Sustainable Office Research Articles

The Spatially Explicit Water Footprint of Blue Jeans: Spatial Methods in Action for Sustainable Consumer Products and Corporate Management of Water

To improve and to protect brand reputation, corporate sustainability officers must assist with decisions about how to manage supply chains to avoid deleterious impacts from consumer products, such as food or clothing. This case study shows how one method typically used to identify problematic materials and sources in a supply chain, life cycle assessment, can be made spatially explicit for water footprints. Water must be understood spatially because the use of the same amount of water in an arid place creates more ecological damage than the use of water in places with ample water resources. This case reports on the development of a spatially explicit water footprint for Guess?, Inc., a global apparel company to highlight “hot spots” of negative impacts on water resources. Freshwater resources consumed throughout the life cycle for a pair of blue jeans were assessed, including the growth of cotton, production of the fabric and other materials, industrial laundering, and washing by the consumer. The locations of these steps were then mapped with a geographic information system to generate spatially explicit water impact estimates. Engaging with this case, students will learn about key methodological choices and limitations in such projects, think about how to advise the company on steps to be taken in its water management action plan, and reflect on the implications for sustainable corporate management of consumer products.

Public health and climate change: How are local authorities preparing for the health impacts of our changing climate?

ABSTRACTBackgroundLocal authorities have a crucial role in preparing for the impacts of climate change. However, the extent to which health impacts are being prioritized and acted on is not well understood.MethodsWe investigated the role of public health in adapting to climate change through: (i) a content analysis of local authority climate change adaptation strategies in South West England and (ii) semi-structured telephone interviews with local authority public health consultants and sustainability officers and a regional Public Health England representative (n = 11).ResultsAdaptation strategies/plans varied in existence and scope. Public health consultants did not have an explicit remit for climate change adaptation, although related action often aligned with public health’s emergency planning functions. Key barriers to health-related adaptation were financial constraints, lack of leadership and limited public and professional awareness about health impacts.ConclusionsLocal authorities in South West England have differing approaches to tackling health impacts of climate change, and the prominence of public health arguments for adaptation varies. Improved public health intelligence, concise communications, targeted support, visible local and national leadership and clarity on economic costs and benefits of adaptation would be useful for local authorities in preparing for the health impacts of climate change.

Chief sustainability officers and corporate social (Ir)responsibility

AbstractResearch SummaryHow will a chief sustainability officer (CSO) influence corporate social performance? Building upon the upper echelons perspective and the attention‐based view, this study argues that while a CSO helps channel managerial attention to a firm's social domain, managerial attention is more likely to be directed to negative issues than to positive issues. In addition, such relationships are contingent on the focal firm's governance design and its industry culpability. Analysis of a sample of S&P 500 firms for the period of 2005–2014 largely renders support to our predictions.Managerial SummaryWhile more and more firms start to put a chief sustainability officer (CSO) on its top management team (TMT), the implications for corporate social performance of CSO presence remain unclear. With a sample of S&P 500 firms, we find that the presence of a CSO increases the firm's socially responsible activities (CSR) and reduces its socially irresponsible activities (CSiR). Moreover, CSO presence has a greater effect on reducing CSiR than on increasing CSR. These relationships become stronger when the firm has a sustainability committee on the board and is in a culpable industry.

What is the Future of the Chief Sustainability Officer?

Abstract There is a business function to deliver sustainability either as an individual or as a team, writes Alex Bardell MBCS of the Green IT Specialist Group – but with increased awareness of environmental issues, is this role still required?

‘A Nut We Have Officially yet to Crack’: Forcing the Attention of Athletic Departments Toward Sustainability Through Shared Governance

In many ways, intercollegiate athletics represents the ‘sustainable’ front porch of higher education. The high-visibility, high-impact nature of elite-level college athletics make athletic departments a central player in the sustainable development journey. However, not all athletic departments respond to this responsibility, nor are all responses uniformly successful. According to national reporting frameworks, an increasing number of universities in the United States are choosing to involve their athletic departments in university-level sustainability governance structures, but the benefits and limitations of this remain unclear. Using the theory of loosely coupled systems, and more specifically, the voice of compensations (which views loose coupling as an unsatisfactory state), the purpose of this paper is to explore perceptions of athletic department engagement in shared sustainability governance, and, thus, a whole-of-institution approach. Semi-structured interviews with sustainability office personnel were conducted and analyzed, and the findings imply that shared sustainability governance has the potential to focus the attention of athletic departments toward sustainability, as well as to reaffirm shared values. Yet, to maximize the impact of athletic departments toward the sustainable development goals of a university, sustainability office personnel suggest the deployment of additional change levers, in a multi-dimensional fashion, as supplementary coupling mechanisms. These would include more rigorous sustainability goals (top-down), continued collaboration on ‘low-hanging fruit’ initiatives (lateral), student-athlete engagement (bottom-up), and the development of an internal sustainability framework (inside-out).

C&EN talks with Gayle Schueller

3M has long been known as an innovative company. Who hasn’t used the firm’s Post-it notes, applied Scotch tape to a ripped page, or seen city buses wrapped with its perforated Scotchcal graphic film, which covers windows with images while allowing drivers and passengers to see out? But these days innovation is about more than just cool properties or great functionality. Gayle Schueller, 3M’s chief sustainability officer, says if the firm is to continue its run of innovative products, it has to invent new products and redesign old ones with an eye toward reducing their environmental impact. A materials scientist with a PhD from the University of Virginia, Schueller is leading the effort to turn that goal into reality. Designing and developing products for industrial, health-care, and electronics industry customers for more than a century has made 3M a hugely successful company with close to $33 billion in annual sales.

Design, decision-making and trade-offs in the Centre for Sustainable Development (La Maison du développement durable) in Canada

In order to fight climate change and reduce carbon emissions, professionals in the construction sector often strive for optimal mechanical / technical solutions and assume that a “best” solution exists at a given time and in a given place. But what happens in sustainable building projects when different sustainability or project objectives run at odds with one another? The Maison du développement durable or Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD) – a LEED platinum certified building — is recognized as one of the most sustainable buildings in Canada. This mixed-use building, conceived to be a social and environmental hub in downtown Montreal, houses 3000 m2 of office space and conference rooms. The design included a series of innovations, such as a five-storey biofiltering wall and an under-floor air delivery system. In 2018, the Fayolle-Magil Construction Research Chair in Architecture, the Building Sector and Sustainability from Université de Montréal and the Canadian NGO Équiterre partnered to conduct a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of the MDD. The study focused on six functional and architectural aspects of the MDD and involved analyzing 12 integrated design workshops, dozens of project documents, and specifically gathering new data. The results show that finding what is “best” is not what happened in reality. Instead, professionals were required to make a series of trade-offs in decision-making. Some examples of these tradeoffs include: adaptability vs. cost, air quality vs. energy performance, shared spaces vs. building floorplate efficiency, and innovation in the design phase vs. long-term operations. This paper shows that tradeoffs adopted during the design phase impacted the MDD’s performance. The results of this study are not only valuable to the project’s partners, but also to the construction industry in general, offering insight into design compromises in sustainable office buildings.

Online sustainability reporting at universities: the case of Hong Kong

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the current state of online sustainability reporting in the Hong Kong higher education sector from a variety of perspectives.Design/methodology/approachThe multiple case study was the research method for this research. Content analysis of the university website, as well as interview with university management, personnel in the sustainability office, academics and students, were adopted for data collection. An assessment framework for sustainability reporting was developed as an instrument for content analysis, based on G4 guidelines and prior literature.FindingsThe authors observe that most Hong Kong public universities have a specific webpage for sustainability reporting on the website, which consists of an amount of sustainability-related information in terms of general aspects, specific aspects and stakeholder participation. Moreover, they notice that Hong Kong public universities attach importance to sustainability and its reporting, and they would like to communicate their sustainability activities to various stakeholders and the community where they operate.Practical implicationsThis paper indicates some practical implications for academics, university management, policymakers and sustainability education amongst universities in Hong Kong and beyond.Social implicationsThis paper argues that universities, as a central place to foster talents and future leaders, should operate in a sustainable manner at the first place and then report their sustainability-related activities taking full advantage of the current information and communication technologies, so as to discharge accountability to various stakeholders and meet the expectations of the community where they operate.Originality/valueThis paper uses a multiple case study approach to explore the status of online sustainability reporting at Hong Kong universities, which contributes to limited research in the area, particularly for online sustainability reporting in the higher education institutions, and makes some contributions to the extant literature.

Consumer Food Waste and Its Implications for Sustainable Food Management in the University Setting (OR20-05-19)

ObjectivesThis study aimed to quantify the amount of plate waste, by food category, generated in the university dining hall facility, and estimate the frequency patterns and resulting nutritional and environmental implications. MethodsThis study took place in a large, public university setting, and adopted a cross-sectional study design. A food waste audit was conducted during six intermittent days. Student plate waste was collected for the entire full-day service and weighed in hourly intervals. Food waste was categorized into seven food groups, determined based on nutritional value and environmental stress of food production. The average means of student plate waste was calculated, and frequency patterns of waste generation was determined. The university food services food production records were used to determine the proportion of food wasted, and the top food groups most wasted by students. The USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 28 was used to contextualize the nutrient loss of food waste. Foods were coded and aggregated by food group, and nutrition was calculated per ounce of food wasted. The “Food Availability & Losses and Estimated Greenhouse Gas emissions,” table proposed by Heller & Keoleian, 2014, was used to estimate GHG emissions of wasted food. ResultsFood waste represented 18.65% of all food produced for consumption in the dining hall facility. The top three food groups most wasted by students were whole grains, dairy and fruits and vegetables, respectfully. An average of 257.44 lb of plate waste was collected per day, and an average 2026.33 meals were served per day yielding an average 0.13 lb (2.06 oz.) plate waste/meal. Frequency of plate waste generation mainly accumulated during traditional hours of meal time, between 12:30 to 2:30 PM and 6 to 8 PM. Food waste represented 102 kcal, 7 g protein, 1.9 g dietary fiber, 75.7 mg calcium, 0.35 μg vitamin D., and 0.37 kgCO2 eq/kg per meal, comparable to national estimates. ConclusionsThis study confirmed that food waste in higher education institutions may be a significant issue with plate waste quantities comparable to national studies. It highlights that food waste reduction strategies may alleviate the amount of harmful greenhouse gas emissions and may provide more nutritious foods to vulnerable populations. Funding SourcesUniversity of Maryland, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Maryland Dining Services, University of Maryland, Office of Sustainability.

The role of green and Sustainability Offices in fostering sustainability efforts at higher education institutions

Green and Sustainability Offices are special settings which assist initiatives within higher education institutions to coordinate their efforts and work in the field of sustainable development. The set-up of such offices is known to be an effective tool in supporting the implementation of sustainability initiatives on campuses, and in fostering awareness among students and staff on matters related to sustainable development. But despite their usefulness and proven effectiveness, the use of Green Offices and Sustainability Offices is not as wide as it could -or should-be. Also, there is a limited amount of empirical international work performed to date, which have investigated the various barriers related to their works. This paper, which focus on the role played by green offices in a higher education context, addresses a research gap. On the basis of the need to address this research gap, this paper presents the results of an international study on Green and Sustainability Offices, performed with a sample of 70 higher education institutions from round the world. The study consisted of an on-line survey which identified the extent to which Green Offices or similar governance structures are being deployed, some specific aspects of their operations and the barriers or difficulties related to their activities. The study concludes by suggesting some topics higher education institutions may take into consideration, in order to maximise their potential benefits.

Putting sustainable campuses into force

PurposeThe lack of change structures can be seen as an important reason why sustainability continues to suffer a niche existence in most higher education organisations. This is a problem because universities can leverage their teaching, research and operations to advance solutions to climate change, hunger and other Sustainable Development Goals. The purpose of this study is to highlight the vital importance of self-efficacy approaches, in particular the Green Office (GO) Model that aims to strengthen collaboration among all members of higher education communities and provides inspiration for what a sustainability office on campus might look like.Design/methodology/approachThe research presented follows a two-step methodology. First, the peculiarities and commonalities of already existing GOs were analysed to better understand drivers and barriers for their institutionalisation. Building on this, a peer-to-peer digital training programme was developed and tested, aiming to provide students, staff and academics with knowledge and skills to establish more sustainability offices and improve the work of existing ones.FindingsResearch revealed three main obstacles for the dissemination of the GO model: lack of adaptation of international experiences to other university contexts, missing educational offers and a limited scope of public relations. The findings adduce proof that GO provides a replicable model that can be both adapted to different university contexts and scaled internationally.Research limitations/implicationsThis research has been limited by the availability and ability to procure information from the sampled universities’ actors beyond the close GO community.Originality/valueThis case study presents an original research and development undertaking that was realised in a unique collaboration between a non-profit, student-initiated social business and an academic institution.

Rethinking life cycle cost drivers for sustainable office buildings in Denmark

Purpose Sustainable building design suffers from a lack of reliable life cycle data. The purpose of this paper is to compare life cycle costs of sustainable building projects, examine the magnitude of various cost drivers and discuss the implications of an emerging shift in cost drivers. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on data from 21 office buildings certified in Denmark according to the sustainable certification scheme DGNB. Findings The paper supports previous findings that construction costs and running costs each roughly make up half of the life cycle costs over a 50-year period. More surprising is the finding that the life cycle costs for cleaning are approximately twice as high as the supply costs for energy and water. Research limitations/implications The data set is based on actual construction costs of office buildings constructed in 2013-2017. Although all running costs are calculated rather than measured, they are based on a more detailed, specific and industry-supported set of calculation assumptions than is usual for life cycle costing studies because of extensive collaborative work in a number of concomitant national research and development projects. Practical implications Authorities, clients and building professionals heavily emphasise energy-saving measures in new Danish buildings. The paper suggests redirecting this effort towards other more prominent cost drivers like cleaning and technical installations. Originality/value This paper provides a notable contribution to the academic understanding of the significance of different cost drivers as well as the practical implementation of life cycle costing.

Assessing emotional motivators for handwashing with soap in emergencies: results from three Asian countries

This paper examines how emotional motivators can be used to promote handwashing with soap (HWWS) among mothers affected by an emergency. The impact of using emotional motivators along with other behaviour determinants for behaviour change in development settings has been well documented; however there is limited evidence for the use of motives for HWWS in emergency contexts. Oxfam, in partnership with Unilever’s Lifebuoy soap and Unilever’s Chief Sustainability Office (CSO), collected data in three countries affected by crises – Nepal (2015), Pakistan (2014), and the Philippines (2015) – to determine motivating factors and barriers around HWWS among mothers. Methods used for the assessment included household survey, structured observation, key informant interview, focus group discussion, and behavioural trials. Post-emergency handwashing knowledge and practice was also measured along with the most effective communication channels to reach the target group. The findings reveal that all mothers were motivated by affiliation and nurture; additionally, in Nepal and Pakistan mothers were motivated by purity and mothers in the Philippines were motivated by handwashing drivers related to shame. Barriers to HWWS in emergencies relate to socio-cultural beliefs and the absence of handwashing hardware.

Investigating Night Flushing Potential in a Multi-Storey, Open-Plan Office in Germany Using TRNLizard with TRNSYS 18

Despite growing interest in sustainable office buildings and technological advancements, often either comfort or energy is sacrificed at the expense of the other in the conventional approach. Designers and architects tend to lean towards fully glazed buildings in a multi-floor office building due to its light structure, transparency and more access to daylight compared to traditional buildings. However, their energy efficiency and impact on occupant comfort – thermal, glare and visual – are questioned. Some practitioners, therefore, prefer a fully sealed façade with a low glazing ratio to reduce energy consumption. This paper argues that wellness and energy savings are not contradictory aspects of design. It is shown that measures to create an exceptional, healthy environment for occupants drive conservation and energy efficiency. Such design needs special considerations at the early stages that significantly affect decisions regarding passive strategies. To help drive first decisions, an accurate and fast simulation tool that considers dynamic thermal, daylight and airflow models is required. However, some passive measures such as natural ventilation are more difficult to simulate and validate due to the complex, non-linear relationship between wind forces and thermal buoyancy. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the use of TRNLizard, an integrated thermal, daylight and airflow simulation tool based on Rhinoceros 5, Grasshopper, TRNSYS18, DaySIM and TRNFlow to develop and validate the concept for an energy efficient office building with a healthy, comfortable environment. The office building is located in Germany with a highly glazed façade and night ventilation for passive cooling. It is shown that night flushing reduces annual end-use cooling energy and peak cooling load of mechanical air conditioning systems by 55% and 15%, respectively.

CLIMATE ADAPTATION DECISION-MAKING: THE GULF COAST PHASE 2 PILOT STUDY

The Gulf Coast Study is an initiative from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Sustainability to study the projected impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure in the Gulf Coast region. The Phase 2 portion of the Gulf Coast Study was focused on the greater Mobile, Alabama, area with the purpose of providing detailed assessments of the performance of critical infrastructure under specific climate change threats in a coastal environment. This presentation will include a discussion of the Adaptation Decision-making Assessment Process (ADAP) that was developed by WSP in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), (2016). The Gulf Coast Phase 2 Pilot Study included an Engineering Analysis of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Measures FHWA (2014) that followed the 11-step ADAP process. The process was applied to 10 case studies. Two of these case studies are presented, highlighting application of ADAP to coastal transportation infrastructure.

Sustainability governance in public administration: Interpreting practical governance arrangements in Swiss cantons

AbstractIn order to play a key role in the governance of societal change towards sustainability, public administrations need to transform their own ways of working, that is, their internal governance. This paper complements existing research on sustainability governance in public administration that focuses on formal institutions and instruments with a practice‐oriented interpretive perspective. Drawing on an open analytical framework and using qualitative document and interview analyses, the paper reconstructs sustainability governance in public administrations from the perspective of the actors responsible for the task, that is, sustainability officers. Based on detailed case studies on sustainability governance in six Swiss cantons, four ideal types of sustainability governance are derived, which help to better structure the empirical variety of practical sustainability governance arrangements. The results show that sustain‐ability governance is designed and implemented “on the ground” in a variety of ways, with overall diversity being confined. Both research and practice can benefit from such a conceptually and empirically enriched image of sustainability governance in public administrations.

Racial Equity Tool: Cleveland Climate Action Plan

Sustainability: The Journal of RecordVol. 11, No. 6 ToolkitRacial Equity Tool: Cleveland Climate Action PlanErika MeschkatErika MeschkatAddress correspondence to: Erika Meschkat, Sustainability Manager, Mayor's Office of Sustainability, Sustainable Cleveland Center, 230 West Huron Road, Cleveland, OH 44113 E-mail Address: emeschkat@city.cleveland.oh.usSustainability Manager, Mayor's Office of Sustainability, City of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:11 Dec 2018https://doi.org/10.1089/sus.2018.29149.toolkitAboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail View articleFiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byTransitioning From Urban Climate Action to Climate Equity19 April 2022 | Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 88, No. 4 Volume 11Issue 6Dec 2018 InformationCopyright 2018, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishersTo cite this article:Erika Meschkat.Racial Equity Tool: Cleveland Climate Action Plan.Sustainability.Dec 2018.280-283.http://doi.org/10.1089/sus.2018.29149.toolkitPublished in Volume: 11 Issue 6: December 11, 2018PDF download

Leading corporate sustainability: The role of top management team composition for triple bottom line performance

AbstractSustainable development at the corporate level requires balancing social, environmental, and financial performance goals. Achieving such “triple bottom line” (TBL) performance is a very challenging task. In this study, we explore the role the organization's top management team (TMT) plays in leading their organization towards corporate sustainability. We focus on how two distinct aspects of the TMT's structural composition—the presence of a “chief sustainability officer” (CSO) and the TMT's functional diversity—affect the organization's ability to reach high levels of TBL performance. We follow the presence of 22 global energy companies in Corporate Knight's “Global 100” sustainability index for a period of 11 years and find that, surprisingly, the presence of a CSO does not boost TBL performance. However, we do find a positive effect for TMT functional diversity, suggesting that more diverse TMTs are better able to lead their organization to higher levels of TBL performance.

Stakeholder Perceptions of Campus Sustainability Efforts: Lessons from Vermont

Universities have begun to officially recognize advancing sustainability as an institutional goal. This paper reports on research on students’ awareness, attitudes, and behaviors at the University of Vermont as a means of understanding cultural acceptance of sustainability. We report on the results of a survey administered by an applied research methods class working in partnership with the University’s Office of Sustainability. Survey respondents report strong understanding of sustainability and believe it is important. They perceive the University’s performance as strongest along environmental efforts and weakest along economic lines. Respondents were most likely to engage in sustainability behaviors, like waste and energy reduction, and least likely to attend campus events regarding sustainability. Responses to open-ended questions suggest skepticism of the University’s commitment to sustainability, seeing it as more of a marketing effort, and express a desire for more concrete initiatives to foster sustainable behaviors and culture on campus. Our implications focus on ways to promote a more holistic and nuanced understanding of sustainability.

Green leasing in commercial real estate

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the drivers and barriers for green leases and tenancies in sustainable “Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method” (BREEAM) and “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” (LEED) certified office and office buildings in Norway, the UK and the USA. This study focuses on the differing perspectives between owners and tenants. It is then considered as to how these issues are dealt with during different phases of a buildings life cycle. This research is based on existing literature and semi-structured interviews that studied qualitative and quantitative elements in the context of ownership and tenancy of single and multi-tenanted sustainable office buildings.Design/methodology/approachUsing a mixed-method approach involving semi-structured interviews with both qualitative and quantitative elements along with desk research, this paper evaluates how green leases and tenancies in offices and office buildings that are BREEAM and LEED certified require a reconsideration and re-evaluation of the acquisition, operation and disposal of office buildings by building owners and their tenants. These stakeholder relationships are supported theoretically using a theoretical model that outlines the interrelation between the sustainable building and the relationships of the building owner, the user and the FM service provider.FindingsThe data gathered from the interviews justify and partly contradict some of the statements within existing literature, diminishing the importance of cost and the barrier of split incentive but instead illuminate the importance of less tangible considerations such as company policy or a sustainability strategy. The results also note the realisation of a changing market for commercial real estate driven by the sustainable business needs of tenants for the occupation of workspaces.Research limitations/implicationsThese findings have the potential to further develop theories and provide an insight into how the relationships between actors from a business, procurement and contractual perspective need to be developed to ensure more proactive development of green leasing of new and existing sustainable office buildings, along with where strategic attention is required during the building design, construction, operational and use phases.Originality/valueThis paper is based on original research through interviews and literature studies supported by an existing theoretical model. The results have been partly presented and initially discussed at the WBC World Congress 2016 in Tampere, Finland.