Thursday, June 12, 2014

Expand Your Sustainability Expertise with These Webinars

Welcome, everyone. As you may know, I believe the best way to advance sustainability is to educate and empower change agents. Members of my team and I are constantly finding ways to share our expertise in ways that provide real, applicable value. Below is our upcoming webinar schedule. Feel free to sign up for as many as you would like, they are offered at no-cost, qualify for PDHs and CEUs, and will help guide you and your organization to a more sustainable future.

– Tad Radzinski, PE, LEED AP, SFP

HPD 101 - A Crash Course in Health Product Declarations
Date: Thursday, June 26
Time: 2:00 pm
Presenters: Jim Mellentine and Annie Bevan

As demand for material content disclosure continues to grow, companies have an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage by reporting on material safety and ingredient hazards. In particular, the Health Product Declaration (HPD) is the preferred disclosure format in the green building community. HPDs disclose the contents of products and their potential health hazards in accordance with the Health Product Declaration Standard.

Sustainable Solutions Corporation and GreenCircle Certified will present unique industry experts’ perspectives on HPDs. You will benefit by learning: how to create an HPD, how to use HPDs in your sales strategy, the challenges and value of material content disclosure, and the HPD verification process. Register for this complimentary webinar and become your company’s HPD hero!



Benchmarking and Measurement – Understanding Operations, Setting Meaningful Targets 
Date: Thursday, July 24
Time: 2:00 pm
Presenter: Tad Radzinski

In order to integrate Sustainability into a strategic business plan and establish well-defined goals and direction, you must first understand your current position. This webinar will demonstrate the value of benchmarking your operations and will provide practical tools to utilize this data to set corporate goals. Based on over 30 years of applied experience, Tad Radzinski will cover topics including: identifying vital metrics to track and understand for your organization, methods of data collection, using this data to set goals, and leveraging benchmarking to address shared concerns throughout your supply chain.



Lean & Green Manufacturing Using Sustainability Assessments
Date: Thursday, August 7
Time: 2:00 pm
Presenters: Jim Mellentine and Cara Watson

Increase your profit margin, reduce waste, and improve production efficiency by conducting a facility Sustainability Assessment. A Sustainability Assessment is a useful tool to evaluate manufacturing operations, identify sources of waste of all types, and provide innovative solutions that save money while reducing environmental impacts. Companies can also use this tool to quantify and highlight the advancements your facility has already made to improve overall sustainability. This webinar will teach you the basics of conducting a Sustainability Assessment and how it can benefit your facility’s bottom line.



Materiality – Managing Long-Term Risk
Date: Thursday, August 28
Time: 2:00 pm
Presenter: Tad Radzinski

Materiality is defined by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as “those topics that have a direct or indirect impact on an organization’s ability to create, preserve or erode economic, environmental and social value for itself, its stakeholders and society at large”. Corporate Sustainability principles embody a forward-thinking approach that considers all relevant factors to develop a successful, long-term business strategy. As our world continues to change and new risks and opportunities emerge, it is imperative that companies identify the resources that are essential to sustain their operations. This webinar will provide insight and guidance on employing sustainability to support effective long-term strategies. Topics will include: determining what is critical to the continued success of your organization, addressing risks and opportunities key to long-term viability, and creating sustainability goals that enhance your business strategy.



Enhance Building Optimization with Energy Modeling
Date: Tuesday, September 9
Time: 2:00 pm
Presenter: Mike Campbell

Energy Modeling is a valuable tool to enhance both new construction and existing buildings. Energy Modeling is the process of determining the energy use of a building or process based on computer simulations. It can be used to predict the energy usage in a new building or estimate the potential savings of energy efficiency improvements for existing buildings. Whole-building Energy Modeling provides valuable information that can be used to optimize the building design for improved energy performance, reduced carbon emissions, and decreased operating costs. This webinar will demonstrate the benefits of Energy Modeling for performance optimization in both new building design and existing buildings.



Strengthening Internal Support for Sustainability Initiatives
Date: Thursday, September 25
Time: 2:00 pm
Presenter: Tad Radzinski

Internal support is a common challenge faced by sustainability professionals. With limited budgets, resources, and backing, sustainability programs can falter. It is important to engrain sustainability into the overall corporate strategy so that Corporate Responsibility goals do not conflict with your business plan, but rather, are an integral part of its success. In order to gain momentum, support for these initiatives must come from all stakeholders – employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, and especially executive management. This webinar will empower you to get managers and executives on board with your sustainability program by learning how to: translate sustainability into business language to engage senior management; demonstrate quick wins and business successes that will garner leadership support; increase employee engagement and build urgency throughout your organization; and prioritize sustainability across all job functions.



Sustainable Product Innovation
Date: Thursday, October 9
Time: 2:00 pm
Presenter: Tad Radzinski and Jim Mellentine

As global competition continues to grow, forward-thinking organizations are looking for ways to ensure their success in future markets. In 2013, the Carbon Disclosure Project S&P 500 Climate Change Report identified Sustainable Product Innovation as the most successful tool for creating long-term value for reporting organizations. Sustainable Product Innovation enables product development teams to consider alternative materials, processes, sourcing, marketing, and other aspects of a product. This can result in decreased environmental impacts and costs throughout the product’s cradle-to-grave life. These programs are part of an effective long-term strategy that addresses risks, capitalizes on opportunities, and supports overall business objectives. Learn from leading industry experts and advance your product lines with this cutting-edge webinar.



Advancing Your Business with Life Cycle Assessment 
Date: Wednesday, November 12
Time: 2:00 pm
Presenters: Jim Mellentine and Cara Watson

Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) are a core component of a sustainable product innovation program. It assists designers and engineers with improving the environmental performance of a product beginning with product inception. There is growing demand to quantify and publish life cycle environmental impacts, and an increasing number of organizations— such as Wal-Mart, 3M, Unilever, and Apple— are utilizing Life Cycle Assessment data to evaluate their products and suppliers. This webinar will demonstrate the value of LCA as a cornerstone of your efforts to foster sustainable products and reduce environmental impacts. Hear from leading experts in Life Cycle Assessment and have your questions answered.