Sustainability Reporting Increasingly Essential
According to a New Report by Ernst & Young

Sustainability Reporting is becoming increasingly popular amongst Fortune Global 500 companies, with more than 66% publishing some form of a sustainability report.  Businesses say reporting helps them achieve their business goals including cost cutting and improved efficiency, according to a new report by Ernst & Young, which features seven must-ask questions for CEOs and boards.

In addition, sustainability reporting has become a tool for companies to report on their non-financial data, which is increasingly demanded by employees, analysts, customers and other stakeholders.

Great Forest offers a Metrics tool to help businesses assess and report waste, energy, water and other data from their buildings, which can be easily utilized and shared through sustainability reports.

America Recycles Day

Paper Lake Makes Big Statement About Recycling

"These bags represent one day's worth of recycling. By bringing it together, you can really see the impact the recycling program is making here," says Amy Marpman, Great Forest's director of recycling and maintenance services.

Great Forest sustainability consultants were stationed in the lobby from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. to talk to curious office workers and answer questions about the display and recycling. They also organized a contest to guess the weight of the bags.  Out of 125 entries, three came the closest to the actual weight of 1230 pounds. 

"The cumulative effect of waste and recycling is often unseen. Materials get collected at night after most workers have left for the day," says Amy. "This display got a lot of people thinking and talking about recycling and wanting to do more.  This will help push the recycling rate at this building to beyond the healthy 80% it is at now."

Great Forest and Cushman & Wakefield also organized collection points in the lobby for CDs, DVDs, clothing, cell phones and batteries.  Over 100 pounds of materials were donated for recycling by building employees over the course of the week.   

Taking Green Overseas

Brazil, London and Beyond

Enjoying successful sustainability programs at home, some multinational corporations are exporting their efforts to their offices overseas.  This year, Great Forest began working with a client's Brazil location on their ISO 14001 program to better manage the environmental impact of operations at that office. 

"After we established programs in several of the company's North American locations, including their New York headquarters, they expressed interest in expanding the ISO 14001 program to Latin America," says Great Forest's Vijay Jesrani, the consultant managing the project. "We determined that Sao Paulo would be the best pilot location.  In addition, there was great interest from empoyees there for sustainability programs."

To date, Great forest has set up a comprehensive recycling program for the Sao Paulo office and also instituted a reusable mug program, doing away with landfill-busting paper and Styrofoam cups.  Great Forest works closely with staff in Sao Paulo to track the office's energy and waste data to create a baseline for setting future efficiency goals.

In London, Great Forest has been working on carbon footprint reports for another global client.

"We are continuously monitoring their emissions in their London and New York offices because these are their largest locations,"  says Anna Dengler, Great Forest's director of sustainability.  "In addition we also conduct regular carbon foorprint reporting for their other offices across the U.S."

Conference: Driving Sustainability Across The Supply Chain

Great Forest Moderates Panel of Experts at Columbia University

Great Forest's Director of Sustainability, Anna Dengler, moderated a panel on corporate sustainable supply chains held at Columbia University on November 16. 

Speakers included Lee Ballin from Bloomberg LP's Office of Sustainability; Karen Alonardo, founder and CEO of CSRware; Professor Steven Cohen, director of M.S. in Sustainability and Management at Columbia University; and Mary Ellen Mika, supply chain manager at  Steelcase.

The panel covered the complexities of setting up a sustainable supply chain within a corporate framework, something that innovative green-minded companies are beginning to do. The discussion ranged from initial evaluation and planning to negotiating supply chain partnerships, conducting life cycle analysis, and using tracking tools to measure success.

Panel speakers reminded the audience that everyone along the supply chain has to be thinking of the life cycle of the product in order to stay viable and green. One of the most interesting discussions centered around surveys that Bloomberg LP and Steelcase had sent out to their suppliers and vendors to find out how they can work with them to make greener decisions.

"The panel reflects the corporate world's interest in building sustainability into all aspects of their businesses, not just internally but also in influencing those they work with," says Anna. "Although this can be complicated, the takeaway is that we should just go ahead and do it. Only by going through the process of greening your business inside out will you learn what works and how to set goals for yourself and also your suppliers, vendors and partners."

C40 and the CDP

Cities Tackling Climate Change

With large numbers of buildings and vehicles, cities have a central role to play in tackling climate change.  This month, London, Toronto and New York became the first cities in the C40 group to sign onto the Carbon Disclosure Project's (CDP) new program providing a system for cities worldwide to report their greenhouse gas emissions.

C40 cities strive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a range of energy efficiency and clean energy programs including building retrofits and new building best practices. How does your city rank? Find out with the Green City Index and this list of 2010 green cities. 

Great Forest Q&A:

How Can My Building Increase Our Operating Efficiency?

Answer: According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), commercial buildings use about 40% of all energy consumed in the U.S. However, there are many steps building owners and managers can take to reduce their energy footprint and save money through greater operational efficiencies. 

For example, an efficiency outreach campaign based in California called Flex Your Power says that a 50,000 square foot office building with average operating efficiency can reduce operating costs by $40,000 per year through no-cost and low-cost actions. Ideas include efficient lighting,  upgrades or reduction of specialty equipment such as refrigeration and IT devices, regular maintenance of HVAC systems, and more.

Additionally, setting computers and other office equipment to shut down overnight or when otherwise idle can offer big savings and lengthen the lifetime of the machine.

Great Forest consultants are happy to consult with your building to put some of these ideas into practice, saving you energy and money.

Submit a question to a Great Forest expert