The Green Imperative: Not Your Father’s Recycling Program

From Site Selection Magazine:

While cost reduction and energy efficiencies are key drivers of the push to green the corporate real estate portfolio, there are other factors at work. It’s what J&J’s Tish Lascelle calls “the awakening consumer.”

Increasingly aware corporate customers and individual consumers alike want to see a demonstrated commitment to what’s known as “the triple bottom line” of people, planet and profit in the brands they buy. They are making purchasing decisions based on the perceived strength of these corporate commitments to environmental and social sustainability.

This public awakening is forcing companies to move forward along the green facilities continuum, whether they like it or not. New rules and regulations — such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed boiler major source rule, aka the Boiler MACT — are being enacted in part because public officials feel pressure from their constituencies to take action.

Locally, communities across the country are mandating green standards, such as LEED certification, for new construction. Others have created incentives such as favorable property tax treatment or density bonuses for LEED-certified facilities. According to the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED initiatives — including legislation, executive orders, resolutions, ordinances, policies and incentives — exist in 45 states, including 442 localities, 35 state governments, 14 federal agencies or departments, and numerous public school jurisdictions and institutions of higher education throughout the nation.

via The Green Imperative: Not Your Father’s Recycling Program.