Page 104 - The Green Building Bottom Line The Real Cost of Sustainable Building

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ability is no different. For example, having the CEO unilaterally decide that the com-
pany will pursue sustainability in all business operations can be seen as just another
directive coming from the top, lacking employee buy-in. This can lead to a range of
feelings, from resentment about additional work that obviously might arise from this
decision, to a what-the-heck-does-he-know? mentality, to a sense of relief that upper
management is finally moving in the direction of employees’ personal beliefs. In the
bottom-up scenario, employees can incorporate sustainability concepts into everyday
business practices, from ordering recycled paper to changing to compact fluorescent
light bulbs. But this approach, too, has pitfalls—it can have limited reach, and often
gets stalled as it progresses up through middle and upper management.
In a thirty-person firm such as Melaver, Inc., the organization’s CEO espoused the
need for sustainability in all aspects of the organization. However, this transition did
not come overnight as a mandate. Rather, concepts were identified, and a two-year
odyssey followed to determine what sustainability really meant to the company and
what it meant to each individual within the organization. This process culminated at a
company retreat, with each employee identifying traits that the concept of sustain-
ability must embody, and resulting in a sense of ownership for all employees. Every
single person had input into what sustainability meant to the organization and a hand
in shaping the direction of the company. It also meant that the employees’ vision had
full support of the company executives, ensuring the role of sustainability as a primary
factor in all business decisions as a successful, lasting concept for the company.
Will this exact approach work for a firm with five thousand people? Five hundred?
Even fifty? Each company has a unique methodology for decision making and its own
logistical processes. (Imagine one thousand employees crowded into one room trying
to define what sustainability means to their organization!) The main point is that it
takes a comprehensive approach to determine what sustainability means for each com-
pany, an approach that should include not just the executives but all the folks on the
ground who will be implementing the decision day to day.
If sustainability is part of the fabric of the organization (as it is at Melaver, Inc.),
someone can walk into a company’s office and ask anyone, from the CEO to the recep-
tionist, about what sustainability means to the company and what the company is
doing about it, and the person will receive a fairly consistent answer. Part of this is the
comprehensive process by which a company determines what sustainability means,
which translates to genuine buy-in to the overall vision. Part is the continual reinforce-
ment coming from the sustainability department, and part is the continued support from
upper management.
Sustainability affects all components of an organization, from finance to operations to
legal and human resources. To help span this diverse spectrum within the organization
chart, many companies (Melaver, Inc. included) designate a sustainability director or
green officer to oversee sustainability initiatives and to help ensure that sustainability is
incorporated into business operations. However, there can be pitfalls when designating
the responsibility for incorporating a sustainability program throughout the company to
one person or department. This was a concern at Melaver, Inc. when the position was
first created—that sustainability would simply be the responsibility of the “green guy,”