Measure for Measure

So, how do you know if your company is already performing up to, or maybe even surpassing, “environmental standard”?  How do you know exactly which areas of your business could use some “greening” and which areas are doing just fine?  Is there a general sense that, as you recycle more and improve lighting and insulation you and your employers start to feel closer to nature?

Well, these days, it is much more precise than that.  As environmental managers Timothy Larson and Howard Brown wrote in the journal Environmental Quality Management, “If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it” (August 2006).  Yes, there are numerous ways you can measure and quantify the environmental impacts you need to manage.

Whether you run a bakery or a pharmacy, whether your company manufactures windshields or door frames; or, distributes beverages or toy parts, there are numerous methods for tracking your product’s environmental impacts, for capturing data, and for setting up complete environmental management systems.  Leading Green Business experts Daniel Esty and Andrew Winston, both of Yale University, call this area Eco-Tracking.  For me, such “Eco-Tracking” can even include such metrics as keeping tabs on your local pizzeria’s lighting bills and delivery miles driven and, then, examining ways to increase efficiency and reduce costs in those areas.

Other, more extensive Eco-Tracking endeavors require dedication, time, and far-reaching research from a small team of managers and employees.  Developing complete “Life-Cycle Assessments” (LCA) for your company’s products and services is an Eco-Tracking measure that is rebounding greatly in popularity. This is particularly true with the U.S. EPA’s new mandatory reporting of GHG emissions from diverse industries, the recently released Wal-Mart Sustainability Index we have been discussing, and other reporting initiatives.  We touched on the LCA concept with the ‘Cradle to Cradle’ entry on this blog.  In their highly respected text, Green to Gold, Esty and Winston explain that the “Life Cycle Assessment tracks the environmental impacts of a product from its raw materials through disposal at the end of its useful life.”

Conducting an LCA is not easy.  It may require the assistance of an external environmental and LCA consultant. However, if your company decides to perform most of the work on its own, have no fear, there are many benefits.  Working on such a cooperative “green” project has proven to bring employees together, inspiring them to work hard for a positive, innovative undertaking.  Also, companies that develop Green initiatives like an LCA prove to attract and retain a more talented workforce.

Besides the LCAs, businesses, in recent years, have begun quantifying their greenhouse gas emissions across the board of their operations.  This is no simple task either, but, with a new proposed EPA regulation in March 2009, the reporting of GHG emissions may very soon become mandatory for all “large sources (of such emissions) in the United States.”  In fact, the EPA currently provides direct assistance for small business/low emitters with their “Climate Change Management Tools for Low Emitters” website.  Don’t worry.  You do not have to figure out all the algorithms and chemical testing of what materials or combustion sources emit more CO2 or methane or nitrous oxide than others.  Actually, no one has to anymore.  The EPA site includes a “Climate Leaders Inventory Calculator” and you just have to figure out what to put into the calculators.  The same could be said for the widely, globally used GHG Protocol developed by the World Resources Institute and WBCSD, or the California Climate Action Registry’s General Reporting Protocol, or the ISO’s new 14064 reporting protocols for sector-specific GHG emissions reporting.

The websites of the protocols from these organizations provide some guidance, as well as their numerous Excel charts, descriptions, etc. that are available free for download.  (The only exception is with the ISO 14064 GHG Standard of which you have to pay a fee for access.)  Again, for most small businesses, as of now, reporting greenhouse gas emissions in the various processes of your company’s operations – including heating and cooling of buildings, fleet of vehicles, industrial processes, and even employee travel – is still voluntary.  However, it is strongly recommended to get started on GHG quantification as soon as possible – for your own overall risk management, for achieving competitive advantage with insights into improving one’s own efficiency, and for greatly improving your company’s readiness for a “carbon constrained future,” as they say.

We will get into further detail of GHG reporting issues and methods soon in this blog.  In the coming entries, I would also like to discuss other environmental metrics that are out there for small businesses to take advantage of, including the reporting of released toxins or total water use.  Some of these are mandatory; some are optional, where you could position yourself as an “environmental leader.”  We will also cover the software available out there, which greatly facilitate a small business’ measurements of emissions and other environmental issues.