenants’ energy efficiency initiatives. Also present at these meetings are the landlord, to show support to their tenants, Halsall Associates, to present the business case, and BOMA and Enbridge, to inform tenants about available incentives.

Corporate Challenge

Commercial building owners and managers will set a baseline and benchmark their energy use. Over the next several years, these landlords and their tenants will work together to reduce their energy use and compete for energy efficiency awards in the Corporate Challenge to be launched in the new year.

Result

We have certainly seen how participation in this initiative has changed peoples’ behaviour and the way they think about energy use, and are encouraged as they continue to spread the message. We’ve created and compiled a wealth of resources, including over 18 case studies, a business case for energy efficiency, and information about incentive programs. Our Greening Our Workplaces Tenant Series has connected nearly 200 tenants and landlords to each other (who would otherwise be not communicate with each other) and continues to be valuable forum for information and experience-sharing.

Although it is too early to quantify the Commercial Building Energy Initiative’s impact, we expect that our Corporate Challenge participants will be able to collectively reduce their energy use by at least 10 per cent over the duration of the four-year challenge. We’ve seen how quickly we can mobilize senior executive engagement, establish a new spirit of collaboration and deliver material results. Now that landlords and tenants are talking, they’re exploring waste and water as well.

Professional Services

Maple Leaf Entertainment – Air Canada Centre Waste Reduction

Challenge

The Air Canada Centre (ACC) Location:

• 40 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario. 665,000 square foot entertainment facility

• Hosts over 300 large-scale events annually, approximately 19,000 people per event

• Director of Operations and Team Up Green: Bryan Leslie (bleslie@mapleleafsports.com)

• Green Team “Team Up Green” established in 2007

The Goal and Objectives:

In 2008 the goal was set to achieve 100% waste diversion from landfill by 2013. Objectives include:

• Implementation of a green procurement policy to influence suppliers

• Foster public and staff participation in recycling activities

• Reduce the waste produced, Reuse as much as possible, Recycle the rest and buy Recycled products

The Driving Forces:

• To reduce the scope 3 carbon footprint of the ACC through waste reduction and composting programs

• To establish the ACC as a leader in environmental practices in the entertainment and sports industry

• To establish the ACC as a leader in the community, by working in collaboration with the City of Toronto. The City of Toronto has set the goal of achieving 70% diversion of waste from landfill by 2010.

• To increase and motivate employee morale and awareness of their actions

• To generate savings through operational efficiencies

The Key Issues and Unique Elements:

• The two main sections of the ACC, the office tower and the bowl (area where events take place), both had different waste management programs in place.

• Quick and efficient cleaning of the bowl between events is necessary, and is provided by an outsourced service provider. Therefore, communications and collaboration of waste management processes needed to be established and managed.

• The physical size of the facility and the number of events per year produces large volumes of waste in short periods of time, with many fans in attendance. It was important that waste management processes did not adversely affect the fan experience.

• Limited space for recycling containers and waste collection areas.

• Involvement of key stakeholders such as sponsors, in waste reduction program.

• Establish clear visibility to fans and stakeholders of the goals of the waste reduction program.

 

The Stakeholders:

• Established partnerships and alliances with key stakeholders including: Turtle Island, e3 Solutions Inc., Applied Environmental Solutions, Direct Energy, Bentall, Unicco, and NBA Green Week.

The Actions:

• Development of Green Strategy waste reduction program for all areas of the ACC, and full deployment of waste sorting and handling programs to support organic composting and recycling activities.

• Procurement and distribution of 75 tri-sorters to positively influence waste sorting for fans and employees.

• Purchasing of biodegradable plates, cups and utensils for Food and Beverage facilities in media areas.

• Participation in recycling programs for: IT equipment, cardboard, steel, paper shredding, LCBO bottle collection, cooking waste oil collection, beverage can collection, and toner cartridges.

• Participation in wood and plastic shipping container programs.

• Annual waste audits to evaluate performance.

The Results:

• Total waste generated increased from 2,596 tonnes to 2,834 – an increase of 9%.

• Total waste diverted increased from 967 tonnes to 1,204 tonnes – an increase of 25%

• Glass – With the support of the LCBO, reusable containers are provided and the LCBO picks up containers. Since last year the ACC has increased their diversion of glass from landfills from 120 tonnes to 165 tonnes. This is an increase of 38%

• Paper Diverted – Since last year paper diverted has increased from 76 tonnes to 121 tonnes, an increase of 59%

• Metal Diverted- Since last year metal diverted has increased from 6 tonnes to 9 tonnes

• Plastic Diverted – Since last year, plastic diverted has increased from 37 tonnes to 83 tonnes, an increase of 124%

• Organics – ACC`s already successful organic collection program also improved. With the Green up team efforts with kitchen and restaurant staff this year, diversion was improved. Since last year, organics diverted increased from 727 tonnes to 825 tonnes, an increase of 13%

• Total CO2e emissions diverted from the atmosphere in 2009: 322.72 tonnes

• Each tri-sorter used for waste management diverted 4.3 tonnes CO2e emissions from the atmosphere

The Business Case:

By effectively implementing the ACC’s waste management program Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment has decreased operational costs, increased employee morale, engaged their fans to be part of the process, emerged as a leader in the industry and the community, and has influenced its suppliers and fans to make changes in their daily operations.

The Lessons Learned:

It is possible to educate staff and fans, become a leader in the industry and community by implementing a waste management program. Eliminating sources of waste, reducing consumption, recycling products, reusing, and thus becoming more environmentally efficient and reducing our carbon footprint are all small steps in achieving the overall goal of 100% diversion by 2013.

Strategy

Result

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Professional Services

Waste To Wonder – Changing Perceptions Of Waste

Challenge

The primary driving force behind the Waste to Wonder initiative was to reduce the huge quantity of re-usable office equipment ending up in landfills and to maximize the charitable benefit of these items through redistribution.

What are the key issues? Mountains of office equipment end up in landfill sites or are needlessly recycled each year. At the same time, thousands of charities are struggling to afford equipment for their workplaces and are spending money that could be better utilized on their core activities and programs. Waste to Wonder wants to change the perception of waste by showing companies that social value, brand value and share value are becoming more predominant in the world of communication and that taking a more socially responsible stand against waste is a key component to success in this area.

Who are the main stakeholders? Our stakeholders are wide ranging as they include our blue-chip and government customer base as well as hundreds of local and international charities and good cause organizations. Our biggest stakeholder is the planet as we help divert thousands of tonnes of equipment away from landfill.

Strategy

The primary driving force behind the Waste to Wonder initiative was to reduce the huge quantity of re-usable office equipment ending up in landfills and to maximize the charitable benefit of these items through redistribution.

What are the key issues? Mountains of office equipment end up in landfill sites or are needlessly recycled each year. At the same time, thousands of charities are struggling to afford equipment for their workplaces and are spending money that could be better utilized on their core activities and programs. Waste to Wonder wants to change the perception of waste by showing companies that social value, brand value and share value are becoming more predominant in the world of communication and that taking a more socially responsible stand against waste is a key component to success in this area.

Who are the main stakeholders? Our stakeholders are wide ranging as they include our blue-chip and government customer base as well as hundreds of local and international charities and good cause organizations. Our biggest stakeholder is the planet as we help divert thousands of tonnes of equipment away from landfill.

Result

The results of Waste to Wonder speak for themselves. Items which were redundant and no longer of use to businesses have been diverted from being waste and reused to benefit projects all around the world. Since 2005, 18 shipments have been sent to 11 countries and supported an estimated 12,000 children annually. The most recent shipment was sent to Haiti to equip an anti-earthquake training centre which will train 4500 tradesmen over the next 5 years on safer building techniques. Our ethos is to minimize waste and maximize charitable benefit. Companies are under increasing pressure to dispose of their redundant equipment in an ethical and environmentally appropriate manner. Our EMP solution ensures that this is achieved to the highest levels and helps ensure corporate responsibility is considered a critical part of how companies conduct themselves in the marketplace. Most businesses genuinely want to do the right thing, as long as the process is relatively simple and the costs are reasonable. Our EMP solution provides them with a cost effective solution which not only supports their environmental aspirations and is aligned with their company policy, but also helps them support good causes in a far more effective way than ever before.

Did this initiative drive innovation that would not have happened otherwise? Yes, massively! We have had feedback from a number of customers which suggests that not only are we solving a waste problem for them but they are experiencing a surge of positive action from their employees. We have had cases of customers’ staff engaging in their own charitable fundraising activities in order to ensure the success of the BIG Bright Future projects. Customers have even sent staff to places as remote as Cameroon and Ghana to see the results first hand.

Contact Info

Website: Waste to Wonder Ontario

E-Mail: info.ontario@wastetowonder.com

Phone: 905-629-4334

Professional Services

CBSR – Embedding Sustainability In Organizational Culture

Challenge

Many business leaders recognize that the true value of sustainability is realized only when sustainability is embedded into their organizations’ cultures. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports often describe sustainability as “part of our DNA” or “the way we do business”; however, business leaders lack a clear framework for systematically embedding sustainability into organizational culture.

Strategy

Canadian Business for Social Responsibility and the Network for Business Sustainability have produced such a framework following a recent workshop of senior sustainability and HR executives. Convened by Barb Steele of CBSR and facilitated by Professor Tima Bansal of the Richard Ivey School of Business, the workshop asked participants how they integrate CSR into their organizational cultures.

Result

The best practices that emerged from the workshop are presented in a five-part framework, and leaders’ insights were distilled into the following top three “secrets” to creating a sustainable culture:

Collaborate with other organizations. Find NGOs and other businesses who value sustainability and work with them to implement environmental and social programs.

Create a safe place for bold ideas. Reframe business innovation within the context of sustainability. For example, innovations to save the company money may also encourage a reduction in carbon footprint.

Tap into grassroots employee energy. Empower employees to be sustainability champions within your organization and encourage them to set their own sustainability targets for performance reviews.

Sustainability and HR professionals are encouraged to map their own sustainability initiatives against the report’s five-part framework and to identify the specific practices that could help them further integrate sustainability into their own organizations’ cultures.

NOTE: This case study has been placed under Professional Services but applies to companies in all industries and sectors.

Download the Embedding Sustainability in Organizational Culture report at:
http://www.cbsr.ca/sites/default/files/file/CultureReport_Final.pdf

Professional Services

Canadian Business for Social Responsibility

Challenge

Introduction

In 2009, Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR) researched, developed and released The Green Teams Guide to help initiate and build capacity for companies’ expansion to coordinated head office and store-based teams – to encourage improved environmental stewardship and employee engagement.

As a member-based organization with the mission of Changing the Way Business Does Business, CBSR assists Canadian companies in mobilizing their employees on environmental and social issues. As ‘green teams¹’ have increased over the last few years, CBSR has observed a variety of challenges within existing teams (e.g. evaluating success, motivating employees, engaging wider staff) and a growing demand for the development of corporate and locally-based teams and committees. As a result, CBSR researched and interviewed 17 leading companies to find examples of best practice which it could share with the broader business community through The Green Teams Guide.

The Guide focuses on supporting the development, management, evaluation and ongoing improvement of green teams. Although there is no uniform approach to managing green teams – as each corporate culture requires a unique approach – this guide also offers practical company case studies that address the need for excellence in both environmental stewardship and employee engagement. Many of the recommended steps can also apply to community investment campaigns, thereby widening the capabilities of what green teams can achieve.

The Business Case: Why Green Teams?

Green Teams can increase internal environmental stewardship, employee engagement², innovation, and overall increased sense of staff being valued – especially those concerned with environmental issues and would like to make a positive impact in their company.

Green teams can successfully drive reductions and improved efficiency in areas such as paper use, office supplies and energy use – all which leads to direct cost savings in the short and long term. As a further motivator, the 2009 Hewitt Associates 50 Best Employers in Canada study reveals that social and environmental performance is strongly linked to employee engagement and satisfaction³.

Further, green teams help mobilize actions that instill a sense of pride in employee through increased social and environmental performance either in corporate offices or retail/local offices (e.g. bank branches). Though sustainability can remain outside the day-to-day work functions of most employees, green teams can bring passion and improved performance from those that wish to better the workplace through greening initiatives.

The Green Teams Guide

The following eight steps form the necessary components to a successful green team program (refer to The Green Teams Guide for detailed sections and company case studies):

1. Getting Started

Conduct a company-wide audit to know your baseline, and survey employees to gauge expectations, interests and
knowledge. Set priorities for green teams and find an executive ‘champion’ for support and credibility.

2. Structure Roles and Responsibility

A green team structure should aim to have a cross section of roles, departments and seniority levels. Teams also need to identify a ‘champion’ to lead and take ownership of various ‘campaigns’. Ideally, employee performance evaluation can recognize green team efforts (e.g. achievements and time investment).

3. Targets, Reporting and Accountability

Set goals and targets that are material to the company, and are agreed upon by local teams who are tasked with their achievement. Measuring and reporting on the progress towards set targets should be coordinated by local, regional and head office teams, along with employee and executive levels of accountability.

4. Investing in Green Teams

An annual budget for corporate and local green teams should be developed by the head office. Stores should also consider budgeting for additional locally-focused green team activities. Budgets should estimate time commitment per team member, and set parameters for meetings including length of time and frequency.

5. Cross-Departmental Engagement and Participation

Green Team diversity is directly linked to high employee participation in and success of environmental and sociallybased campaigns or drives. A corporate green team should have a wide departmental representation and specific strategies for members on how to engage staff within their own department or business unit.

6. Motivating, Empowering and Involving Employees

Encouraging an ongoing exchange of ideas is key to the long-term success of green teams. Gauge employee satisfaction/ideas through annual surveys. Consider rewarding teams or individuals for well executed campaigns.

7. Internal and External Communication

Strong communication is essential to successful employee-based initiatives. Without sharing successes, ‘feel good’ stories go untold and lessons learned are not shared. Good internal communication mobilizes and motivates staff, while external communication can enhance relations with customers and local communities.

8. Measuring and Evaluating Green Teams Performance

You can’t improve what you aren’t measuring. Green teams must have a system to track, manage and evaluate their performance against goals and targets, with a focus on continual team and company based improvement.

Conclusion

The Guide supports the development and management of green teams in an organized and systematic way. Green teams can help in meeting company wide goals of reducing environmental impacts and improving employee and community engagement. Corporate green teams drive innovation from within and allow employees to incorporate their ideas and passions into actions.

Download CBSR’s The Green Teams Guide: http://www.cbsr.ca/cbsrftp/MEH/Green_Teams_Guide-CBSR,2009.pdf

To learn more about CBSR’s work with green teams on reducing environmental footprint and strategic community investment, contact Wesley Gee, CSR Advisor and Member Development Manager at: Wesley@cbsr.ca

¹ “Green Teams are dedicated groups of employees, regardless of discipline or organizational level, which facilitate the pragmatic implementation of sustainable operations principles on their unit.” United States Department of Agriculture, Departmental Management, viewed February 4, 2010. Web source: http://greening.usda.gov/definition.htm

² “Engagement is the state of emotional and intellectual commitment to an organization—the degree to which you have captured the hearts and minds of your employees”, Neil Crawford, Hewitt Associates, for CBSR webinar, January 27, 2010.

³ Neil Crawford, Hewitt Associates, for CBSR webinar, January 27, 2010.

Strategy

Result

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Professional Services

The Natural Step – Sustainability Life Cycle Analysis

Challenge

Overview

The Natural Step has developed the Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) tool for assessing product sustainability. The SLCA can be described as tool that provides a strategic overview of the full scope of social and ecological sustainability at the product level. It results in an analysis – using colors instead of numbers – that allows the company to see the major impact of today’s product through the whole lifecycle in relation to principle requirements of sustainability.

Rationale Behind the SLCA Tool

Traditional assessments of sustainability often begin with a particular problem. This can lead to
incremental efforts to be ‘less bad’ with insufficient consideration of strategic pathways towards full
sustainability. The SLCA tool uses an alternative approach that defines system boundaries in relation to
the objective of sustainability. This encourages us to consider everything relevant to sustainability and
not just look for and assess the most visible or currently known impacts.

The key issue is to enable designers and decision makers to focus upon the sustainable development
potential of the product and thereby ‘design out’ unsustainable aspects throughout the whole life cycle.
The question we ask is: How can the product be developed to meet human needs in a sustainable society
while reducing the risk of societal violation of the basic sustainability principles?

How it Works

The SLCA analysis begins with an overview of the whole system, considering all issues in the lifecycle that
are in conflict with Basic Principles of Sustainability (the four system conditions described on page 3). A
series of questions are completed for each life cycle stage to assess adherence to the system conditions.
The results from the questions are displayed in a five by four matrix with colors assigned based on the
answers. The colors provide a visual clue to where sustainability ‘hotspots’ occur in the product life cycle.

Multiple Uses of the SLCA Tool

The SLCA can be used for different purposes including, assessment, education and communication,
depending on the needs of the user.

Assessment

• Assess on a product level the companies current impacts and current initiatives with respect to the
  TNS Framework
• The summary matrix will indicate the areas of concern and identify of areas for future action and
  prioritization
• The questions can be revisited after a period of time, allowing a team to see where progress has
  been made on addressing “don’t know” areas and turning “no’s” into “yes’s”.

Education

• The process of completing the questionnaire raises awareness amongst the participants of
  sustainability in general and of the impacts of their own product.
• By gathering a range of people from across the whole lifecycle of a product, the process of
  completing the SLCA transfers learning across the team.

Communication

• Internal communication of sustainability issues can be enhanced by visual color representation in the
  SLCA summary matrix.
• The summary matrix can quickly and easily communicate the major areas of concern to people who
  may not have been involved in completing the questions.
• The SLCA can be used on any product, allowing separate product teams to communicate with a
  shared understanding after following a consistent process.

Background: SLCA and its Relationship to TNS Framework

The Natural Step Framework is often presented as a step by step planning process called the ABCD
planning methodology, as depicted below:

In the A-step, we undertake training to share the framework, including the funnel metaphor
representing the sustainability challenge, the process of backcasting, and the four system conditions.
These are the conditions for sustainability towards which we are working to comply in the long term:

In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing:

 

2. Concentrations of substances produced by society

3. Degradation by physical means

and, in that society, people are not subject to

4. Conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet their needs.

1. Concentrations of substances extracted from the earth’s crust

The SLCA tool corresponds to the B-step (baseline analysis) whereby sustainability issues can be
assessed with respect to the goal of sustainability using the sustainability principles above. It helps to tell
us our starting point and what we need to address from a sustainability perspective.

Creating a vision within the constraints of the sustainability principles is necessary (Step C) to establish a
more specific direction and set of goals to work towards.

Finally, actions can be prioritized by considering the gap between B and C (where we are and where we
want to be in the future) in the D-step.

Using the SLCA

Outline of a participatory Process

The development of the SLCA is intended as a participatory process, with relevant key functions and
input from the company’s personnel. Standard process for performing a Sustainability LCA for a product,
is within a period of 2-4 months. The process is important for creating awareness, knowledge and
understanding of the product and sustainability. Between meetings the SLCA will be continuously
developed for the specific product. During the process the project group will have “homework” and TNSI
will act as facilitator and give feedback.

SLCA Tool

The SLCA tool creates a matrix with each square representing the adherence to the system conditions
against each life cycle stage. Underpinning each square is a series of questions to ascertain the key
impacts of the life stage for each of the system conditions.

By utilizing the system conditions for sustainability, the SLCA has been developed with a focus on
‘designing out’ unsustainable aspects throughout the whole life cycle. This is a more strategic and
systematic approach, as opposed to a focus on simply minimizing the known negative impacts. It reduces
the chance that by creating a ‘solution’ in one part of the system that problems are simply transferred
somewhere else or that entirely new and unforeseen problems are being unintentionally created. It is of
little use to create an assessment tool focusing on only one point in the life cycle of products if the
solutions generated problems elsewhere in the rest of the supply chain.

SLCA Questions

There is an e-version of the SLCA questionnaire that has been created as an excel file. There is a set of
questions for each cell of the SLCA matrix. In total there are around 140 questions. The Questions deal
with both:

1. Current status with respect to sustainability principles; and

2. Actions to make progress

The questions are designed to be answered in a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ manner and are categorized 3 ways:

 

2) by system condition – to assess how products are unsustainable from a full systems perspective

3) by ‘current status’ and ‘progress’ – to provide a full measure of where we are today by recognizing

both sustainability impacts and activities already initiated to address them.

1) by life cycle – to provide a life cycle view of product impacts

The bullet points listed below gives the big picture and summarizes the areas covered by the questions
for each life cycle stage, with examples from one company.

The questionnaire should be answered by a team that has knowledge across the lifecycle of their product
or service (e.g. marketing, logistics, production manager, supply manager, design). The length of time it
takes to complete the questionnaire depends on the depth of knowledge available on the day and the
amount of discussion that takes place. The questionnaire can be completed in one afternoon or
completed over a period of time by coming back to it with additional information that may change an
answer.

From the answers a colour-code is automatically allocated to each cell and this builds to reveal a
completed matrix showing where there are ‘red’ problem areas through to ‘green’ areas where they are
doing well (see below).

Strategy

Result

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Professional Services

Busby Perkins + Will

Challenge

In the current state of the architectural industry, simply designing LEED®-rated projects is no longer unique, nor especially innovative. In 2001, when Busby Perkins+Will began applying LEED to its projects, we realized that wasn’t enough to make the significant environmental impact that we wanted. In 2004, we committed to making sustainability more than just a mission statement, but inherent in how we work and how we live. Combining the knowledge from the firm’s thought leaders with the passion of each member of our 1600-person staff, sustainable design has become the DNA of our corporate culture. Moreover, Busby Perkins+Will’s green leadership influences an ever expanding audience through our body of work that proves that sustainability can be a business driver that results in lower operating costs and increased employee and client satisfaction. More than just architecture, we also research, educate, and are heavily involved in the development of public and corporate policy and sustainability guidelines.

Strategy

Busby Perkins+Will has accomplished this cultural shift by crafting three living handbooks that codified the firm’s goals and tactics: the Sustainable Design Initiative (SDI) Strategic Plan 2004 and 2007 and the Green Operations Plan. The SDI Plan is definitive and the results quantifiable, in addition to being flexible enough to apply to our variety of office sizes and locations that vary from 5 staff members to 250.

The SDI Plan, released in 2004, defined five core areas: Education and Training, Research, Leadership Projects, Administration, and Marketing. It identified the key personnel responsible for implementing various aspects of the plan, the relationships that exist between offices, interrelated firm initiatives, and an accounting of all LEED Accredited Professionals. For example, in 2004, with the rapid uptake of the LEED Rating System, we saw the tool as an efficient, measurable catalyst to implement sustainable design strategies firmwide. The firm recognized that this process had to be implemented with a “top-down” policy where all of management were required to attain LEED accreditation by the end of 2004 and all new professional architectural staff are required to attain accreditation within six months of employment. To ensure further implementation, each office creates a Green Team Leader, who organizes support groups, conducts weekend workshops and prepares training sessions to facilitate the education process.

The Green Operations Plan, introduced on Earth Day 2005, is a comprehensive guide to ensure that our facilities and day-to-day operations are environmentally responsible. We targeted Transportation, Water Use, Energy Use, Office Consumables and Indoor Air Quality as key areas in which to target improvement. We also added the additional mandate of Office Renovations and Construction. The next iteration of the SDI Plan, Broader Goals: SDI Plan 2007 – 2010, set a new design and operating paradigm and infuses all aspects of our work and operations. The four basic goals are: all projects should include fundamental strategies to meet the 2030 Challenge, exclude the use of toxic materials, reduce use of potable water and respect social and environmental stewardship; deliver holistic and integrated design services to our clients through inhouse expertise and external collaboration; achieve the most advanced sustainable design solutions available in the design and construction industry for our clients and communities; and reduce the negative impact of our operations on the environment by examining our tools, activities and partnerships and selecting options that align with our goal of establishing a sustainable future.

To further our corporate sustainability goals: in 2007 we became the first multi-office company to adopt the 2030 Challenge, pledging to design projects for carbon neutrality by the year 2030; in 2008, we publicly launched our 2030e2 tool to help designers establish 2030-compliant energy design goals for their projects; and in 2009 we officially launched our Precautionary List to highlight chemicals that have negative health issues, associate them with classes of building materials, and describe available alternatives in an effort to push the building industry to embrace healthier buildings.

We are currently undertaking our third SDI strategic planning session that will set a roadmap to design even deeper green and restorative buildings between 2010-2015. As part of this effort, we will also be updating our Green Operations Plan to reflect new best practices in business operations.

Result

The successful implementation of measurable strategies over 22 offices has made us one of the primary industry leaders of sustainable design, in practice and in operations.

To date, Busby Perkins+Will has:

• Gone from zero to approximately 1,100 LEED APs since 2001 (more than any other design firm according to Building Design+Construction for the past three years)

• Completed 60 LEED Certified, 9 LEED Platinum and 30 LEED Gold projects and hundreds of LEED Registered projects. Of our LEED Platinum projects, we have:

 

- the first LEED Platinum Certified multi-family residential project in North America (Vento)

- highest Platinum Certified rating ever for LEED for Core and Shell (Dockside Inspiration)

- the first project in the world to achieve Stage Two LEED for Neighbourhood Development

certification (Dockside Green)

- the highest-scoring LEED Platinum Certified project in the world (Dockside Synergy)

• Multiple LEED faculty and LEED subject matter experts for BD+C, ID+C, NC, CI and EB

• CaGBC Local Chapter Board representation and National Board and Committee representation

and USGBC National Board and Committee representation

• AIA and Committee on the Environment (COTE) Board and membership representation

• Three projects selected for participation in the Clinton Climate Initiative and USGBC’s “Climate

Positive Development Program”

• Two 2009 AIA COTE award winning projects

• 2008 and 2009 Practice Greenhealth “Champion for Change” Award

• 2008 CoreNet Sustainable Leadership Award for Sustainable Development

• Been recognized as a 2009 Canada’s Greenest Employer by Maclean’s magazine

• Contributors to the USGBC’s Playbook for Green Buildings and Neighborhoods and editors of the LEED for Healthcare Reference Guide

• Pledged to the 1% Solution through Public Architecture, which connects nonprofit organizations with design firms willing to donate 1% of their time annually, pro bono

• Authored two books focused on sustainable design: Busby: Learning Sustainable Design by Peter Busby and Sustainable Healthcare Architecture by Robin Guenther

Implementation of the Green Operations Plan has decreased our CO2 emissions by 600 tonnes in 2007 and 2008, and we are working towards that reduction every year. As a result, we have been a carbon neutral organization for operations through the purchase of offsets since 2007. We are the first office in British Columbia to implement real-time water metering and data; and we have implemented a firmwide recycle and reuse competition called Pass the Trash where the office that diverts the most waste wins.

Professional Services

Debrand Services

Challenge

Driving Force: Each and every day across Canada thousands of tons of solid waste are thrown into local landfills surrounding our cities. Disregarded plastic bottles, packaging and the like have found their way into our oceans, creating the world’s largest landfill in the middle of the Pacific, commonly known as the Great Pacific Garbage dump.
It is hard to deny the fact that the last century, the century of the consumer has had the most significant impact on the deterioration of our natural environment. The time has come for citizens, politicians and corporations to band together and change the way we make use of the world’s resources. It is time for accountability, creativity and resolution.

Key Issues:

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency trade shows and conventions have been called out as the second most wasteful industry only behind that of building construction. While not included in this study, the marketing industry can indirectly be linked to the tradeshow business as an obvious contributor to waste across North America. The very nature of marketing and its dependence on innovation, creativity and the emergence of new products make waste an inevitable byproduct. Corporations world-wide spend millions of dollars every week on the emergence of new marketing campaigns leaving a trail of litter in their wake. Despite global concern and awareness around environmental issues, corporations are not being held accountable for the responsible disposal of their marketing waste.

Stakeholders:

Canadian corporations, all levels of government, environmental protection agencies, citizens

Strategy

Main Objective:

Reduce the environmental impact of the marketing industry (events, retail, commercial) by repurposing or recycling unwanted marketing property (i.e displays, fixtures, signage, and equipment) The removal of all identifying marks including logos, slogans, designs and treatments provide brand protection while also protecting the environment, avoiding “brand-fill” or a clearly recognizable layer in the landfill.

Actions:

de-brand specializes in repurposing and recycling materials, thereby diverting them from the landfill and reducing waste. de-brand offers de-installation for on-site exhibits and events, material collection and hauling, removal of branding (identifying marks) and the responsible allocation of these components. As a pioneer of environmental disposal, de-brand provides the marketing industry with a necessary and responsible solution. This past summer de-brand worked with the 2009 World Police and Fire Games in Vancouver, BC Canada. de-brand provided front-end
environmental consultation specifically around material selection and production. The selection of materials and the choice of responsible production methods helped reduce the footprint of this large scale event. On the back-end de-brand collected a large assortment of event marketing materials including large branded signs, fence scrim, course tape, way finding signage among others. The de-brand team removed all identifying marks, shredded and recycled and or repurposed the materials. The corrugated plastic signage alone was allocated to a local plastic recycler saving over 2 tones of plastic from ending up in the landfill. The progressive and commendable strategy of engaging de-brand as a responsible partner, helped the 2009 World Police and Fire Games greatly reduce their impact on the local environment while also providing brand security.

Challenges:

Currently the greatest challenges facing the marketing industry and the environment lay with two main issues:

Corporate Accountability. At this stage corporations have never had to ask the question of what does happen after the event or campaign is over? What does happen to all the items they’ve created to launch a new product or initiative? Marketing will always demand new and creative avenues to attract consumer attention. The challenge given the current economic climate and the lack of accountability leaves environmental leadership a matter of convenience rather than responsibility. If the strategy to reduce waste and limit impact ends up costing the corporation money it is often abandoned. For now corporations are not being held accountable for the waste they produce and until there are consequences for these actions nothing will change.

Back-end infrastructure. The other main issue involves the lack of infrastructure to support the recycling and/or waste management industry. Each municipality hosts different capabilities to manage reusable materials. In some cases certain textiles, plastics and compostable items simply have no way of being effectively recycled or processed. Corporations and governments need to invest in technology and infrastructure to support this industry and help provide a more efficient and cost effective means of re-using materials rather than simply throwing them away.

Result

In the case of the 2009 World Police and Fire Games over 90% of the materials collected from the event were recycled or repurposed, this would equal more than 3 tonnes of waste. This is just one example from thousands of similar events that happen every year in Canada. The idea of asking each of us to be held accountable for what we create in this world seems simple and perhaps even natural. By remaining responsible for something even after its value to us is gone makes us aware of the impact it can have on our environment. Corporations, governments and even individuals would likely produce more efficiently, waste less and greatly limit the impact on our fragile environment. de-brand is just one solution to a very large world problem that can no longer be overlooked. Corporations should be leaders in our communities and continue to affect change by making responsible choices for our world.

Professional Services

Novex Delivery Solutions

Challenge

For the past 20 years Novex operated as a traditional same day courier focusing on sales and competing on price. After years of falling sales and facing a shirking bottom line, Novex was in need of change. Novex was placed into receivership in 2000 and was acquired by a new ownership group, Paradigm Partners, who had a reputation for conducting business differently.

One partner, Robert Safrata, had the vision to transform Novex to a sustainable company, not only to re-position Novex in the marketplace but because it was the right way to do business. The shift in business practices would also leverage Novex into a favourable position in the “green” movement which was quickly becoming an important issue with businesses and consumers. The challenge was how to transform Novex’s operations to embrace sustainable business practices while in a financial precarious position.

Strategy

The partnership group and management developed the “Shift to Green” sustainability strategy which transformed the foundation of Novex’s operations. One of the first steps was to change our performance standards to measure social and environmental objectives as well as financial targets. People, Planet, and Profit, was now our mantra that measured the success of our organization.

The next step was to develop a management system that will govern all aspects of our operations. To give additional credibility we registered our Environmental Management System (EMS) to ISO 14001, the first local courier company in Canada to obtain such credentials. The EMS governs all of our environmental programs and initiatives, which include the development of our “clean” fleet, paper reduction strategy, and energy conservation program. Our clean fleet program is our most ambitious program.

We understand that the nature of our business contributes to the growing environmental problem and in accepting our responsibility we must make a commitment to do the right thing. Our goal is to have a fleet that is 100% “clean”; vehicles using alternative fuels such as natural gas and biodiesel or ultra low emission (ULEV) rated vehicles, by 2015. Creating an entire fleet of “clean” vehicles is especially challenging considering that all of our drivers are owner/operators and cannot be mandated to use a specific vehicle.

To accomplish this, we are working together with our Mobile Media division. Novex Mobile Media was created to fulfill an advertising void in the Lower Mainland. Mobile Media places full or partial wrap advertisements on our “clean” vehicles. Mobile advertisements on our fleet have been proven to be more dynamic than static billboards and reach a larger audience at a lower cost per view, all the while being eco-friendly. In turn, the advertising revenue is given to the drivers to subsidize the cost of a “clean” vehicle creating a win-win-win situation. The sustainability strategy continues to require a commitment from every level in our company. Within a few short years, Novex was reaping the people, planet and profit benefits.

Result

Novex has seen a significant return on its investment to more than justify its shift towards a sustainable business model. We increased sales by 32% since the implementation of the “Shift to Green” strategy. Profitability also increased and became more stable than at anytime in our history. The increase in financial performance is a direct result from new operational efficiencies and the increase in green procurement from the business community, both small and large organizations.

We witnessed the growing value of sustainability components in large proposals from such institutions like banks, universities and government agencies. As well, we continue to capitalize on the growing “green” industry as these businesses make it a requirement to use Novex. As a result we have won lucrative contracts as a direct result from our commitment to sustainability.

Environmental Results

Novex’s clean fleet was launched with great success, securing Honda and Vancity as initial advertisers. The growing clean fleet saves approximately 88 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year or, in other words, removes 44 vehicles from the Lower Mainland roads. We have increased our “clean” fleet to encompass 48% of our entire fleet. Even with the sharp reduction in our carbon footprint, we decided to take it a step further by becoming carbon neutral.

We partnered with Offsetters to provide verifiable local offsets to help lessen our impact on our environment, becoming the only carbon neutral courier in Canada. We also made significant environmental savings including reducing our paper consumption from 61 new trees to less than 1. We accomplished this by switching to 100% chlorine free, post-consumer waste paper, which does not contain any new tree fiber. In the past five years we have reduced our paper consumption by 77% by enforcing double sided printing and introducing electronic billing. Energy consumption has also seen significant reductions by using energy efficient lights, energy efficient equipment and light sensors. We have been able to reduce our electricity consumption by 20% despite significant growth in our operations. As well, we have been able to reduce heating consumption by 60% simply by adjusting our thermostat and increasing awareness among staff members.

Novex’s strength is its ability to lead and innovate, which is demonstrated through our most recent initiatives; electric vehicles and digital courier. We will soon become one of the first companies to utilize electric trucks from Smith Electric. These fully electric trucks are expected to join our “clean” fleet in early 2010 and will have the capacity to carry large freight shipments in a clean, efficient manner. Our most recent innovation, Novex Digital Courier, allows conventionally couriered documents requiring signatures to be sent and signed legally via the Internet. Sending signed documents in this manner significantly reduces the environmental impacts of paper consumption and green house gas emissions.

Over several years, Novex has demonstrated the entrepreneurial spirit, innovation and determination essential to challenge the conventional business model of an established industry. We are now communicating our challenges and successes to the rest of the business community to show that sustainability and profit are not mutually exclusive, but a necessity to compete in today’s environment. Through our leadership and commitment to sustainability, Novex is proving that small-medium sized businesses can make a difference and influence change in how business is conducted.

Professional Services

Robert Bateman

Challenge

The challenge facing the Get to Know Program has been to reverse the trend of declining environmental literacy among younger generations. The attainment of a greater understanding of the natural world, and getting to know the wildlife within it, is fundamental to a greater appreciation of the importance of making sustainable and green choices in the future. One survey has found, for example, that environmentally knowledgeable people are:

10% more likely to save energy in the home;
50% more likely to recycle;
10% more likely to purchase environmentally safe products;
50% more likely to avoid using chemicals in yard care;
31% more likely to conserve water;
And twice as likely to donate funds to conservation.

Those who possess a broader environmental literacy, moreover, are likely to have a more engaging and active lifestyle, making the challenge all the more pronounced.Environmental literacy is a key skill that leads to a stronger environmental stewardship and commitment to sustainable living among future business leaders and the consumers of tomorrow. Without this proper base of knowledge, how can we expect individual consumers of the future to pursue sustainable alternatives, or corporations to continue to develop more sustainable business practices?

This is the challenge that the Get to Know Program has chosen to confront. To truly reverse this trend, a further challenge developed: the need to initiate and manage a vast network of both non-profit organizations and large corporate sponsors that would provide both the fiscal contribution and the platform necessary for the Get to Know initiative to reach its targeted demographic.

Strategy

The strategic approach taken by the Get to Know program involves the consideration and implementation of three key principles:

1. The need to Engage with various partnering organizations and corporations to reach the greatest number of young people. In order to promote the program, the Get to Know Society looked to foster and maintain relationships with key organizations such as the Canadian Wildlife Federation and the National Wildlife Federation in the United States. In addition, a significant portion of this particular strategic element has focused on identifying and connecting with community relations initiatives within major corporations, in an effort to secure the funding and corporate support necessary to sustain the vision of the Get to Know Program.

2. A focus on Education and awareness, providing schools, youth organizations, and local and national parks with the resources necessary to establish creative and dynamic curriculum in environmental education. A number of these resources have been created and distributed through the financial support and sponsorship of various stakeholders including: school boards and teachers’ associations; corporations; local, provincial and national governments; and various non-profit organizations. This approach led to such initiatives as:

Virtual Hikes, an interactive website and CD designed to help youth become familiar with local parks. Each hike contains detailed species profiles, all researched and verified by leading wildlife professionals, interesting facts about local wildlife, and information about various ecosystems;
Natural Treasure, an adventure style game with the purpose of helping children engage with nature in a fun and exciting way. The Natural Treasure program begins outdoors in local parks, where the participant is required to find various hidden clues, and continues online in the Natural Treasure “clubhouse,” where participants can learn more about the park they just visited;
Specially-designed lesson plans to aid teachers in challenging students to become aware of nature, and to understand the challenges facing the environment;
The Get to Know Art, Photography and Writing Contest, now celebrating its Tenth Anniversary, in which young people are encouraged to personally connect with nature through the arts;
The establishment of a Speaker’s Bureau, a collection of influential individuals able to speak on a variety of topics within schools, local events, and in corporate settings.

3. To encourage the Exploration of the outdoors itself, through school programs, local events and sponsorship of partner-based initiatives. The Get to Know Program is predicated on making young people first comfortable with going outdoors through education; research has indicated that a chief reason for young people’s reluctance to engage with nature is because they are uncomfortable with what they do not know about nature. Education, however, is designed to rectify this and to then encourage them to go outdoors and explore for themselves.

Result

Over the course of ten years, the Robert Bateman Get to Know Program has continued to grow in all strategic areas. To date, the various initiatives have received major support from over a dozen major corporations, including: Walmart, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, Shaw, Fortis Alberta, Hemmera, Panasonic and Chevron. The Get to Know Program has also fostered a number of unprecedented partnerships from both sides of the border, bringing together over one hundred organizations, including: Parks Canada, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Wildlife Habitat Canada, Nature Canada and the National Wildlife Federation. Such support reflects the priority placed on the need to reconnect young people with nature.

The success of the program can also be measured by the educational resources that have been developed and the scope of their implementation. The Virtual Hikes CD, for example, has been distributed and is in use in over 2200 schools in schools in, and around, the cities of Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto. Further expansion is planned for more hikes in Manitoba, the Greater Toronto Area and, starting in 2010, California. The evolution of the Virtual Hikes project has also seen it develop from an interactive CD to an online version that provides more opportunities to explore the outdoors online. The Virtual Hike has also been recognized by the teaching community: in 2008 it was awarded the Alberta School Boards Association 2008 Friends of Education Award for its outstanding contribution to education.

Finally, the success of the program has been evident in its proven ability to motivate young people to go outside and explore nature for themselves. Numerous testimonials from teachers, local park officials and school administrators attests to this fact. The Get to Know Program is meeting the challenge – with the help of numerous corporate sponsorship and support – of engaging young people with nature, with the hope of ultimately realizing the dream of a more sustainable future.