I came across this article on Small Business Trends by Kelly Spors. Check out what this article is predicting the 4 major sustainability trends among retailers.

Retailers face major challenges when it comes to sustainability. They source products made all over the world. They use lots of energy to keep stores well lit and comfortable. They sells products that could one day end up in landfills.

But a new report from the Retail Sustainability Report says many retailers are taking bold steps to reduce their environmental footprints. It looks at some of the green trends and points to some success stories. While the report drew its findings from interviews with 20 major retailers – from IKEA to PetSmart – these practices are likely to affect smaller retailers as well.

Here’s a look at four trends:

1. Looking closer at supply chains. More retailers are evaluating the sustainability of their suppliers, including energy use, hazardous material, greenhouse gas emissions and water use. Some even require manufacturers to produce an annual report, so they can better gauge their total environmental footprint and be more transparent with their customers. Many big retailers are relying on third-party organizations, including The Sustainability Consortium and the Fair Factories Clearinghouse, to help them conduct supplier reviews.
2. Focusing on end of life. Some retailers are getting more active in help consumers responsibly dispose of their products — and that’s because if they don’t, it’s very likely the items will end up in landfills. Target Corp. offers recycling centers in its stores for plastic bags and aluminum, among other materials. The Gap in 2010 collected 360,000 units of denim to be re-purposed into home insulation.
3. Educating consumers. Retailers have to be careful not to inundate consumers with sustainability information – especially in stores. But they’re finding ways to make it more engaging and transparent. WalMart’s Love, Earth Jewelry collection, for instance, allows people to trace their jewelry’s journey “from mine to market.” Whole Foods and IKEA created their own green labels.
4. Engaging employees. Retailers are actively asking their employees to help them lower their environmental footprint – and that’s tough: Retailers tend to have high turnover rates, which means employees don’t feel quite as engaged in the business. But some have been quite successful. Some, like Walgreen, are forming green teams of employees passionate about sustainability or hosting volunteer drives to help with local environmental nonprofit efforts.

What other sustainability measures are you seeing among retailers?

Source: Small Business Trends

Now that you’ve outlined a policy, analyzed your data and defined goals and targets, it’s now time to identify the measures that you will incorporate into your sustainability program, and implement them.

There is an extensive universe of possible measures in the areas of economical, environmental and social sustainability. For the purposes of this article we will examine the process as it relates to environmental measures. There are three steps involved in identifying measures for enhancement:

1. Site walkthrough to identify mesaures

Conducting a site walkthrough of selected facilities is the simplest and quickest way to provide the necessary details to identify specific areas of opportunity for operational and capital improvements. A site walkthrough will assess the performance of equipment, processes, and systems and categorize areas for improvement.

The walkthrough is designed to look for high level opportunities in the areas of:

• Lighting
• Building automation systems
• HVAC
• Water conservation
• Waste management
• Sustainable sites (greenscapes, hardscapes, etc.)
• Behavioural management
• Communication (employee, tenant, shopper)

A walkthrough typically involves:

• Collection of general facility information
• Walkthrough of the facilities to become familiar with the building operation and identify areas of waste or inefficiency
• Observation of mechanical, electrical and automation systems for performance
• On-site review of operating practices
• Identification of saving opportunities

During a walkthrough site interviews should be conducted with facility manager, maintenance manager and other appropriate staff who understand the operation and maintenance of the facility and its major energy using systems. Topics for the interview can include:

• Available policies
• Maintenance and operational procedures (current and historical)
• Current and previous savings initiatives
• Occupancy schedules
• Tenant behaviors
• Pre-existing equipment issues

This process builds a qualitative profile of building and equipment performance.

2. Review and categorization of results

After the site walkthrough is complete you should review the results and categorize potential opportunities by subject matter, potential costs and effectiveness. Identified opportunities can be grouped into the following categories:

Organizational and Behavioural Opportunities

• Policy Improvements. Update and/or modify program policies generated in step one.
• Awareness Programs. Change employee behaviours to practice conservation in your organization.
• Communication Initiatives. Identify channels, messaging and internal and/or external communications related to the sustainability program.

Operational and Non-capital Opportunities

• Data Management. Improvements in data management, invoice processing, reporting and analysis of program targets.
• Energy Procurement. Identify available opportunities to reduce cost savings and risk with energy procurement practices.
• Operational Practices. Evaluate standard operating procedures for improvement.
• Maintenance and Re-commissioning. Identify preventative maintenance and/or re-commissioning activities to keep equipment in optimal performance conditions.

Capital Improvement Opportunities

• Infrastructure Improvements. Retrofit and capital replacement opportunities for equipment.
• Green Technologies. Evaluate renewable opportunities, such as, solar, wind, geothermal, grey water recovery, green roofs, etc.
• Incentive Management. Review incentive funding for all opportunities identified.

Estimates of reductions, cost savings and implementation costs should be identified for each opportunity. An analysis of the following should also be included in the review:

• Maintenance Costs. What is the current cost to upkeep equipment? What would be the cost to upkeep new equipment installed?
• Energy-use Changes. Would your facilities’ consumption behaviour change if energy efficient equipment, processes and operations were implemented?
• Savings. What are the identified savings?
• Useful Life of Recommended Equipment. What is the life expectancy of new equipment?
• Operational Changes. How would changes in operations affect cost, energy-use, savings and business risk?

3. Drafting of proposed measures

Using the master list of opportunities identified in step two, outline specific actions for the sustainability plan in an easy to follow and referenced manner. The objective is to allow for greater clarity and tracking of performance against the plan subsequent to implementation.

Select the measures that you would like to implement based on the business case information gathered in the previous step, including both short term and long term measures. The list of measures should indicate the responsible party, expected outcomes and expected timelines for implementation.

The program, particularly progress on measures, can be tracked using an internal system such as Cadillac Fairview’s Green at Work Program.

Articles about energy and environmental matters happening around the world.

Ottawa Looks to Asia After U.S. Rejects Keystone Pipeline Project
The federal government says it will renew efforts to ship Canadian oil to Asian markets after the White House rejected plans for a $7 billion pipeline to move Alberta crude into the U.S.

4 Tips on Guiding Employees to Greener Energy Habits
Your employees’ behavior can make the difference between whether your company’s energy strategy produces outstanding results or insignificant savings.

Oil Prices Predicted to Stay Above $100 a Barrel Through Next Year
The United States economy managed to cope this year despite triple-digit prices for barrels of oil. The lessons may come in handy, economists say, because those prices will probably be sticking around.

UK’s High Carbon Investment Risk Questioned
A group of top influencers have urged the Bank of England to investigate if high carbon investments endanger UK finances. The 20 groups of environmental experts, investors, academics and politicians call on Governor, Sir Mervyn King to examine whether Britain’s exposure to polluting and environmentally damaging investments might pose a systemic risk to the financial system and economic security.

How To Cut Carbon Emissions
Carbon emissions vary hugely between countries. That is well known, as is the finding that rich people emit more than poor ones. But a newly revised paper by Emilio Zagheni of the Max Planck Institute in Rostock, Germany also shows how carbon footprints vary by age—and the worrying implications of this.

By: Tiffany Richmond

Quebec has officially announced that the province will be adopting the Western Climate Initiative’s (WCI) cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission allowances by 2013.

The WCI, a collaboration of independent jurisdictions who are working together to identify, evaluate, and implement emissions trading policies to tackle climate change at a regional level, central component is a flexible, market-based, regional cap-and-trade program that caps GHG emissions and uses tradable permits to incent development of renewable and lower-polluting energy sources.

Other jurisdictions that are partners with the WCI, but have yet to publicly announce commitment, include British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario. The fifth partner, California, has already committed to the cap-and-trade system, like Quebec, and has been the front runner of this program since inception.

How the cap-and-trade system works:

• The government will set a cap on GHG emissions for all regulated emitters
• Each year, companies will receive a free allocation of emissions (also called ‘allowances’) corresponding to the amount of GHG emissions they may emit
• Companies who GHG emissions are greater than the number of units allocated will have to reduce their emissions, e.g. adopting clean technologies in their operations, or buy emissions rights at government auctions or on the carbon market
• Those whose GHG emissions are less than the number of units allocated they will be able to sell their excess carbon credits to other companies or the market

Details on Quebec’s cap-and-trade system:

• Participants include the industrial and electricity sectors only whose annual GHG emissions equal or exceed the amount of 25,000 CO₂e
• 2012 is the familiarization period – participants will be able to register with the system and take part in pilot auctions
• January 1st, 2013 – starting in 2013 emitters will be obligated to cap and reduce their emissions
• 2015 – companies that import or distribute in Quebec fuels that are used in the transportation and building sectors will be subject to the program

Since Quebec announced its commitment to the WCI’s program in mid-December, the rest of Canada is eagerly waiting to see if the remaining WCI partners will follow suit or not. With the clock ticking, only time will tell.

With policy development and analysis of environmental performance data complete, it’s now time to clearly outline goals and targets of the sustainability program.

To be consistent in terminology, this article defines goals and targets in the following manner:

• Goals are high level statements that provide overall context for what the program is trying to achieve. Goals should be aligned with a company’s overall business goals.
• Targets are specific, tangible and quantifiable deliverables that the program will deliver.

When developing goals and targets many organizations are faced with challenges, such as lack of expertise to clearly define deliverables, insufficient information about current performance measures to know what goals and targets are realistic and ensuring goals are aligned with the company’s overall business objectives.

This article will outline best practices, factors to consider when setting goals and targets and examples of goals and targets that companies have publicly stated today.

The first thing to remember when outlining goals and targets is to ensure they are:

• Specific. A specific goal and/or target has a better chance of being accomplished than a general one; will better align members of the organization; and makes it easier to measure success.
• Measurable. There has to be a definitive yardstick to measure progress with.
• Achievable. The goal and/or target needs to be challenging but practical and achievable.
• Relevant. The goal and/or target should focus on the greatest impact of the organization.
• Time-Sensitive. The goal and/or target should have a definite deadline.

Goals and targets should be categorized in the three sustainability buckets identified in the first article (Developing a Sustainability Program) – environmental, social and economic performance. Example goals and targets in each category include:

• Environmental – reducing water use, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing waste, implementing recycling programs, minimizing packaging
• Social – increasing employment opportunities, eliminating child labour in the supply chain
• Economic performance – increasing profitability, geographic expansion of business operations

A few examples of goals and targets that companies have publicly stated include:

Environmental
Oxford Properties
“Reducing GHG from properties we directly own and manage, on a per square foot basis, by 20% by the year 2012” (target)
Cisco Systems
“Increase renewable energy purchases by buying Renewable Energy Certificates and entering into green power contracts with various electricity suppliers” (goal)

Social
Wal-Mart Canada
“Continue to provide Canadians with opportunities for employment by creating 4,500 new jobs. Increase female representation in senior management from 31% to 33%” (target)
Coca Cola
“Sustain investment in locally relevant projects that focus on water protection, conservation, and providing access to clean water and sanitation for communities in need” (goal)

Economic Performance
BASF
“Dividend per share to be increased annually or at least to remain at the previous year’s level” (target)
Best Buy
“Best Buy intends to deliver consumer electronics products and services to more people than any other company in the world” (goal)

In addition to categorizing your company’s goals and targets, a few important factors to consider include:

• Past Performance. Review past goal and target performance levels and understand their success and/or failure rates. Understanding what has and has not worked in the past will help distinguish between practical and non-practical targets.
• Available Resources. Does your company have internal and external resources available to meet the program’s goals and targets? Not having the proper resources available can affect the success of the program.
• Legislated Targets. If existing and/or forecasted regulatory targets are issued, it’s important to align goals and targets to meet those set forth by regulating bodies.
• Competitive Performance. Review your organization’s performance to that of its competitors. Knowing what your competitors are doing and their success rate will help you determine what may or may not work for your company, and what you will have to do to stay ahead.
• Stakeholder Requirements. Ensure stakeholder requirements are considered during the development of goals and targets.

Once you’ve outlined goals and targets it’s important to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure and report performance against. Environmental KPIs are a measure of a particular environmental impact (e.g. emissions, water usage), sometimes normalized by a financial measure (e.g. floor area, revenue, production, sales). Examples include total water use and tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of product. Social KPIs are likewise a measure of progress on social issues, such as percent of suppliers that have undergone auditing for compliance with labour standards and average hours or training provided to employees. Economic KPIs might include items found in a traditional financial report, such as profit and loss and retained earnings.

Once goals and targets are completed it’s now time to identify measures for improvement.

Articles about energy and environmental matters happening around the world.

Canada Hits Bottom with Withdrawal from Kyoto
Withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol marks Canada’s lowest point in the 40-year history of modern global environmental diplomacy. According to this article, Stephen Harpers Conservative Government has never really tried to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Good News for Building Energy Retrofits
President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum directing federal agencies to enter into at least $2 billion in energy savings performance contracts over the next 2 years.

Clothing Companies Concerned About Water Risk
Beverage companies have long been aware of the risks water presents to its business, and now clothing companies, like Gap and Levi Strauss, are realizing how this resource, or lack thereof, can impact their bottom line. Earlier this year cotton prices reached an all time high due to massive output reductions brought on by drought and water shortages in Texas, India, Pakistan, and Brazil.

Make Energy Policy About Energy, Not Jobs
Energy policy is not a jobs programme. Here are three reasons why politicians shouldn’t try to create jobs through energy policy: it’s ambiguous, it’s inefficient, and, most importantly, it’s undesirable.

MEPs to Take Step Towards Supporting Carbon Price
European politicians are expected on Tuesday to vote through an amendment that could pave the way for direct intervention in the EU carbon market, which has sunk to record lows.

December is often a time of reflection. Maybe it’s the long, dark nights or the prospect of another year passing. Perhaps our work has become less inspired or the international news has caused us to pause and wonder: is there reason for hope in the world?

I’d like to highlight a project that should give us all reason to hope, and more than that, new inspiration to push through perceived barriers and strive for excellence. The Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability, CIRS, is a building that transforms the way we design and build urban structures. CIRS is all about accelerating sustainability through experimentation and creative partnerships. It is a project that hopes to spark new ideas about how to make cities more sustainable, and because its goal is to promote dialogue, I’m going to need your help spreading the word.

CIRS is a spectacularly beautiful structure. With streaming light from the surrounding windows and pine beetle wood beams, it feels more like a cathedral than a university research building. Beyond the aesthetic, CIRS has shattered the leading environmental LEED building standards and has achieved a net-positive energy performance. By harvesting renewable and waste energy, CIRS is able to supply not only its own energy needs but also a portion of the needs of an adjacent building. The end result is that the addition of CIRS to the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus – a 4-storey, 61,085 square feet building – actually reduces UBC’s overall energy consumption by over 1 million kilowatt hours per year. Imagine! This is a building that improves the surrounding environment.

With such impressive technical achievements, you might think that CIRS is an architectural snob; that guy at the party who is so fully aware of his own success that he can’t be bothered to engage in conversation. Rather than relying on its display case of design medals, CIRS is active in the community and has developed numerous partnerships across public and private sectors. It is also a “living laboratory”, testing the effect that highly efficient design has on the usability of the space. Occupants of the building are asked for feedback about what it’s like to have the temperature centrally controlled, or how they would suggest adjusting the on-site waste water treatment system to reduce noise disruption.

Most of you are probably in the business of improving the performance of existing buildings, and a project like CIRS can offer numerous options that you may want to integrate into future retrofit plans. Have a look at the lighting features and think about how you can replicate the system design in your own context, or consider the energy sourcing and monitoring framework. These kinds of innovations can be adapted to fit into an existing structure – and they’ll have to be if we are truly serious about conserving resources and operations costs.

There are so many innovative design components to the building that I couldn’t fit them all into this short space, but I encourage you to take a virtual tour in the near future – or better yet, visit the place. A project like CIRS takes years to develop, and along the way there were many challenges and setbacks. Rather than giving in to the barriers, the leaders behind the project, particularly the principal John Robinson, strengthened the partnerships they had with key supporters.

Now I’ll ask you to join the conversation: What are you going to do differently in the New Year to bring more inspiration to your work? How can you draw from the incredible advances in building technology that CIRS demonstrates to significantly improve the performance of the buildings you manage? Talk amongst yourselves.

I’d like to congratulate the first annual “Race to Reduce” award winners for their commitment to reduce energy use in commercial office buildings of all sizes across the Toronto region. The Race is a unique initiative spearheaded by the Greening Greater Toronto Civic Action Alliance that brings together commercial landlords and tenants in a collaborative effort to reduce energy use in the Toronto region. To date, 25 per cent of the Toronto region’s office space is now registered including more than 380 landlord and tenant participants within 117 buildings representing 51.6 million square feet of office space.

On November 30th, 69 awards were presented in categories of Participation, Performance, and Action & Innovation. I am proud to note that a number of the award winners are customers of Energy Advantage and I applaud their efforts along with all the participants for their actions each and every day to reduce their energy consumption. Award winners included:

Action & Innovation

• Building Team: Cadillac Fairview & TD Centre Green Council
• Landlord: Oxford Properties Group (Royal Bank Plaza)

Building Performance (under 500,000 sq. ft)

• Whiterock REIT
• GWL Realty Advisors

About Greening Greater Toronto’s “Race to Reduce”

Launched in May 2011 by Greening Greater Toronto, the Race to Reduce challenges Toronto region landlords and tenants from office buildings of all types, sizes and ages to publicly commit to work together to reduce energy use in their buildings and to reduce the total energy use in participating office buildings by at least 10 per cent over four years. The aim is to improve air quality in the Toronto region and achieve sustained carbon emission reductions in the office building sector, which now contributes close to 20% of the region’s carbon emissions.

This is a short video interview with Abbas Chagani, Manager of Electricity at Energy Advantage, discussing the volatile electricity market in Alberta, Canada.