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Though there just as many reasons to go green as there are to be status quo, consultant Tim Sanders distilled it into a single sentence during his morning keynote address at this year’s Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership’s Manufacturing Matters! Conference, held in Milwaukee last month.

“The greenest companies will succeed; the brownest companies will not,” said Sanders, a consultant to Fortune 500 companies and the former Yahoo! chief experience officer. “And the recession is a great equalizer. It will eventually go away, but climate change probably won’t.”

And the steps that the United States will take to address the issues of sustainability, climate change and green business will expand, predicted Sanders.

“Cap and trade – it will happen,” he said. “But more than that, I think it will be a bipartisan effort, and it will be intra-industry.”

That’s a crucial point for Sanders.

“What’s going to happen?” he said. “It’s pretty easy. Every business is going to get a certain number of permits. How many? I don’t know yet. But there’s a greater point to this. Those businesses that have made the effort to become more energy efficient, who have instituted green practices; they’ll meet or come in under their cap. Those that don’t will have to purchase more permits. And guess who they’ll be purchasing those permits from? Their direct competitors.”

He says that some of the biggest companies in America are adopting this vision and are involved in lobbying efforts for this legislation right now.

“Walmart and Target are doing it,” he said. “This rollout is going to happen quicker than we think. Thinking through a long-term scenario, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think we could be looking at this in 2015.”

The China Card

Sanders said playing the “China card” in your company’s response to the green movement is not a good choice.
“If you wait for China to play ball, you’re too late,” he said.

He stressed that it didn’t mean he didn’t understand the idea. With tight margins, focusing on sustainability may not seem like a wise investment, particularly if you perceive that China — a country not known for its environmental policies — isn’t doing it.

“But they are,” he stressed. “They’re throwing a lot of money at this issue and they’re making changes. In fact, the next generation of MBAs in China as just as empowered and impassioned about this issue as American MBAs.”

Sanders gave a list of reasons why companies think they should stay “brown.”

“First there’s the small-pie theory, that the pie is shrinking and there is less opportunity to go around,” he said. “Not true.”

The second is that social equality is too expensive.

“Done right, social equality is free,” he said. “More importantly, your customers and partners will start to demand it, and you’ll see the impact of not having it in regulations, taxes and penalties in the future.”
Sanders also said it will show up in your recruiting efforts.

“Social equality plays into your talent, in recruiting, retaining and motivating,” he said. “And to be honest, if you can hire someone who really cares about the environment, he or she will be the cheapest employee you ever hire. They turn everything off.”

Finally, he cautioned companies to really think about the idea that going green doesn’t apply to them. “Believe me, this is something that really does apply to you,” he said.

Operating assistance

One Wisconsin-based business that has learned firsthand the emerging importance of green thought is in their business model is the New Glarus Brewing Company.

“This is extremely important to our customers,” says Brewmaster Daniel Carey of the New Glarus Brewing Company. “We have a moral contract with the people of Wisconsin to do all we can to be environmentally responsible.”

But this microbrewer also understands the business impact in being environmentally responsible.
“It makes business sense,” adds Carey. “Although building ‘green’ is capital expensive, the payback from lower operating costs is relatively short — one to five years based on today’s energy costs. And we all know that energy costs will continue to sky rocket.”

New Glarus Brewing Company began operations in June 1993, and has won many awards for its brewery and its products. When the company began making preliminary plans to build its new 75,000-square foot brewery and energy efficient wastewater treatment facility, green building practices were part of the project from the beginning.

“I met with Deborah and Dan Carey early on as they were sketching out plans … and they were very interested in environmental stewardship and wise energy use from the start,” says Dan Burgenske, Alliant Energy strategic account manager. “It ended up that financing available through our Shared Savings program was a good fit for getting their project accomplished.”

Wisconsin Power and Light, an Alliant Energy company, has helped thousands of Wisconsin businesses and farm customers cut energy usage through its Shared Savings Program. More than 2.1-million kilowatt-hours of electricity have been saved during the past seven years with the program, an amount equal to that produced by a 280-megawatt power plant.

In the case of New Glarus Brewing Company, the Shared Services funding helped in the construction of the new facility from the very beginning. Implementing green building practices and equipment into the construction process saved 2,224,547 kilowatt-hours of electricity. This project removes the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions of 293 passenger vehicles from the road; to use another analogy, it saves enough energy to power 145 average-sized homes for one year.

“When we planned our brewery building and wastewater treatment facility, we worked to incorporate energy efficient and environmentally friendly design so we could reduce our energy use and environmental impact,” says Deborah Carey, New Glarus Brewing Company president.

Other resources are available in Wisconsin to help companies introduce sustainability initiatives. A major source of assistance in Wisconsin is Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s energy efficiency and renewable energy initiative, which works with eligible Wisconsin residents and businesses to install cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Focus information, resources and financial incentives help to implement projects that otherwise would not be completed, or to complete projects sooner than scheduled. Its efforts help Wisconsin residents and businesses manage rising energy costs, promote in-state economic development, protect the environment and control the state’s growing demand for electricity and natural gas.

Going green often starts with construction and planning, but there are a number of things that existing businesses can also do to impact their energy usage, and that’s one area where Focus on Energy excels.

With the help of Focus on Energy, United True Value Hardware in Oconto Falls recently found 175 new ways to save energy by replacing its current light fixtures with high-performance, energy efficient ones. The business received $3,220 in financial incentives from Focus on Energy for upgrading 175 T12 linear-fluorescent fixtures to high-performance T8 electronic fixtures. The upgrade will save more than 64,880 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually—enough energy to power seven Wisconsin homes for a year. The store will also benefit from a $4,658 savings on its energy bills each year.

High-performance T8 fixtures can save up to 40 percent more energy than T12 systems. The new lights are also rated to last 4,000 hours longer than standard T12 lamps and provide a better quality light.

“We were pleased with the light quality,” says Nancy Weiss, owner of United True Value Hardware. “Our hardware products appear brighter on the shelves and our customers are able to see everything better.”

Not only does this lighting upgrade save energy and money, but it’s also environmentally friendly. The annual environmental benefits are equivalent to offsetting 128 barrels of oil from being burned – eliminating 110,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere.

“Upgrading to high-performance lighting is a fantastic way for businesses to save energy and money,” says Ken Williams, Focus on Energy’s business programs director. “United True Value Hardware will see the benefits every time they receive an energy bill.”

In Marshfield, it may look like business as usual at Saint Joseph’s Hospital, but behind the scenes the facility staff has also made two major energy – and dollar –savings improvements this year, all without disrupting patient care.

Focus on Energy helped Saint Joseph’s Hospital reduce its energy consumption by more than 525,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 85,000 therms of natural gas annually — saving enough energy to power 145 homes for a year. The hospital will also save approximately $125,000 on its energy bills each year.
“This is a great program,” says Randy Wegner, department director of facilities management at Saint Joseph’s Hospital. “Working with Focus was seamless and the energy advisor integrated with our process to make sure we received maximum savings.”

Saint Joseph’s Hospital received $73,000 in cash incentives from Focus on Energy to assist its efforts toward becoming more energy efficient. Projects included:

• Installing a high efficiency water-cooled electric chiller. The new machine has advanced controls, a variable speed compressor and more heat transfer surface than a standard chiller.

• Replacing a constant-volume heating, ventilation and air conditioning system with variable-air volume system. This saves energy as less air needs to be cooled, heated and circulated.

“The Focus financial incentives really helped lower our initial investment so we could get these projects done,” Wegner says. “There was no reason to wait; we could do the projects right away and start saving on energy costs.”

Calculated choices

Green business comes in different shades, and making the commitment to sustainability often means thinking creatively and setting aside old business models if sustainability is not included.

Large corporations around the country are incorporating sustainability into key business departments and divisions, including quality control, marketing and even design.

“Look at Procter and Gamble,” said Sanders as an example. “For years, it was about having the biggest product and the biggest packaging on the shelf. That’s completely changed because sustainability is a critical part of their business model.”

Though comparing small and big business is often an apples-to-oranges proposition, it doesn’t mean that small- to mid-sized businesses can’t cherry pick ideas and approaches.

“Green design is often beyond the reach of small businesses,” says Dan Carey of New Glarus Brewing Company.

“Much of the new technology is expensive and experimental. Correct solutions are not obvious. Even finding experienced, affordable engineers is difficult.”

The effort is worth it, at least in his experiences. It’s not just about going green, but becoming more competitive as a result.

“Most small players have a tough time competing in this evolving global economy, so, we have no choice but to act: Either invest in the future or fade away,” he says. “So I would say to the small business person, ‘Hang in there. Invest your time and energy in understanding your options. If we are smart and make the right decisions, our customers will continue to support us. The faceless international corporations might have more money and engineering prowess, but they lack the good will of the people.”

Sometimes, that goodwill can start internally and fuel your company’s change from brown to green.

“You have to give your employees a reason to do it,” said Sanders during his Manufacturing Matters! Keynote address. “Here’s something very simple: If you can create a culture where everything gets turned off, you’ll save money, your business will become more sustainable and it won’t cost you a thing to do it.”

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