1. GEF Institute
Sustainability Education
Programs
for
Corporations
Copyright © 2012 GEF Institute. All Rights Reserved.
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2. About the Institute
GEF Institute was established to meet the
increasing global market demand for
sustainability education and training.
The Institute develops state-of-the art online
courses and training in sustainability concepts
for employees, managers and executives.
The Institute’s robust certification programs
offer distinct certificate levels to distinguish
organizations with a proven, comprehensive
understanding of important sustainability
topics.
Copyright © 2012 GEF Institute. All Rights Reserved.
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3. What is Corporate Sustainability?
“Companies are included
on the basis of displaying
"Corporate Sustainability is a business approach
high levels of competence that creates long-term shareholder value by
around sustainability in embracing opportunities and managing risks
variety of areas including deriving from economic, environmental and
managing human social developments. Corporate sustainability
resources to maintain leaders achieve long-term shareholder value by
workforce capabilities and gearing their strategies and management to
employee satisfaction harness the market's potential for sustainability
through best-in-class products and services while at the same time
organizational learning successfully reducing and avoiding sustainability
and knowledge costs and risks.“
management practices…”
Dow Jones Sustainability - Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI)
Indexes Corporate
Sustainability Assessment
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4. Sustainability is a Strong
Corporate Strategy
• Brand Identity – Drive sales through brand
association with environmental
responsibility and sustainable practices.
• Employee Engagement – An engaged and
educated employee is your best brand
ambassador, and will feel a deeper
connection to their work and the company.
• Shareholder Value – Be consistently
included in the Dow Jones Sustainability
Index, Goldman Sax, NASDAQ, Newsweek,
"In good times, sustainability can be a competitive
etc.
differentiator, in lean times, it's a defensive strategy, and
in really hard times, it can determine your survival." • Real Dollar Savings – Affect the bottom line
~ Richard Goode, Director of Sustainability, Alcatel-Lucent
through office efficiency as well as in
operations.
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5. The Benefits
The Adoption Curve
“Various benefits of sustainability (in decreasing order of importance
The trouble with integration as perceived by the practitioners):
sustainability into business is • improved brand reputation
the lack of familiarity with • increased competitive advantage
environmental issues. TD • access to new markets
Bank “has made efforts to • increased margins or market share due to sustainability positioning
bring more of the staff on • reduced costs due to energy efficiency
board to spread • better innovation of business models and processes
understanding of everything • better innovation of product/service offerings
from energy markets to • improved perception of how well company is managed
customer preferences” (3). • reduced costs due to materials or waste efficiencies
“’We engaged all our internal • improved regulatory compliance
constituents, all the • improved ability to attract and retain top talent
employees, management, • enhanced stakeholder/investor relations
senior management and the • reduced risk
executives,” says Mike
• increased employee productivity.”
Pedersen – TD Bank, VP of Source: New Sustainability Study: The Embracers Seize Advantage, MIT Sloan Management Review
Operations.
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6. Beyond the Tangible
“In the process of “Improved brand name reputation” is the biggest reason to
conducting a recent study
adopt sustainability-driven management. It is an intangible
benefit, which most visibly correlates with more people
with 25 leading companies
interested in joining the company.
to identify best practices in
sustainability, we Brand-name reputation in comparison to tangible benefits like
discovered many formal, waste reduction, energy savings, operational efficiencies, etc.
established sustainability rates higher, and thus sustainability’s appeal more indirect in its
programs originated from
relation to a business’s ultimate success:
“grassroots” employee
“Making savings just won’t affect a company’s bottom line
efforts unknown to senior
very much. Attracting more customers at better margins, on
executives.” the other hand, or bumping employee productivity by just a
- KPMG International’s
few percentage points, would have catalytic effects on a
company’s bottom line.”
Corporate Sustainability: A
Progress Report
Source: New Sustainability Study: The Embracers Seize Advantage, MIT Sloan Management
Review
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7. Train Employees to Improve Efficiencies
In 2008, Stonyfield
A successful building operations and maintenance efficiency
challenged its employees
plan requires educating all occupants
to save energy at the • Drive real dollar savings through collective understanding of sustainability
company’s facilities. issues and corresponding actions. Collective behavior change, driven through
Savings were tied to
education, can make an enormous impact on resource efficiencies
employee bonuses for all • Existing investments in energy efficiency will not reach their full potential
workers, providing without buy-in and behavior change from building occupants
additional motivation. The
company achieved its
annual goal, reducing
company energy use by
over 22 percent.
Business Case for
Environmental and
Sustainability Employee
Education, National
Environmental Education
Foundation (NEEF)
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8. Create Value by Engaging Employees
9 out of 10 employees link brand reputation to how companies address
environmental and social issues
• Studies show employees with the
According to a 2009 ING poll of highest level of commitment perform 20
6000 employees:
percent better and are 87 percent less
likely to leave the organization
• 89% are concerned about
environmental issues
• 84% about climate change • Only one in 10 employees feel
• 96% about recycling completely prepared with regard to their
• 98% about rising energy prices knowledge and understanding of the
• 97% about pollution environment
• 97% about waste disposal
Engaging Employees in
• After learning that a company is socially
Sustainability webcast by Center and/or environmentally responsible, 44
for Resource Solutions percent of Millenials are likely to actively
pursue working at that company
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9. GEF Institute
Corporate Sustainability Opportunities
• Employee Education
• Mid & Executive Level
Management Training
• Sustainability Intranet
Portal Development
• Green Team
• Employee Community
Volunteerism Programs
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10. Green Team Support
In the process
of conducting 10 Best Practices for Green Teams
a recent study
with 25 leading
companies to • Start with the visible and tangible: focus on internal operations
identify best
practices in
• Get senior management involved, but don’t lose the grassroots
sustainability, energy
we discovered • Engage employees to capture ideas
many formal,
established • Communicate and share best practices
sustainability • Engage employees with their bellies: Low carbon diet campaign
programs
originated • Engage employees in their personal lives
from • Engage customers to be part of the solution
“grassroots”
employee • Use art to raise awareness
efforts • Create a toolkit to support and guide green teams
unknown to
senior • Align green teams with corporate sustainability goals
executives.
Copyright © 2012 GEF Institute. All Rights Reserved.
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11. GEF Institute
Sustainability Education Programs
The top three ways for • Self-guided access to GEF Institute’s online courses
(individuals) to reduce – Online courses are self-paced and incorporate dynamic instruction methods,
their own emissions are to video narration, application based activities, discussion forums, assessments,
drive more fuel-efficient etc.
cars, improve the
insulation of their homes,
• Employee on-demand video training
and eat less beef. Yet – Downloadable to smart devices
when we asked the
consumers in our study to
• Train-the-trainer workshop instructions
name the top three, they
fingered recycling, energy- • PowerPoint Presentations
efficient appliances, and
driving less.
Helping Green Products
Grow, McKinsey Quarterly

12. GEF Institute
Certificates in Sustainability
• Earning a certification boosts credibility in the
workplace and provides the foundational
knowledge for successful sustainability initiatives or
behavior change campaigns.
• GEF Institute certifications are comprised of online
education that provides big picture analysis and
local application of important concepts to foster
awareness and enthusiasm for sustainability.
• Distinct levels of certification in sustainability
concepts motivate participants to take steps toward
sustainability literacy and action.
• Courses required for certification are eligible for
academic (graduate or undergraduate) credit.
“I think the best example is to lead by example and be sustainable. The incentive is to clean up our mess and make the world a more
livable place. If employees don’t already feel a sense of obligation and stewardship, then they need to be educated.”
Employee Engagement Survey: An Analysis of the Extent and Nature of Employee Sustainability Programs, BrighterPlanet

13. Sustainability in Operations
Real World Examples
• At a Lockheed Martin facility, green team activities led to more than $200,000 in savings and
reduced CO2 emissions by 2,332 metric tons.
• When Verizon focused on creating more sustainable operations, the company generated $27
million by sorting out and selling recyclable materials from its waste stream, while also saving
over a million dollars in waste removal costs.
• P&G has gone so far as to say that they will generate $50 billion in cumulative sales from
"sustainable innovation products" in a five-year period ending in 2012.
• Johnson & Johnson has undertaken 80
sustainability projects since 2005 and
achieved $187 million in savings with an
ROI of nearly 19 percent, and rising.
• Diversey, a leading B2B global provider of
commercial cleaning and hygiene
solutions states that for every $1 they
invested in 2008 they expect to recoup $2
in 5 years.

14. GEF Contacts
Victoria Waters
President & CEO
Green Education Foundation
vwaters@greeneducationfoundation.org
508-668-2278
Molly Hislop
Program Director
mhislop@greeneducationfoundation.org
508-318-6618
Leslie Taylor
Director, Partner Relations
ltaylor@greeneducationfoundtaion.org
508-668-2278