Organization Sustainability Audit
Our approach looks at your organization's operations through an environmental lens with the goal of pinpointing potential business opportunities and risks. We use discussions with employees, observations of building operations, and analysis of utility bills, to analyze key areas such as Product purchasing habits; Electricity, water, gas, and fuel consumption; Information technology resources; Waste stream composition and quantities; Transportation requirements; Company's integration into a sustainable environment; and Engagement of external stakeholders. Other areas can be analyzed at the client's request. To augment our discussion with employees we employ a brief questionnaire that establishes the "sustainability I.Q." of the organization. It typically is completed by a representative sample of members of the organization. This questionnaire also can factor in the commuting habits of employees, depending on the wishes of the client. From these combined data we generate a detailed report for each of the audited areas, identifying potential opportunities and risks for each area, and offering recommendations that can improve a company's sustainability while improving its bottom line.
Sustainability Plan Definition
A Sustainability Plan crystallizes your financially-based short-term and long-term goals. Our approach to developing your Sustainability Plan:
- Is systematic and comprehensive
- Engages internal and external stakeholders
- Employs interdisciplinary techniques and an interdisciplinary team
- Results in a plan that integrates all key area
- Uses a life cycle assessment perspective
Plans can be big or small, narrowly focused or broadly reaching, so please do not hesitate to contact us. We welcome any questions and are happy to discuss your situation and your needs.
Implementation
A solid plan without solid execution is worthless. TerraLocke provides experienced project management and facilitation services to ensure the successful on-time and on-budget implementation of any plan initiative. We can help you set priorities, develop action plans for areas where you want to focus and lay out a timeline delineating the next steps. We believe that our job also is to help you develop the internal capacity to identify, manage and implement new sustainability initiatives in an ever-changing future. Basically, our job is to help you not need us!
Financing: Cash Grants, Rebates, and Tax Credits
Like any other business endeavor, sustainability initiatives must be supported by viable business cases. Fortunately, numerous financial incentives are available to improve business cases for a range of energy efficiency activities, renewable energy installations, and clean tech research projects, among others. TerraLocke identifies financing opportunities based on an organization’s characteristics such as industry, geography, and type of initiative, and then manages the process to obtain the needed funds. TerraLocke also works with organizations to help them modify their sustainability initiative where appropriate in order to maximize these financial incentives.
Sustainable Training
A whole new industry is evolving with new approaches, technologies, acronyms and terminology. We explain this evolving industry in straight forward, relevant and involving training sessions, so that you don't have to reinvent the wheel. You'll be ahead of the game by learning how businesses, governments, and non-governmental organizations are addressing sustainability and working together to identify new markets. We also work to tailor the information to your organization's particular requirements.
Business Planning for Sustainable Businesses
If your business is all about sustainability - let's say you grow native plants, make products out of recycled materials, reclaim brownfields, support sustainability communities, restore wetlands, educate students to become global citizens - we can help you with most any type of business planning. Our team of professionals has extensive business experience (and most have MBAs), both inside and outside of the "sustainability" business, and we care about helping you develop a strong business case for whatever it is you do to make the world more sustainable.