A New Sustainability Standard for Business

The standard is being developed in partnership with UL Environment, a business unit of the venerable Underwriters Laboratories, the 115-year-old standards and certification organization to develop and commercialize a company-level standard for sustainability — that is, environmental, social, and corporate governance issues — to be used as a procurement tool for companies, government agencies, and others. The idea for a business-level sustainability standard dates back to 2003, when a group of individuals representing nonprofits, government agencies and companies in the San Francisco Bay Area came together to create a business council to share best practices in engaging with companies on sustainability issues. One project that emerged was the need for a standard.

The new standard covers environment, workforce, social and community engagement, customers and suppliers, and “governance for sustainability.” We’ve long described this in shorthand as “LEED for Companies” — that is, a point-based rating system along with good-better-best levels of certification. We have been inspired by the success of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED green building rating systems, which created definitions of “green building” where there were none. Those ratings systems were critical catalysts in spurring the green building market. Similarly, we believe this new standard and rating system will help define sustainability at the enterprise level, growing markets for certified companies.

It is being designed as a global standard, though it will initially be introduced in North America. We intend this standard to be a learning tool as much as a certification process — a means for companies to benchmark themselves on sustainability measures.

Author – Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com

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