Strategic sustainability planning can seem like a daunting task, especially for those organizations that don’t have sustainability expertise on hand.  But, as with any strategic initiative, one of the hardest parts is gathering the information that is pertinent to your objective, which in this case, is making your organization more sustainable for the sake of the environment and your organization’s bottom line.  Once you have this information, deciding what to cut and what to measure on an ongoing basis becomes a lot easier.  In essence, you can’t manage what you haven’t measured.

Step One: Deciding What to Measure

The 80/20 principle most likely applies here, meaning that 80% of your organization’s energy and water costs are derived from 20% of the potential sources.  If you are starting from scratch, the categories outlined in the Sustainability and Energy Scorecard, developed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), provide a good starting point to begin your inventory.  The Scorecard is used by the OMB to rate federal agencies on several sustainability areas, including: energy intensity; water intensity; fleet petroleum use; greenhouse gas pollution; green building practices; and, renewable energy use.  If your organization has already drafted a strategic plan, make sure to include those categories that most closely align with it. 

Step Two: Collecting Information

Once you have chosen the categories to inventory, begin compiling all of the qualitative and quantitative data that is pertinent to each.  A lot of this information can be pulled directly from past utility and environmental records, but some of it might be scattered and undocumented.  In this case, you will need to ask those people in your organization who oversee those areas.

Step Three: Benchmarking

Once you have collected enough information to give you a cost baseline for each of the categories you selected, it is helpful to see how your organization stacks up against others of similar size.  Spend some time finding energy data of organizations of similar size and use this to benchmark your organization against them in each of the categories you selected.  While you are searching for data, keep an eye out for best practices information and how each organization is attempting to reduce costs in each category.

Step Four: Pinpointing and Prioritizing

Now that you have a baseline for each category and a clear picture of how your organization compares to others, you can decide where the biggest savings opportunities are.  Begin prioritizing these categories based on potential cost savings and alignment with your organizations goals and strategic plan.

Step Five: Planning

Armed with a list of specific areas to focus your sustainability efforts and best practices research, develop a plan for how each opportunity can be addressed and a timeline for the completion of each.  Most organizations will not have the ability to attack all of these opportunities at once so it is important to budget and plan accordingly.

Completing the steps outlined above should create a comprehensive view of your organizations standing in relation to sustainability.  Throughout the process you will build a solid foundation from which to make future sustainability decisions and likely uncover several cost saving opportunities that you can act on immediately.  It all starts with making sustainability a priority for your organization…get started today!

Tim Fain is an Associate Partner and Service Area Leader within IBM’s Global Business Services Public Sector. Mr. Fain has more than 30 years of technical, managerial, and consulting experience. Specifically his experience involves developing organizational, economic development and environmental and energy sustainability strategies; improving business models and processes; and helping organizations develop transformation roadmaps. He uses his extensive knowledge of Federal regulatory and budgetary processes, e-Government principles and methodologies, and strategic planning to help public sector clients address policy, service, and transformational challenges.

Prior to joining IBM, Tim spent eight years at the Office of Management and Budget where he worked on a broad range of Federal government information technology and policy issues. A former US Navy Submarine Officer, Tim holds a BS in Metallurgical Engineering, a MA in National Security Studies, and a MPP in International Trade and Finance.

Tim Fain (tfain@us.ibm.com)

Ryan Huss is a Business Strategy Consultant for IBM’s Strategy & Innovation practice. He has over 7 years of professional experience in consulting, business development and market research. While at IBM, Mr. Huss has performed in several strategic functions, to include comparative and financial analysis, strategic planning and financial research. He is also an integral part of the team that is developing IBM’s Public Sector Energy & Environment offerings, including methods and tools related to Strategic Sustainability Performance Planning and Environmental Management Systems.

Mr. Huss earned his undergraduate degree in Finance from Georgetown University and his Master’s of Business Administration degree in Strategy from the University of Maryland.

Ryan Huss (ryan.huss@us.ibm.com)

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