The Bottom Line on Going Green
In a tough economy, it’s more important than ever for businesses to bear down on their financial bottom line. A new Bentley graduate course widens that focus by emphasizing the “triple” bottom line: responsible practices that can grow corporate coffers while also helping to safeguard the environment and support the local community.
Business Sustainability was proposed as a course in 2007, after Adjunct Assistant Professor of Management Will O’Brien ran across the concept in his research on Wal-Mart. The retail giant employs sustainability as a prime corporate strategy. “Sustainability” is defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
“It’s a commitment to the environment as well as a business strategy,” explains O’Brien, who also serves as a consultant with the Maryland-based Strategic Sustainability Consulting.
On the eco-front, Wal-Mart seeks to drive major improvement within its massive supply chain and in its own operations, along with launching less complex changes. For example, installing refrigerator cases with motion sensors that turn off the lights when no one’s around has saved the company more electricity in one year than the average household consumes in a decade.
“Difficult economic times drive companies to be sustainable because they can see a short-term cost reduction,” reasons O’Brien. “It’s similar to the investments in technology 10 to 20 years ago. The companies that are still around are the ones that made smart investments. Likewise, those who make strategic investments in sustainability today will be more competitive and around longer.”
For Starters, Lights Out
Bentley graduate students in the first iteration of the course, offered in summer 2008, were assigned to project teams and paired with a nonprofit or municipality in need of a sustainability plan. Clients included the American Textile History Museum, Olin College of Engineering, the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, and the City of Boston.
MBA candidate Dan Hackett worked with Mother Caroline Academy, a middle school in Dorchester, Mass., for girls of limited financial means. No stranger to sustainability, Hackett has LEED ((Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification and serves as an environmental engineer for Camp, Dresser and McKee in Cambridge.
Mother Caroline Academy signed up for help because of steadily climbing utility bills. With assistance from a sub-consultant, Hackett and his team found that the academy’s boiler was leaking and needed to be replaced. They recommended which boiler to buy, and supplied names of local contractors who could do the installation.
The team’s 25-page sustainability plan also outlined measures for reducing water and electricity costs, starting a recycling program, raising revenue through environmental grants, incorporating sustainable living into the curriculum, and holding a “green week” for students. One cost-saving initiative was as simple as turning off the lights.
“It surprised me to learn that their cleaning staff would turn the lights on in a room to show it had been cleaned,” says Hackett, whose efforts to reduce his own carbon footprint include recycling, using energy-efficient light bulbs, and sharing the commute to work with his wife. “We instead suggested that the classroom lights be turned off one-by-one as rooms were cleaned.”
Initially, academy staff seemed a bit overwhelmed by the plan’s breadth. Hackett and other team members stepped in with a proposed time line to “enable them to take steps over a few months, rather to do everything at once.”
Small Changes, Big Results
Course participant Danielle Stewart ’07 was new to the sustainability concept. Attending Bentley part time to earn the MS in Finance, she works by day as a fixed assets analyst for Gorton’s Seafood in Gloucester, Mass.
Stewart’s project, for the City of Boston, aimed to educate public employees on Mayor Thomas Menino’s climate action plan. The goals were to inspire employees to adopt green practices in their daily work and, thereby, set an example for other Boston residents.
Tackling the topics of energy use, transportation and recycling, Stewart’s three-person team crafted an online survey to learn about employees’ current practices and attitudes toward sustainability. The 200 survey respondents offered some interesting feedback.
For instance, many staffers reported having no control over office lighting because their entire floor operated on a central switch. Other workers, wanting to recycle but lacking appropriate bins at the office, were toting their recyclables home at the end of each day. (The city soon supplied the bins, an effort that had been underway.)
The biggest hurdle for the Bentley team’s recommendations was fiscal restraint.
“The city didn’t want to spend any money,” Stewart says. “The greatest return often requires an investment, and we needed them to understand what they could get back by investing in infrastructure. Even if they’re not ready now, they should consider implementing the recommendations for the future.”
Stewart says that she learned lessons worth sharing at Gorton’s.
“I work on capital projects for the company, and a lot of those recently are related to energy savings,” she explains. “We’re expanding our lighting upgrades, taking advantage of energy rebates, and insulating better. I’m thinking of things in new ways now.”
Like Hackett, Stewart applies eco-principles at home. “I’ve always turned off my lights and my computer, but now I’m more conscious of it,” she says. “We need people to understand the benefits for themselves. There are really small changes you can make that bring great results.”
O’Brien is impressed by his students’ embrace of sustainability and the quality of the plans that teams developed.
“Even if, as some believe, global warming is all hype, it makes sense to save our environment and change our practices,” says the professor, noting his own main motivator for preserving the planet: seven grandchildren.