2Sustain

More than half (54 percent) of companies responding to a recent survey by Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium say they are pursuing or have pursued green certification for their business facilities. Most (46 percent) think green certification will lead to lower maintenance requirements. Others cite reasons such as increasing credibility (38 percent), maximizing return on investment (33 percent), using guidance and advice from rating companies (21 percent), and coordinating management practices (13 percent).

These results are included in Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium’s recently released “Facility Sustainability Survey Report,” which concludes that companies are growing increasingly focused on green initiatives at their facility locations.

For instance, data from the report shows that:

• 65 percent of the survey respondents always locate their site away from floodplains, prime farmland, habitats for endangered or threatened species, and wetlands.

• 67 percent always eliminate all pollution from the building to control erosion, runoff to storm sewers or local waterways, and dust generation.

• Controls for HVAC, lighting, CO2 and other systems are now being managed with total building systems to optimize the comfort and safety of occupants and minimize energy, water and emissions. For example, more than one-third  (39 percent)of survey respondents report that  they always have adequate controls for all HVAC and lighting systems to allow then to be shut down or controlled by occupants.

• More than one-quarter  (26 percent) of those polled say their buildings are always designed to significantly reduce the amount of water necessary for operation.  35 percent said this is “sometimes” the case.

While there’s no doubt that lowering maintenance requirements and reducing energy and water use are good for the bottom line –and that tightening budgets are embedded at least somewhat in each of these survey results –I’d like to think that this data also shows the beginning of a trend toward recognition of the growing importance of environmental stewardship with regard to facility site selection and design.

I was happy to see that Bruce Tompkins, Executive Director of Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium and author of the report, interprets the results that way.

“While businesses are still seeking to achieve an acceptable ROI for their green building initiatives, they are also beginning to show a greater general concern for the environment,” he says. “Decisions are still being made based on the bottom line, but this general concern shows that companies are increasing their triple bottom line – benefiting three elements: people, planet and profit.”

The full 19-page report is available here (registration required).