Cultivating green: Sustainable speakers series in the Capital district

By Jodi Smits Anderson, DASNYRevelation: Businesses in your own backyard in Upstate New York are innovating and resilient, working to green up the work they do for their clients and customer and to green their own operations. Is this altruistic? No. Is this purely a bottom line discussion? Not always. We would say, after hearing from several local and prominent businesses, that this is all about growing your business but acknowledging that growth doesn't necessarily mean bigger and more, but certainly means better, stronger and smarter. These businesses have realized greater customer loyalty as they reduce energy use and source products more locally. These businesses have become models of leadership to be emulated, and we are proud they joined us last April to share their work, their successes and their challenges. The event took place at Creo at Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, on April 12. We had an incredible breakfast served by Bountiful Bread, enjoyed the company of about 35 architects, students, and local business people, and our panel included representatives from five local businesses, each with a different perspective on why sustainability is a good and necessary choice for continued business success: * Brian White - owner of Creo, a local high-end restaurant, shared with us how sustainability supports the cache of high-end dining while using less energy and touting local foods. * Joe Berman - environmental certification specialist for Price Chopper, a locally owned supermarket chain. Berman shared how Price Chopper works to connect with local communities with food selections, in sustainable seafood choices, in support of community events and in promoting highly advanced energy system in their stores. * Greg Towe - general manager of the LL Bean store in Colonie Center Mall, citing that the atmosphere of a LEED-CI (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Commercial Interiors) store supports their marketing of their products. * Bill Davies - owner of Davies Office Refurbishing, a local re-manufacturing business, whose business is based on reuse or valuable goods. This process keeps jobs local, reduces transportation of office panel and furniture systems, and diverts an incredible amount of waste from landfills. * Joseph Miller - vice president of asset management for Picotte Companies, a local commercial real estate development company. Picotte's reputation is now being built on green operations, and their business is truly growing because of their ability to build and operate greener than their competitors. We cannot possibly go into all of the revelations in this brief article, but every single one of the panelists expressed their experience that Triple Bottom Line (TBL) thinking has helped their company to greater success. TBL means looking for the somewhat central point that protects the people affected by the choice, respects the planet's resources, and uses the budget responsibly, all at once. For example, Creo presents an incredibly well-appointed and chic bar/restaurant. They spent more money up-front on their building design and construction in order to improve energy efficiency, and they have recouped their investment much faster than predicted. TBL comes in when you realize that not only do they have financial success and continue to save money on energy every month, but their patrons and workers are more comfortable and happier, there is a marketing benefit in having a green roof and local, beautiful interior materials, and in using some vegetables from their own deck garden in their signature oven-fired pizza. Not every presentation we offer is a business to business session, but each cultivating green session seeks to share dynamic and progressive education on sustainability and to directly engage with our local community; learning and working together for cooperative relationships that will facilitate the achievement of an ever more environmentally and socially sustainable building industry. The mission of the N.Y. Upstate Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council is to provide an unparalleled opportunity to accelerate change and help shape the future of green building practices throughout our chapter regions and branches. To learn more, go to www.greenupstateny.org and click on "Green Events Calendar." Jodi Smits Anderson, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, is director, sustainability programs, for Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, Albany, N.Y.