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Green Business Opportunities For American Economy

Green goods market growth image via Big Green Opportunity

Growth rates for green business products and services are rising faster than conventional goods in America’s economy, outpacing the overall economy through the depths of the recession, and creating opportunity for the 88% of US businesses classified as “microbusinesses” with five or fewer employees.

These findings come from “The Big Green Opportunity,” a new survey of 1,300+ businesses conducted in 2012. Respondents said the greener a product, the more likely its sales increase, with 75% reporting an increase in green business from 2008-2011 at a 19% price premium compared to traditional goods.

Consumer Demand Creates Green Business Opportunity

The survey hints at a shift in consumer demand toward sustainability creating “green competition” among businesses, especially those with high environmental footprints. 79% of small businesses – particularly those in the food, personal goods, and construction markets – say offering green goods or services gave their business a competitive advantage.

Screen-shot-2013-06-15-at-10.53.05-AM

Green business market opportunity via Big Green Opportunity

That competitive advantage is being fueled by massive growth of consumer demand in the green economy. “Green segments today are growing far faster than their overall industries,” said Denise Hamsler of Green America. “The growth we’re seeing today is off the charts.”

Green Building And Renewables Outpaced The Recession

The economic promise of green business is most strongly shown in the construction industry. When America’s housing bubble burst, the recession began – but not when it came to green building. Between 2005-2011, the green building segment grew 1,700% while the overall US construction industry shrank 17%

By the end of 2011, green building represented 38% of the US construction market, up from just 5% in 2005. Profits have followed growth, with green building worth $54 billion in revenue in 2011, and forecast to hit $200 billion in 2016.

Spurred on by the need to save money and green building’s market growth, small businesses have also overwhelmingly opted to invest in small-scale renewables instead of fossil fuel to power their operations and energy efficiency measures to help cut costs.

From 2002-2011, renewable energy consumption (solar photovoltaics, biofuels, geothermal, and wind) grew 456% while non-renewables (oil, natural gas, and coal) fell 3.2% Survey respondents also reported purchasing energy efficient equipment, training staff to conserve energy, and installing efficient lighting were the top three actions they took to produce the fastest return on investment.

Read full article at The Energy Collective

June 18, 2013 | Subscriber

Your Green Office: Energy-Saving Tips for Small Businesses

By Megan Totka (Read the full article at SmallBizTrends.com)

Unless you enjoy working by candlelight on a manual typewriter, the power bill is a necessary evil for your small business. It’s also one of the last areas business owners consider when it comes to reducing expenses—but it should be at the top of the list.

There are plenty of ways you can save big on your energy costs, while helping the environment at the same time. From small changes in your habits to investments that pay for themselves, here are some great energy-saving tips for your business.

Your Green Office

Let There Be Light (Sometimes)

It’s easy to overlook the lights in your business. You turn them on when it’s dark, or simply out of habit at the beginning of the day and (hopefully) turn them off when you leave. But if you make a conscious effort to control excessive light use, you can save quite a bit on your energy bill. Here’s how.

Inexpensive and Free:

Turn off lights in any room that isn’t in use—and remind employees to do the same.
Use “free” light by opening curtains and blinds whenever the sun is shining, and turning off the bulbs.
Be aware of over-lighting. Just as insufficient light causes problems, too much light can lead to glare, eye strain and headaches.
Replace incandescent (standard) light bulbs with energy-saving compact florescent lamps (CFLs), which not only use less energy, but also last 10 times longer before burning out.

Energy-Saving Lighting Investments:

Replace lighting fixtures with newer, energy-efficient models.
If you have exit signs in your business, upgrade to Energy Star qualified LED signs.
Install occupancy sensors in bathrooms, conference rooms, and other areas that aren’t used continually to automatically turn lights on when people enter, and off when they leave.
Use photocells or timers to control outdoor lighting.

(Read the rest of this article at SmallBizTrends.com)

Green Office Concept Photo via Shutterstock

June 10, 2013 | Subscriber

Opportunity Green: Green Business Startup Competition Finalists

The 2nd annual green startup competition recognizes twenty-five of the most innovative eco-startups. This year’s winner will receive BBMG’s $25,000 Brand Innovation Charette, and a $1,000 shopping spree at Office Depot.

OG25 Innovative Green Startup finalists will be showcased at this year’s Opportunity Green conference, September 23rd – 24th at Los Angeles Center Studios.

Mobile voting will be provided by MobileGive, whose innovative texting solutions are being utilized again this year.

Watch this site for the voting widget.

September 23, 2010 | admin

Walmart and the Sustainability Index: Green Dreams Die Hard

It’s been exactly a year since Walmart’s historic launch of a Sustainability Index and other measures to assess suppliers and products and, remarkably, the sun still rises in the East and sets in the West.

Most skeptics say there is less than meets the eye. A brief review: Last summer, Walmart announced that it would assess its suppliers on environmental and social criteria. It announced a Sustainable Product Index to “establish a single source of data for evaluating the sustainability of products,” the company said.

Walmart said it would introduce the initiative in three phases, beginning with a survey of its more than 100,000 suppliers around the world. The survey includes 15 questions that “serve as a tool for Walmart’s suppliers to evaluate their own sustainability efforts.
For more on where Walmart stands one year later, visit GreenBiz here.

July 20, 2010 | Chathri Munasinghe

Making Sense of Sustainability Certifications

With sustainability certifications abounding, learn what businesses should consider for their sustainability certification from Melissa Schweisguth in this post from Greenbusinesses.com

10 Tips for Savvy Shopping in the Certification Marketplace

In the face of surging skepticism around social and environmental claims, sellers and buyers alike are demanding verification. Sustainability certification has become a booming industry with over 400 in use and new ones emerging almost weekly. This, in turn, has led to scrutiny and public criticism of apparent shortcomings.
Understandably, the net result has been mounting confusion and uncertainty about what particular certifications deliver and their relative value. To help consumers and businesses navigate this landscape, the Consumers Union launched its Greener Choices database several years ago, providing basic information on over 300 labels. Realizing greater breadth and depth were needed, the World Resources Institute recently launched its more detailed Global Ecolabel Monitor.

purity Equipped with this intelligence, businesses face the question of how to use it to determine what designations to pursue and ask of suppliers. Strategic selection is key. Given the resources involved, it’s not practical to stamp every admirable trait. Nor is it necessary or beneficial, given that businesses can improve many practices and ensure positive outcomes with their own resources and supplier engagement, and the reality that claims lose their value with saturation. To this end, there are several factors to take into account:

1. Relevance
This is among the first aspects to consider and will help identify potential areas for labeling. Determine what’s pertinent to your mission and key impacts, real-world issues, suppliers and stakeholders. If you have an existing sustainability strategy or materiality analysis, it’s a perfect starting point to ensure alignment across business activities. Fair Trade

2. Relative Priority
Pare down relevant certification areas to what matters most — your biggest impacts, responsibilities and stakeholder concerns. Overlooking these and highlighting trivial issues can invite criticism for greenwash. You’re likely to end up with multiple focal points, given the diverse factors and stakeholders involved.

3. Recommendations
Ask peers, suppliers, field experts and key stakeholders what options they would suggest, any they would advise against, and why. Scan the market to see what comparable businesses are doing and inquire why they selected that path. Close competitors may choose one program over another simply to maintain differentiation, so ask several colleagues for representative input. Rainforest Alliance

4. Governance
Research the ethics behind each label’s development and implementation. Look for independence, regular efficacy assessments and direct audits, 3rd party verification, periodic updating of criteria, broad stakeholder involvement in governance and standard setting, organizational and process transparency, public reporting and the like. Alignment with the ISEAL Alliance Code of Good Practice is a good indicator here.

5. Real Impact
Consider measured, positive outcomes for workers, suppliers, end users, your business, the environment and other stakeholders. Many certifiers produce annual reports and all should be able to produce data demonstrating how their offerings leave people, planet and commerce better off than the status quo. For a balanced, unbiased view, review assessments from 3rd parties and solicit input from directly affected stakeholders, such as workers in supply chain verification programs.

6. Rigor
To avoid greenwash, choose certifications that go beyond the status quo, add significant value and have a meaningful positive impact on people and planet. Seek out high-bar criteria and quantifiable systems that make relative performance clear, such as the graded levels used for LEED and USDA Organic. In addition, look for programs grounded in vetted international frameworks, such as International Labor Organization Conventions, ISO standards and the United Nations Global Compact and its constituent elements.

7. Requirements
Understand what your company, suppliers and other business partners must to comply, and how feasible this is within current systems. Having to make changes need not be a deterrent, since these engender the higher-level progress toward sustainability that’s necessary and truly worthy of recognition. You’ll simply need to estimate what’s needed in such cases and develop strategies for initial certification and scaling up. For example, if sufficient raw materials aren’t available, you might label one product line initially and expand as supply grows, as companies adopting Fair Trade Certified and Rainforest Alliance are doing. bio label

8. Return on Investment
Sellers and buyers often face costs related to audits, licensing, commodity premiums and the like, realized directly or indirectly, through higher supplier prices. In some cases, capital improvements, staff expansion and process changes may also be necessary to meet requirements. These should be clearly linked to necessary activities with quantifiable deliverables, and yield commensurate results and benefits. Ask peers and suppliers what costs they’ve incurred and how ROI has panned out.

9. Recognition and Resonance
Labels, in part, serve a m USDA arketing function so it’s important to gauge the familiarity and influence of your options. Relative awareness in itself isn’t cause to select or bypass a specific prospect, since it may simply reflect marketing, not real value. It’s simply an indicator of how you’ll need to communicate to build support from stakeholders. A survey from BBMG provides a quick scan of consumer insights around common certifications with marketing tips.

10. Reputation
It’s becoming easier to find independent assessments of labels, from industry experts, media and others. Look for a few different viewpoints for a comprehensive, well-rounded assessment. Give certifiers the opportunity to address any significant negative feedback you encounter, since hidden biases or misconceptions can be at play.

These tips should get you off to a good start in the bustling world of sustainability markers. If you have other suggestions, please share them in the comments section to engage with the GreenBiz community.

Melissa Schweisguth is director of membership development and education for the Food Trade Sustainability Leadership Association and an independent consultant on CSR/sustainability and marketing/communications.

Images CC licensed by Flickr users Andrew Currie, {Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester}, kafka4prez, sirinyay, adulau and nikoretro.

Original source: http://unrefer.com/?http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/07/14/10-tips-savvy-shopping-certification-marketplace#ixzz0thoPnRgM

July 14, 2010 | Amanda Crater

GreenBusinesses.com