A large building owner with multiple office buildings called us to inquire about taking their business green. They had received a call from one of their tenants asking about what was being done in their building to be more environmentally responsible. We had a meeting to determine their needs and agreed to start by reviewing their disposal bills and implement our waste stream management program. Our no cost analysis showed that by implementing our waste stream management program we could immediately save the customer 10% from their current disposal costs for all their facilities. In addition we installed our office recycling program in each of their buildings along with e-cycling and document destruction. Within three months their buildings diverted 35% of their original waste to recycling and we were able to reduce their waste disposal service and save them an additional 15% off the original waste disposal costs. The waste costs savings, recycling diversion and e-cycle amounts were reported to the building at the end of the month and they were able to show their tenant the progress that had been made and the impact on the environment. This was all done at no cost to the building owner and actually reduced their disposal costs by a total of 25% from the original levels.
The original tenant, a large investment company, was impressed with the progress on the recycling program and asked the building owner what they could do to be more environmentally responsible within their own company. The building owner referred them to us and we arranged a meeting to assess their goals and understand their budget. We agreed to develop their company’s environmental policy statement and implement an internal corporate greening plan for sustainability and zero wasting. The framework and guideline for this plan was based on ISO 14001 standards. The International Organization for Standards (ISO) is a widely recognized organization and the 14001 standard specifically addresses various aspects of environmental management systems. The environmental management system that was implemented through the requirements of ISO 14001 allowed the company to:
- Identify and quantify the environmental impact of their activities and services.
- Improve their environmental performance on a continuous basis.
- Assure a systematic approach to setting environmental objectives, achieving the objectives and demonstrating that they have been achieved.
The intention of ISO 14001 is to provide a framework for a holistic, strategic approach to an organization’s environmental policy, plans and actions. Within six months we were able to establish the environmental policies and worked with the company to implement them in all ten of their offices around the world. The result of this process allowed the company to establish a common reference for communicating their environmental green policy throughout their organization, customers, regulators, the public and their other stakeholders. The business benefits of ISO 14001 include reduced cost of waste management, savings in consumption of energy and materials, lower distribution costs, improved corporate image and a framework for continual improvement of environmental performance. An independent audit was provided at the conclusion of the implementation to demonstrate that the environmental management system was operating effectively to conform to the ISO 14001 standards. We continue to meet with the company on a regular basis to monitor their progress and maintain continuous improvement on their environmental policies.
Part of the environmental policy we developed for the tenant addressed the office environment and led us back to our original customer, the building owner. We recommended the building owner assess their buildings based on the LEED standards for existing buildings. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System (TM) is a third party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operating of high performance green buildings. Since the customer’s buildings were already built, their only option was to pursue the rating system for existing buildings. We assessed their building’s current operation with a benchmark study and registered their project for certification. Each aspect of the customer’s building was analyzed from building maintenance and recycling to energy and water use. Where changes needed to be made, we called in experts in each area to assess the situation and recommend the most cost effective way to proceed. Once the building was brought to LEED standards, the certification application was submitted to LEED for review and we were able to obtain a gold certification for the building. This certification verifies that the building is environmentally responsible, profitable and a healthy place to live and work.
We continue to meet with both of these customers on a regular basis to update their environmental programs and make sure they following their policies of continuous improvement.