2013 was a great year at SPI. We worked with a wide variety of companies–from global manufacturing giants to universities and from large multi-national design firms to small, single office architecture studios–to help them develop or fine-tune their sustainability programs. In addition, SPI’s Certification program was adopted by HUD and 24 affordable housing developers from […]
Putting the Management back in Change Part 5: Removing Obstacles; Empowering Others to Act
In my first article in this series, “Putting the Management Back in Change“, I began looking at what it really takes for companies to get past a focus on LEED to successfully institutionalize sustainability and truly be “green firms”. In the series, I use Harvard business guru John Kotter’s 8 step model for organizational change […]
SPI Certification Criteria v3.0 Open for Public Comment Until 10/11/13
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SPI Green Firm Certification V3.0 Evaluation Criteria Now Open For Public Comment August 21, 2013 – The non-profit Sustainable Performance Institute (www.sustainable-performance.org) (SPI) has just released version 3.0 of its Green Firm Certification criteria for public comment. Building industry professionals are invited to provide feedback on the proposed new criteria until midnight […]
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Putting the Management Back in Change, Part 4: Communication Effectiveness
In my first article in this series, “Putting the Management Back in Change“, I began looking at what it really takes for companies to successfully institutionalize sustainability and truly be “green firms”. Too frequently, I encounter firms who have not realized that becoming a truly green firm means more than having LEED projects in your […]
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Putting the Management back in Change Part 3: Vision
In my first article in this series, “Putting the Management Back in Change“, I began looking at what it really takes for companies to successfully institutionalize sustainability and truly be “green firms”. The common misconception that having LEED projects in your portfolio makes you green doesn’t tell the full story and misrepresents what it really […]
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Putting the Management back in Change Part 2: The value of coalitions
In my earlier article,”Putting the Management Back in Change”, I began looking at what it really takes for companies to successfully institutionalize sustainability and truly be “green firms”. The common misconception – that having LEED projects in your portfolio makes you green – doesn’t tell the full story and misrepresents what it really takes to […]
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Putting the Management Back in Change Part 1: If It’s Broke, Fix It—NOW!
If you’re reading this, chances are you are a sustainability leader or champion within your company. Chances are, also, that that you still face resistance getting some of your colleagues on-board. In my previous article, “Putting the Management Back in Change”, I posited that companies who are truly committed go beyond individual project successes to […]
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Putting the Management back in Change
In many ways, LEED has been the tail wagging the dog.A tool originally intended to define green building metrics – repurposed as a ‘design’ tool.An ‘end of pipe’ measuring stick relied on to drive change in professional practice and collaboration. That can’t end well. Because sustainability was initially introduced to the industry through LEED and […]
Are Those Numbers For Real? The Role of Data Quality Management
by Jim Newman of Linnean Solutions Data quality may be the elephant in the room when we talk about widespread energy and water use reporting. Energy and water use reporting in the US has grown in importance because of a combination of corporate reporting needs and municipal regulation. This article looks at two key types […]
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Recap – SPI Roundtable: State of the State
Our March “State of the State” Roundtable highlighted new accomplishments from 2012 and new activities planned for 2013. The group shared some inspiring achievements and we’d love to hear yours!. See the highlights below and click the link to add your thoughts! Some trends emerged: Advocacy: 2030 adoption and advocacy increased in 2012 and continues […]