Category Archives: Office Management

“Recovering Green” Doing More with Less in Business (Video)

by tgilbrea69
Posted on February 21, 2011 by tgilbrea69

[vimeo 11371001 w=400 h=300]

“Recovering Green” with Andrew Winston – Sustainability, Business from Sustainable Brands on Vimeo.

Andrew Winston explains why one of the hallmarks of a sustainable businesses is an ability to do more with less. Viewed through this lens, green initiatives transform from costly luxuries to powerful recession-fighting, profit-making tools. The book shows how leaders — including Boeing, Disney, DuPont, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, and Wal-Mart — are ramping up efficiency, innovation, and employee motivation to save money quickly and preserve capital that can be reinvested for future growth.

Learn more about Sustainable Business & Design at: sustainablelifemedia.com

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Apple: Sustainability, Child Labor, Bribes and Suicide

by tgilbrea69
Posted on February 15, 2011 by tgilbrea69

From Mac Observer. Apple released its 2011 Progress Report for Apple Supplier Sustainability Monday, ahead of next week’s Apple shareholder meeting. The report offers several examples of Apple improving worker conditions, employer practices, material sourcing, and other changes in its supply chain, including a 24.5% increase in the number of independent audits on work sites in that chain.

Auditing the Supply Chain

In 2009, Apple conducted 102 such audits, including 83 “first-time” audits at facilities that the company had not examined in the past. The other 19 audits were repeat audits at facilities previously visited by the company’s auditors. In 2010, Apple conducted a grand total of 127 audits — one ever 2.87 days — including 97 first-time audits and 30 repeat audits.

“We extended our compliance monitoring program deeper into our supply base,” Apple wrote in its report. “In 2010, we completed first-time audits of 97 facilities and comprehensive repeat audits of 30 facilities, for a total of 288 supplier facilities audited since 2007.”

The results of those audits, according to Apple, show that Apple has improved compliance with its Apple Supplier Code of conduct, which includes the requirement that workers have the right to collective bargaining, waste management standards, worker safety standards, and other aspects of corporate responsibility.

The Problem of Child Labor

From the Guardian. Apple found more than 91 children working at its suppliers last year, nine times as many as the previous year, according to its annual report on its manufacturers.

The US company has also acknowledged for the first time that 137 workers were poisoned at a Chinese firm making its products and said less than a third of the facilities it audited were complying with its code on working hours.

Apple usually refuses to comment on which firms make its goods, but came under increased scrutiny last year following multiple suicides at electronics giant Foxconn, one of its main suppliers.

Last month, anti-pollution activists accused the firm of being more secretive about its supply chain in China than almost all of its rivals.

The report says Apple found 91 children working at 10 facilities. The previous year it found 11 at three workplaces.

It ordered most to pay the children’s education costs but fired one contractor which was using 42 minors and had “chosen to overlook the issue”, the company said. It also reported the vocational school that had arranged the employment to the authorities for falsifying student IDs and threatening retaliation against pupils who revealed their ages.

Apple said it had strengthened its checks on age because of concerns about the falsification of ages by such schools and labour agencies. It also audited 127 facilities last year, mostly for the first time, compared with 102 in 2009.

Bribery Attempts Found

From The Register. The report also asserts, Apple terminated business with one facility at which management “presented falsified payroll records and provided misleading interview answers to Apple’s audit team,” and with another at which a facility manager “offered cash to Apple’s third-party auditors, asking them to reduce the number of audit findings.

Suicide at Foxconn

Another section of the report delves into the spate of suicides and reports of maltreatment at Foxconn’s giant assembly plant in Shenzhen, China. In June 2010, Apple COO and Steve Jobs–stand-in Tim Cook met with Foxconn CEO Terry Gou – a meeting the resulted in Apple commissioning a team of suicide-prevention experts to “conduct a deeper investigation into the suicides, evaluate Foxconn’s response, and recommend strategies for supporting workers’ mental health in the future.”

During July, that team independently surveyed 1,000 Foxconn employees, interviewed some workers “face to face”, met with managers, and “evaluated working and living conditions firsthand.” In August, the team “commended” Foxconn for such improvements as hiring psychological counselors, establishing a 24/7 care center, and “even attaching large nets to the factory buildings to prevent impulsive suicides.” Foxconn’s actions, the report concludes, “definitely saved lives.”

Please help yourself to the following FREE Apple wallpapers

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Sustainability: Bring a vision into action (Financial Post)

by tgilbrea69
Posted on February 15, 2011 by tgilbrea69

Great article from the Financial Post. Most executives I speak with acknowledge sustainability’s strategic imperative. A few of them have understood the transformational impact of sustainability and have moved boldly to realign their operations and cultures in order to reap significant business value. This value creation includes tangible outcomes such as improved brand image and supply chain efficiencies as well as intangible benefits like enhanced employee morale and greater appeal to new recruits. While the majority of organizations have similar ambitious goals, many are unclear how to turn intent into results.

Recently, MIT’s Sloan Management Review looked at how companies were responding to the emergence of sustainability as a mainstream business driver. The study found that most organizations fall into one of two groups: a select group of embracers and the masses of cautious adopters. Embracers such as GE, Unilever, Walmart, P&G and SAP recognized early that they can leverage sustainability strategically to outflank competition, drive brand differentiation and revitalize supply chains. To bring this vision into action, the embracers quickly integrated sustainability strategies and practices into the core of their business and organizational models. The results have been impressive: enhanced corporate reputations, significant supply chain savings, higher product margins and a lower environmental footprint .

On the other hand, the cautious adopters have been more reactive and timid. They see sustainability as important but within the context of efficiency gains and risk management. In their planning, sustainability is pursued as a series of tactical initiatives executed within their current organizational model. In most cases, results have been modest with little appreciable change in competitive position. Not surprisingly, cautious adopters will be challenged to overtake the embracers as long as they continue to treat sustainability in such an incremental fashion.

For a description of the following integration strategies, visit the original post HERE.

  • Move early even if there is incomplete information
  • Balance a long-term vision with concrete short term wins
  • Integrate sustainability into the organizational structure and operations
  • Leverage top-down and bottom-up commitment
  • Make Sustainability integral to key product, service and supply chain decisions
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More Than Two-Thirds of Companies Plan to Increase Their Commitment to Sustainability

by tgilbrea69
Posted on February 11, 2011 by tgilbrea69

CAMBRIDGE, MA — (Marketwire) — 02/10/11 — Despite the economic downturn and tenuous recovery, more than two-thirds of businesses are strengthening their commitment to sustainability, according to a new global study by MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR) and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The study, released today in a report titled Sustainability: The ‘Embracers’ Seize Advantage, found that 69 percent of companies plan to step up their investment in and management of sustainability this year. Just over one-quarter (26 percent) plan no change, and only 2 percent intend to cut back on their commitment.

The second annual Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Study by MIT SMR and BCG comprises a survey of more than 3,100 corporate leaders representing every major industry and region of the world and more than 30 in-depth interviews with experts from a range of disciplines, such as energy science, civil engineering, management, and urban studies.

The study also found that a two-speed landscape is emerging, with a gap between sustainability “embracers” — those who place sustainability high on their agenda — and nonembracers or “cautious adopters,” who have yet to focus on more than energy cost savings, material efficiency, and risk mitigation.

Embracers are significantly more confident about their competitive position than nonembracers are. Seventy percent of embracers said they believe their organizations outperform industry peers. By contrast, only 53 percent of cautious adopters described themselves as outperformers, and 14 percent admitted to lagging behind peers — more than twice the percentage of embracers who made the same claim (6 percent).

In addition, nearly three times as many embracers (66 percent) than cautious adopters (23 percent) said that their organization’s sustainability actions and decisions have increased their profits.

“What’s fascinating is that our findings depict a business landscape in general that’s tilting hard toward where the embracers already are,” said Michael Hopkins, editor-in-chief of MIT SMR and a coauthor of the report. “So the embracers have handed us a kind of crystal ball. Their insights and behaviors suggest a blueprint for how management practice and competitive strategy will evolve.”

The report identifies seven specific practices exhibited by embracer companies — which together begin to define sustainability-driven management. Among the other findings:

  • Improved brand reputation is perceived as the biggest benefit of addressing sustainability: nearly 50 percent of respondents cited it.
  • Automotive is seen as the industry for which sustainability is most critical now: 80 percent of executives said sustainability-related strategies are necessary to be competitive in the auto sector.
  • By contrast, only 29 percent of respondents thought sustainability strategies are currently necessary for the media and entertainment industry. But another 51 percent said they will be necessary in the future.
  • The commitment of the cautious adopters to sustainability is increasing at a far faster rate than that of the embracers. The number of cautious adopters planning to increase investment and management attention jumped from 51 percent last year to 63 percent this year — a 24 percent increase. At the same time, the percentage of embracers planning similar increases, though high, remained flat at a little under 90 percent.

“Most companies — whether currently embracers or not — are looking toward a world where sustainability is becoming a mainstream, if not required, part of the business strategy,” noted Knut Haanaes, a BCG partner and managing director and coauthor of the report. “Those not already putting sustainability at the heart of their business will need to do so in the near term.”

For more details on the study’s findings and interview transcripts, please visit the Sustainability & Innovation website athttp://sloanreview.mit.edu/sustainability-advantage.

To receive a copy of the special report or arrange an interview with one of the MIT SMR authors, please contact Michael Hopkins at +1 617 253 8071 or mhopkins@mit.edu.

 

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Most Companies not Implementing Sustainability for Climate Reasons

by tgilbrea69
Posted on February 11, 2011 by tgilbrea69

This is an excerpt from The New York Times.  Corporations will work harder on sustainability in 2011 even as the economy continues to limp and climate policy stumbles, according to a new report. Whether they’ll apply that effort to cut carbon emissions, though, is a fuzzier question.

In a broad survey of companies, 70 percent said they intend to devote more money, or more attention from management, to sustainability this year. The study (pdf) was co-authored by the Sloan Management Review at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Boston Consulting Group.

“Such enthusiasm appears to have survived not only the downturn but also the distinct lack of progress toward international agreement on how to combat climate change,” the report says. But the companies surveyed didn’t define “sustainability” solely in terms of climate change. Instead, they tended to define it in terms of the long-term viability of the company, its employees and customers, ranking environmental concerns near the bottom.

“There’s a lot going on in the area of sustainability,” said Peter Adriaens, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Adriaens was not part of the study, but he said companies are embracing the concept in their social and other economic practices, not just environment.

Cautious dabblers vs. ‘the embracers’

For now, he said, climate isn’t a major growth area: There’s no market for it in the United States. When climate bills were being proposed on Capitol Hill, “companies were starting to anticipate and invest actively in clean-tech companies and strategies to reduce their emissions,” he said. “Now that cap and trade is essentially dead in this country, investments have essentially pulled back. And so we’re looking more at lower-hanging-fruit-type activities. But that’s just in the U.S.” The study said some companies will stick to short-term, measurable investments like energy efficiency, but another group of companies is going beyond that.

For more – click HERE

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The Business Guide to Sustainability – Review

by tgilbrea69
Posted on February 9, 2011 by tgilbrea69

The Business Guide to Sustainability

The Business Guide to Sustainability: practical strategies and tools for organizations By Darcy Hitchcock and Marsha Willard.
Second edition.

About this book
Sustainability promises both reduced environmental impacts and real cash savings for any organization, be it a business, non-profit organisation, NGO or government department. This easy-to-use manual has been written by top business consultants specifically to help managers, business owners, organizational leaders and aspiring environmental managers/sustainability coordinators to improve their organization’s environmental, social and economic performance.

The authors demystify sustainability, untangle the plethora of sustainability frameworks, tools and practices, and make it easy for the average person in any organization to move towards sustainability. Organized by sector (manufacturing, services and office operations, and government) and common organizational functions (senior management, facilities, human resources, purchasing, environmental affairs and compliance, marketing and public relations, and finance and accounting), the authors show how organizations can incorporate sustainability into their everyday work through the application of useful tools and self-assessments.

This fully updated edition includes a new chapter on information and communication technology (ICT). The authors have also added many new facts, stories, practices and resources throughout the book to keep up with this rapidly emerging field and have updated their widely used SCORE sustainability assessment.

Review quotes
“At a time when ‘big’ business is beginning to mean ‘sustainable’ business, small businesses can easily get left out. Hitchcock and Willard have filled this vital gap admirably. This is a practical guide, dotted with heartening examples, of helping small businesses to adopt their sustainability mantles. An optimistic read.”—Tim O’Riordan, emeritus professor of environmental sciences, University of East Anglia, UK.

“People are frequently frustrated by the process of applying the broad, theoretical concept of sustainability to concrete and practical applications. Hitchcock and Willard are uniquely skilled at helping organizations translate vision into action. They make sustainability accessible and understand how to leverage organizational dynamics to make a journey to sustainability possible.”—Rick Woodward, corporate director of operations and sustainability, Coastwide Laboratories, USA.

About the authors
Darcy Hitchcock and Marsha Willard, principals of the sustainability consulting firm AXIS Performance Advisors (based in Portland, Oregon, USA) also co-founded and help manage the International Society of Sustainability Professionals. They both teach in Bainbridge Graduate Institute’s MBA in sustainable business and are the authors of The Step-by-Step Guide to Sustainability Planning.

For more information - The Business Guide to Sustainability: Practical Strategies and Tools for Organizations

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Tenants Step Up Demand for Green Offices

by tgilbrea69
Posted on February 7, 2011 by tgilbrea69

Efficient buildings are increasingly attractive to tenants looking to cut costs and green operations.

From The Guardian. Sustainability is now a “front and centre” issue for tenants choosing office space, according to a major new survey of real estate professionals.

More than 600 real estate experts were polled last year for the eighth Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2011 report, published last week by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI), and the majority described sustainability issues as “unavoidable” for the sector.

Green buildings currently comprise just two per cent of the market, but respondents expected them to become increasingly sought-after as tenants look to cut operating costs and back up corporate environmental and social responsibility goals.

The coming year will see sustainable buildings positioned as healthier, more attractive and more marketable, the report said, echoing a survey published last year that found businesses across the globe were considering the environmental impacts of their offices.

The respondents noted that although green buildings do not necessarily attract higher rents, sustainable buildings lease well in a weak market. The report also cites emerging evidence that tenants are willing to pay more for some green characteristics.

On top of lower costs, the survey found sustainable office space engendered smoother relationships between real estate firms and planners, and gave businesses an advantage when recruiting as candidates are increasingly taking environmental policies into account when making employment decisions.

“Increasingly, the investment decision is not based on environmental issues alone – it’s become an economically rational choice for businesses when you consider the returns from energy efficiency driven by the green agenda,” said Malcolm Preston, sustainability and climate change partner at PwC.

For more – Click HERE

 

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Obama’s “Better Buildings Initiative” is causing some Sustainability Buzz

by tgilbrea69
Posted on February 4, 2011 by tgilbrea69

Early Momentum for the President’s “Better Buildings Initiative”

From “The WhiteHouse Blog” – February 3rd 2011. Posted by Greg Nelson on February 03, 2011 at 07:06 PM EST

Today the President announced an ambitious initiative to make American businesses more efficient as part of his plan to ensure that America wins the future by out-innovating, out-educating, and out-building the competition.

In his State of the Union, the President laid out his vision for winning the future by investing in innovative clean energy technologies and doubling the share of electricity from clean energy sources by 2035. Alongside that effort, the President is proposing new efforts to improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings across the country. The “Better Buildings Initiative,” outlined today at Penn State University, will achieve a 20 percent improvement over the next decade, saving companies and business owners tens of billions of dollars a year.

The plan will spur innovation by reforming tax and other incentives to retrofit, creating a new competitive grant program for states and localities that streamline their regulations to attract retrofit investment, and challenging the private sector to invest in building upgrades through a new “Better Buildings Challenge.”

The President has asked President Clinton, who has been a champion for this kind of energy innovation, to co-lead the private sector engagement along with the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, headed by Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric.

The response has already been overwhelmingly positive.  See some statements of support below from various business leaders and advocacy groups:

Jeffrey D. DeBoer, President and CEO of The Real Estate Roundtable

“President Obama’s ‘Better Buildings Initiative’ sets forth an excellent blueprint to re-employ the construction workforce, modernize our built environment, and help ensure our Nations’ energy security. At a time when the real estate sector is still struggling to achieve full economic recovery, incentives to encourage building upgrade projects will leverage private investment, encourage lending, and create well-paying jobs that can’t be exported. Under this Initiative, business owners will benefit through lower energy bills. Further, upgrading our built environment will allow our country to maintain its competitive edge in the international marketplace.” [LINK]

Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council

“For all of those committed to the idea that green buildings can create jobs, save energy and save money, this is a great day, and the entire green building movement is incredibly grateful for President Obama’s leadership in this critical step forward for America. It is major steps like these that are necessary to address the challenges facing our environment. We know that green buildings can and should be front and center of any credible jobs creation program. The jobs supported by the green building industry can’t be outsourced, and they are jobs that frequently can build on skills learned in the manufacturing sector… With the incentives the President has outlined, we are confident that these organizations are ready to take green building to unprecedented scale.” [LINK]

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City, NY

“President Obama’s energy efficiency agenda is ambitious, his plan will spur improvements that pay for themselves through lower utility bills and help clean the environment, and I look forward to working with him on it. The Better Buildings Program recognizes the critical role that cities play in fostering energy efficiency and I hope that it will inspire and empower local governments to create innovative programs to save energy and money.“New York City has already launched many of the initiatives proposed as part of the Better Buildings Program, which will help us achieve our PlaNYC goal of a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Seventeen of our universities have joined a challenge to reduce their emissions by 30 percent by 2017, and as part of our Greener, Greater Buildings Plan, we require public benchmarking for large buildings and certain improvements, which will spur private sector investments. Our ongoing effort to update our building code, which will require significant energy and resource efficiencies for new construction and retrofit projects, will enable New York to compete in the President’s ‘Race for Green.’” [LINK]

Ray H. Mackey, Jr., Chair, Building Owners and Managers Association International

“We applaud President Obama’s new energy policy to improve energy efficiency in commercial, multi-family and institutional buildings. The initiative includes the critical business incentives, such as the commercial building tax credit and loan guarantees, that are key to meeting the energy efficiency goals of the plan. BOMA International has been a leader in energy efficiency for years, launching the 7-Point Challenge in 2007 which asked members to reduce energy consumption by 30% by 2012.” [LINK]

Michael Sullivan, General President of the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association

“The need to put this country back to work and the need to retrofit our country’s industrial, commercial, institutional and residential buildings are two problems that, when combined, present an obvious solution. We support the President’s initiatives in this regard.” [LINK]

Michael O’Brien, President of the Window and Door Manufacturers Association

“WDMA is pleased with the Administration’s renewed focus on job creation through energy efficiency. We look forward to working with the Administration and Congress to craft a program that will create meaningful incentives for building owners to improve their properties’ energy performance. Encouraging homeowners to upgrade windows, doors and skylights is an important strategy to reduce energy use, and WDMA continues to advocate for a bipartisan and common sense energy policy that emphasizes cost-effective building efficiency measures.  WDMA will continue to be at the forefront of the issue.” [LINK]

Eileen Lee, Vice President of Energy and Environment, National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) and the National Apartment Association (NAA)

“We commend the Obama Administration for its focus on energy efficiency in commercial properties, including apartments, and for taking an incentive-based approach to achieving meaningful reductions in our building energy usage…We support the President’s plan to reform the existing Section 179(d) building efficiency tax incentive, which has largely gone unclaimed by property owners for many reasons. Changing the deduction to a more generous tax credit and creating more incentives for owners to undertake costly retrofits on existing properties are welcome changes. The President’s plan would also wisely ensure that Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) can take advantage of the credit…The President’s plan will help advance the rental housing industry’s sustainability efforts to the next level by attracting more investments in building efficiency.” [LINK]

Clark Manus, President, American Institute of Architects

“We applaud the President’s ‘Better Buildings’ initiative, which mirrors directly what the AIA has been advocating. As a profession, architects are already helping make the President’s goals a reality. Because of their leadership role in the built environment, architects are in an ideal position to help implement the President’s initiative. In order to reach the President’s ‘Better Buildings’ goals, there is a crucial need for design experts to apply their experience, innovations and talents to current practices so that one of the major sources of energy use – the building in which we work – can be addressed…As the President said today, the United States can ‘out-build’ the rest of the world. And architects are the catalysts for winning that contest.” [LINK]

Lauralee Martin, CFO and COO, Jones Lang LaSalle and Dan Probst, Chairman for Energy and Sustainability Services, Jones Lang LaSalle

“This proposal is exactly what’s needed to jump-start major energy and carbon reduction initiatives and to create jobs and efficiencies that enhance our global competitiveness.”These incentives are a big winner for U.S. businesses and their competitiveness as well as the environment. Building owners and managers are already making low-cost adjustments to energy strategies in order to reduce operating costs and attract tenants by being ‘green.’” [LINK]

Bracken Hendricks, Senior Fellow, The Center for American Progress

“President Obama’s unveiling today of an array of ambitious and achievable energy efficiency savings incentives and targets for our nation’s commercial-building owners could not be better timed. This new administration program, announced in the president’s speech today at Penn State University will result in thousands of new jobs for construction workers hard hit by the Great Recession and housing market travails, $40 billion a year in energy savings for U.S. commercial-building owners, and substantially less greenhouse gases escaping into the atmosphere to warm our planet.” [LINK]

For more from “The White House Blog” – Click HERE.

Johnson Controls Issues Statement on President Obama’s Better Buildings Initiative

MILWAUKEE, Feb. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Johnson Controls, Inc. (NYSE: JCI), a global leader in delivering products, services and solutions that increase energy efficiency in buildings, issued the following statement today from C. David Myers, vice president and president, Building Efficiency, Johnson Controls, on President Obama’s proposed Better Buildings Initiative:

“We are very encouraged to see that the White House is focused on improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings. In our conversations with the President, we have discussed loan guarantees and enhanced tax incentives for commercial building retrofits, so we are pleased to see that this new initiative incorporates many of those recommendations.

“Our global surveys of commercial building owners have indicated that access to capital is one of the top barriers to pursuing commercial retrofits, so we applaud the Administration’s focus on making capital more accessible.

“As part of his remarks today, the President referenced the retrofit of the Empire State Building, a Johnson Controls project that will lead to a 38% reduction in the building’s energy use when completed. Through commercial retrofits like the Empire State Building, we can make a measurable impact by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs for commercial buildings while creating local-market jobs.”

About Johnson Controls

Johnson Controls is a global diversified technology and industrial leader serving customers in over 150 countries. Our 142,000 employees create quality products, services and solutions to optimize energy and operational efficiencies of buildings; lead-acid automotive batteries and advanced batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles; and interior systems for automobiles. Our commitment to sustainability dates back to our roots in 1885, with the invention of the first electric room thermostat. Through our growth strategies and by increasing market share we are committed to delivering value to shareholders and making our customers successful.

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