I have written a number of Environmental News for You on the importance of sustainability to a company, its many benefits, and, in last month’s newsletter, some tips on how to seamlessly begin a program. In short, a company can no longer separate environmental performance from business performance. Environmental concerns are no longer a back office operation, a cost sink separate from business, existing only to minimize fines and bad public relations. There is growing evidence in the real business world that the efforts to reduce one’s environmental and climate change impacts result in direct bottom line benefits and risk reductions for any company.
Measurement is Critical
But how do we know how successful a company is in growing its sustainability program and its effects on business performance? The answer is optimal metrics, to have proper information to assess the program’s approaches and show measureable effects on environmental and business performance.
You know the old saying: “You cannot manage what does not get measured.” It is critical to establish both historic and changing benchmarks to map trends. Robust metrics are critical to keep in touch with what is working and what is not and to inform stakeholders of successes in terms that cannot be criticized. Other advantages of metrics for any organization include assessment of which parts of the company or facilities are succeeding more than others, reinforcing organizational accountability, assessing your strategic planning and goals that have been set, and improved communication.
The Growth of Environmental Metrics
It used to be that environmental performance was based only upon a company’s compliance with appropriate environmental permits and regulations. An acceptable set of metrics was merely listing compliance requirements for each facility and demonstrating that appropriate data is collected and operations maintained. Then one can conclude that the firm is in compliance and the story is over.
Over the last decade or so, ISO standards have included environmental guidelines. ISO 14001 requires companies to not only ensure that they address and comply with environmental regulations (and develop metrics to prove this), but also to focus on overall environmental performance as measured by each facility’s potential environmental impacts. ISO 14031 Guidelines contain environmental performance indicators (EPIs) to indicate adherence to these guidelines, and require transparent collection of data and calculation to demonstrate meeting the EPIs.
In the last few years, several other global environmental indicators have been developed and are being used by many entities, including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBSCD). Each gives a framework for reporting on the sustainability of an organization’s activities, including profits, people, and planet.
Tips About Sustainability Measurements
- Work with various departments involved in your “green” program. Select parameters that are meaningful to each. Some examples (but don’t be limited): kWh reduced for Energy or Engineering Dept; expenses reduced for Financial; tons of GHG emissions reduced for EHS.
- Be sure your measurement procedures are written, included in SOPs or other official documents, and performed uniformly by all similar operations, for comparison purposes. Make sure that those involved have the proper training and reminders.
- Be sure you measure your parameters by given international standards to be able to compare results not only internally, but with others, including competitors, for meaningful comparisons.
- Make sure your metrics are
- Complete (you have not missed an operation or a time period),
- Understandable to different stakeholders
- Replicable by new employees performing these measurements over time,
- Scientifically correct and relevant, and
- Validated. Be sure that, where necessary, the measurements are properly absolute, normalized to a key, unique factor (such as manufacturing rate), and/or time-based.
- Ensure that the metrics you collect address the needs of all internal and external stakeholders, your employees, customers, registries, local community, government and shareholders.
- Never forget to focus on continuous improvement. Do the procedures need minor tweaking? Is equipment properly calibrated and used? Is proper software used to collect and integrate data?
In summary, success in your “green” or sustainability program not only depends on careful planning and implementation of sound strategies to achieve your environmental and business goals, but also developing the proper metrics to demonstrate progress in meeting these goals in forms to show stakeholders in such a way to show your program’s integrity and to diffuse any potential criticism.
Get more useful information in our blog: www.CCESworld.com/blog
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This Environmental News for You is meant to provide general ideas on “green” program metrics. You need to use a professional to evaluate metrics for your company. CCES experts have the experience to assist you in the strategic and technical tasks necessary to begin and develop a quality, beneficial “green” or sustainability program and to see that proper goals are developed, strategies developed and implemented to move toward achieving these goals, and proper measurements made to demonstrate progress and show the public.
