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EPA Portfolio Manager is not just for Energy!

3/3/2016

For years, EPA Portfolio Manager has been the go-to free resource for tracking energy bills, but did you know it allows you to track water and now waste metrics as well? Measuring progress is a valuable element of the ISO14001 standard, but it's also useful for keeping track of your resource consumption. After all, you can't manage what you don't measure!

Use this tool for free at https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/facility-owners-and-managers/existing-buildings/use-portfolio-manager or let us know if you'd like us to manage your bills for you.

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Life Cycle Impacts

2/5/2016

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When it comes to sustainability, an important concept in identifying truly "green" solutions is looking at the full life cycle of an initiative or product. Sometimes projects that sound environmentally-friendly aren't necessarily all they're cracked up to be. Take, for example, the idea of using disposable plates instead of reusable ones to save water during a drought.

While that might seem like a good idea on the local level, is this truly sustainable? Disposable plates still require water and other materials to create, and will emit greenhouse gases when it ends up in the landfill. Greenhouse gases contribute to climate change which also contributes to drought. While this may shift the impact elsewhere, life cycle-thinking is critical in ensuring your initiatives are environmentally-sound.

Want a more quantitative approach to figure out the full life-cycle impacts of your measures? Just contact Sundowner for a life-cycle inventory or general advice on the best course of action.

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Sustainability Marketing vs. Outreach... Why they're not the Same thing

1/10/2016

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When it comes to engaging people in sustainability initiatives, clients often confuse good marketing with good outreach. "Aren't they the same thing?" you ask, well... not necessarily.

When it comes to sustainability engagement, good marketing can take the form of that smooth-looking website, infographic, or flyer that will surely get people to come to that event, or participate in your rebate program, or fill out that survey. But how do you ensure that this collateral you paid so much money to develop actually hits its mark and has a compelling call to action and value proposition? How do you actually speak to your target audience and develop that relationship?

Good outreach may use marketing's tools, but it's the ability to know your audience and have the personal follow-up and relationships that can drive action. It's knowing their likes, dislikes, and what's likely to resonate. It's not the powerpoint, but the presentation itself that convinces employees to recycle more, it's the professional relationship with a business that convinces them to participate, not the flyer. Marketing may be the car, but it won't get you to your destination unless you've got an outreach engine to drive it. So before you outsource your sustainability engagement, be sure to contact Sundowner to take advantage of your free consultation and see how to make outreach part of your solution.

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Doing a gHG inventory? Don't forget the Refrigerants!

12/11/2015

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When preparing a greenhouse gas inventory, it's easy to focus on the big-ticket emission items like electricity, natural gas, and fuel use. However, have you also inventoried the refrigerants in your buildings and vehicle fleet?

While easy to forget, refrigerants often have high Global Warming Potential (GWP) which could have a significant impact on your greenhouse gas inventory numbers and create issues during the verification process.

Need some help preparing your greenhouse gas inventory, or simply want to outsource the process altogether? Contact us at [email protected] for a free one-hour initial consultation to find out how we can help.

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A Greener, Cleaner Sunscreen!

11/19/2015

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See below for some local press on one of our clients. Sundowner is proud to be supporting Sea and Summit's mission to provide safer, organic sunscreen to the public and its overall commitment to a transparent, sustainable supply chain:

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Sundowner offers a full range of sustainability ("green") consulting services to help organizations improve their environmental performance while saving time and money in the process. Read on for more tips and case studies on how to make our mission part of your mission!

EPA Portfolio Manager is not just for Energy!

Life Cycle Impacts

Sustainability Marketing vs. Outreach... Why they're not the Same thing

Doing a gHG inventory? Don't forget the Refrigerants!

A Greener, Cleaner Sunscreen!

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