Green business certification

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A Green Business is a socially responsible business that adopts the best management practices of conserving energy and other natural resources through adoption of pollution prevention and waste reduction practices in order to increase sustainability. This will increase profits, improve community well being and reduce the negative impact on the environment. Green also includes the health impact of the workplace and the community, whereas sustainability lends itself to the better management of our resources.

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Benefits of Going Green

Businesses that adopt green strategies and practices realize a number of positive outcomes. A socially responsible business can increase profitable opportunities by operating more efficiently and reducing all forms of waste. Green businesses have the opportunity to develop better relationships among regulatory governing bodies and benefit from positive publicity for being environmentally conscientious. Developing a green business strategy can create a marketing advantage over the competition for being an environmental leader because investors and customers demand environmental responsibility. Green businesses reduce their dependence on costly resources and thus reduce costs over time. Green businesses also create a healthier and safer working environment for employees and provide a higher quality workplace atmosphere.

Benefits of Green Certification

Due to the complexity of modern green business practices the vagaries of eco-marketing, and the increasing interest in green products and efforts, some companies 'green wash' their routine efforts to appear green. To address this, many companies have turned to certification in order to demonstrate measurable achievement of recognized standards that differentiate themselves and enhance their reputation. Several different green business certification programs are currently available. The advantages of going the extra step and becoming certified allow customers, investors, and governing bodies to confirm that the business is meeting established standards for green practices. (See also, the green washing section) Certification programs also help to assure a reduction in operational costs because they require business to meet guidelines that have been proven to be efficient and cost-effective. Businesses that become certified also establish their long-term commitment to the economy, environment, and society as well as demonstrates business integrity.

Potential Benefits:

1. Improve operational efficiency and effectiveness

2. Reduce pollution, waste and greenhouse gas emissions

3. Increase employee satisfaction, retention and productivity

4. Save natural resources such as water and energy

5. Develop a good relationship with governments and local compliance inspectors

6. Avoid liability, fines and other sanctions

7. Gain a competitive advantage by differentiating from the competition

8. Protect the business from increasing water and energy prices

9. Meet investor demands and corporate sustainability goals

Environmental Impact

Comprehensive Report on the Environmental Impact of Businesses Going Green is available through the State of Green Business 2009 Special Report

Major Impacts:

LEED certified buildings operate on about a quarter less energy than conventional buildings, have saved the U.S. 9.5 billion gallons of water, and building occupants have driven 400 million fewer miles since 2004.

The energy required to create every dollar of gross domestic product has dropped more than 75 percent since 1950. New technologies have significantly increased energy efficiency and consumers are more likely to purchase energy efficient products.

The U.S. economy used roughly 25% less water in the past 10 years and businesses are realizing the financial benefit of using water more efficiently.

Steps of Development to Certification

There are several different levels of being green. A company may develop one or more ‘green’ products but not necessarily be environmentally compliant or fully ‘green’. Before a company can become a green business, it must be essentially compliant with environmental regulations and then determine: what are the significant environmental impacts; what goals are important; how to reach those goals; and promote the successes.

(A) Measure and analyze Environmental Footprint

Conduct comprehensive ecological footprint assessment of business operations
Partner with companies that offer ecological footprint services
Identify risks and cost savings of sustainability improvements
Measuring an environmental footprint will set the foundation for determining the largest environmental concerns and the priority areas for developing an Environmental Management Plan.
Train a Certified Sustainability Officer who will prepare and implement a sustainability plan.
Work with a Certified Green Consultant who will offer guidance, conduct and audit, and prepare a sustainability plan.

(B) Create an Environmental Management Plan

Comply with environmental regulations
Establish an environmental policy and strategy for achieving sustainability
Adopt green business strategies that increase opportunities for profitability
Communicate environmental responsibilities to employees and creates training programs to ensure environmental responsibility

(C) Establish Sustainability Goals and set objectives to reduce environmental footprint

Determine strategic plan to reduce footprint by creating short and long term sustainability goals
Create specific objectives for sustainability that are measurable and recognizable
Determine method of reporting sustainability improvements and evaluate alternatives for future activities in sustainability

(D) Create Green Business Practices that:

Utilizes energy efficient methods of conducting business to reduce carbon footprint
Creates waste reduction practices and a water efficiency program
Builds a green workplace facility and purchases environmentally preferred products
Reduces or prevents pollution and creation of hazardous waste

(E) Create a Green Marketing Strategy that:

Reports sustainability improvements and reductions in corporate environmental footprint
Joins and participates in environmentally responsible partnerships and stewardship programs
Promotes benefits and positive outcomes from green business strategies
Uses green business certification to create a beneficial public image

--Details on the steps to developing a Green business is available at Business.gov

Best Practices

Comprehensive Resource Guides for Best Practices

Water Conservation-Use water as efficiently as possible in order to conserve natural sources of fresh water and minimize energy requirements of water treatment facilities. Techniques include using low flow equipment; reusing gray water; capturing stormwater; planting native plants that don’t require irrigation; converting cooling systems to closed loop cooling instead of once through non-contact cooling water; on-site treatment and reuse; etc. The EPA sponsored WaterSense program helps businesses and consumers choose quality, water-efficient products.
Environmentally Preferred Purchasing-Purchase recycled or environmentally preferred products that minimize the impact on human and environmental health such as energy consumption, toxicity, air and water pollution impact, materials efficiency (such as packaging), and the disposal impact at the end of its useful life. StopWaste.org has a comprehensive resource guide for environmentally preferable products focused on business purchasing. The EPA/DOE Energy Star program also provides purchasing and procurement resources for commercial and residential products.
Hazardous Waste Management-Reduce hazardous waste generation where non-hazardous alternatives are available. This reduces liability and disposal costs. Ensure safe and adequate management of hazardous waste by establishing a program for regulating the storage, generation, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste in order to protect human and environmental health. The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection provides a hazardous waste fact sheet for businesses that supplies information about federal hazardous waste regulations.
Waste Reduction and Recycling-Reduce the amount of waste generated by creating a waste reduction program that focuses on reducing, re-using, and recycling used resources. Get recognition for waste reduction efforts by joining the EPA WasteWise program.
Energy Efficiency-Increasing energy efficiency and reducing the amount of energy consumed by using energy efficient products and practices in all area of business operations. The Energy Star program offers businesses a proven energy management strategy that helps in measuring current energy performance, setting goals, tracking savings, and rewarding improvements.

Standard Outline for Green Business Certifications

Every certification process is different depending on whether the focus is on a building, process, product, etc. It will also vary depending on the industry concern (hospitals & schools =health, manufacturing & offices =energy, waste). In general, a green business will need to address the following areas.

Organizational Commitment-Establish a team that is committed to organizational sustainability and sets the purpose, vision, mission, and values of the business. A complete understanding of the relationships with partners, stakeholders, customers, and business leaders is essential for proper organizational structure and support.

Regulatory Compliance-Strive to be in full compliance with all local, state and federal environmental regulations and requirements. The commitment to being green or sustainable is questionable unless built on a solid foundation of regulatory compliance.

Assessment of Environmental Impacts-Complete an environmental impacts assessment of your organization’s major environmental impacts including waste creation, water use, and energy consumption.

Sustainability Planning, Goal Setting, and Action-Develop a sustainability plan, incorporating the results of your impacts assessment and set goals for reducing impacts as well as a monitoring program to measure progress toward sustainability plan goals.

Demonstrated Environmental Impact Reductions-Summarize your organization’s key results reflecting how your organization’s Green Strategy, Environmental Compliance Initiatives, and Corporate Social Responsibility are being met. Make sustainability progress reports publicly available and show evidence of achieving or exceeding reduction targets.

Environmental Education and Training-provide an environmental sustainability awareness course to all employees and business leaders.

Green Wash

Greenwashing is the practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly. An example would be a company saying they reduced their wastes and were more energy efficient but this was only true because production was down, or for a hotel, room rentals was down. The reduction was not due to any concerted effort to reduce these environmental impacts. Another example is to rename an existing product and label it as ‘natural’ but there is not universal standard for what ‘natural’ means. For information on information on many eco-labels, go to: http://www.greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/eco-home.cfm?redirect=1 .

Some certifications like a few state green lodging programs and ISO 14001 come close to a full business certification but few do. When considering whether a business is green, consider the goals of the certifications claimed by the business. Because a company has several green certified buildings does not certify that the business manufacture ‘green’ products or have environmentally friendly processes. Also note that even if a business manufactures a certified green product, does not necessarily mean the company processes are green. Example of this is the manufacture of an Energy Star appliance. It may be energy efficient but was the manufacturing process environmentally friendly? Product certification does not even assure that the company even in compliance. However, typically a company interested in working in a certified green building or producing a certified green product is more inclined to address environmental issues in the entire business setting.

All certifications are not created equal either. The lowest level of certification include those that involve the company determining their own compliance. This includes product certifications created by the manufacturer for their own products and certifications that only require the company to pay membership and perhaps self audit goals. These ‘take my word for it’ certifications have no independent confirmation of a product or business maintaining any green standard. There are also numerous website certifications that offer an elaborate "self-auditing" process through online forms. These web-based programs call such services an "Audit" when it is self-assessment. The deception passes to the business which then displays a Green logo that was merely bought online. The highest level of certification includes those that require a review and certification by an independent third party. These typically are the more expensive certifications to cover the review process. This includes EPA’s Design for the Environment, certified sustainable wood programs and green building programs GreenBuilt, the Green Business League, and US Green Building Council (USGBC).

Greenpeace provides information and resources about greenwashing and lists their greenwashing criteria. There is really only one sure cure for greenwashing, and that is certification by a live audit by a program that is larger than a city or state committee that may lose funding in the future.

Certification Programs

Note that some certifications listed below are primarily for products or buildings. There are few certifications of whole businesses due to the complexity.

National Certifications

Green Business League Green Business League (Audited by Professional Auditors)

Green Business Bureau Green Business Bureau (Audited)

Global Reporting Initiative (Reporting Framework Provider)

Green Seal Certification (Audited) (Currently Under Development)

Green C Certification (Audited)

EarthRight Business Institute (Audited)

The Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program (Audited)

The B Rating System (Audited)

State and Regional Certifications

Omaha Green Business Certification

Montgomery County, MD Green Business Certification