Assessment to quantify local businesses' green technologies

By: Matt Frierdich
Posted: 9/16/09
The Mirror

On September 1, Drury's SIFE and Ozarks Center for Sustainable Solutions, in partnership with local sustainability organizations, sponsored the launch of Ozarks Green Score (OGS).

According to its Web site, The Ozarks Green Score is a program to quantitatively assess local businesses' application of green technologies and policies.

Participating businesses can receive certification as Bronze, Silver, Gold, and up to Green members.

Josh Jones, director of Drury's SIFE, said this project started in August 2008.

After SIFE added sustainability as a judging criteria to the 2008-2009 competition, Jones set up a meeting with Doug Neidigh, program manager of Ozarks Center for Sustainable Solutions (OCSS).

Ozarks Center for Sustainable Solutions is a self-funded Drury program that offers technical assistance to local businesses and organizations interested in green innovation.

After discussing the community's needs, Jones concluded that a "program that would be able to quantify sustainable business practices" was a viable project.

Though similar programs existed, Jones believed a quantifiable certification was needed to distinguish "a business that is clearly on the forefront of [sustainability] from one that could be considered a laggard."

Drury SIFE contributed to the research and development of the Web site's resource center.

"Now that the program is set in motion," Jones explained, "[SIFE's] biggest role will be really in the sort of marketing, sales, and public relations side of [the OGS]." For the program to succeed in the Ozarks, Jones said "it is going require our team going to business, talking them through it, and trying to encourage participation."

The actual execution of the OGS "green audits" is where Neidigh comes in. Neidigh provides "environmental and energy technical assistance to businesses to help them identify [and implement sustainable] opportunities."

Neidigh explained that OCSS communicates with organizations about their needs and limitations when it comes to OGS categories and helps find ways to become more "green."

Neidigh said that most of the organizations interested in OGS certification are small to medium-sized and cannot afford expensive upgrades.

Neidigh seeks to "make recommendations that are feasible. We say 'here are one or two things you can do, and the payback for doing this is six months to a year.'"

This encourages development that is beneficial to the environment and the business.

But Neidigh explained that OCSS will not be alone in the OGS certification process.

"We are working with other environmental agencies in the area such as Partnership for Sustainability and City Utility," said Neidigh, to "utilize local knowledge and expertise on sustainable development that already exists."

For Neidigh, the OGS "it's not just a program the [OCSS] will always manage. We have set it up to where it will always be self-sustainingâ?¦ because there is a pool of other community organizations that can go out and provide the [OGS] resources."