e2 Business 2014 Yearbook

e2 Business Yearbook

2014

A Letter from Mayor Becker Dear friends, As you know, businesses play a critical role in furthering sustainability in Salt Lake City. By their very nature, businesses are visible, public, and viewed as community leaders. When patrons observe that our local businesses incorporate environmental stewardship and long-term thinking into to their company philosophy, it sends a strong message about our values in Salt Lake City.

Economy and environment—the two “e’s” of e2—are the core of sustainability. Businesses represent this connection and are often at the forefront of executing – and ultimately benefitting from – these strategic principles.

While we look to our local businesses to embrace these practices, the City is committed to doing its part.

This is why the e2 program was created more than a decade ago—to lend expertise, resources and learning opportunities to businesses and encourage the growth of this modern mode of commerce. As we move forward into the New Year, the e2 program continues to be your sustainability consultant and public promoter.

Much like the progressive nature of sustainable thinking, the e2 program also continues to evolve.

In this spirit, here is what to expect for the 2015 year.

Participation: Sustainability is a moving target—there is no defining threshold between being sustainable and missing the mark. Likewise, involvement in the e2 program is not all-or-nothing. The program is one of inclusion, and all businesses that are willing to incorporate some sustainability measures can participate as e2 associates. Meanwhile, our highly experienced members who annually submit their report and are continually building on their sustainability initiatives will be recognized as certified e2 members.

Certification: Sustainability is not prescriptive. The creativity and ingenuity of our members is what continues to drive new solutions and redefine the sustainable best practices of their respective industries. The annual certification process has transitioned from the uniform checklist in the program’s beginnings to an inclusive opportunity for you to present your own successes, reaffirm the reasons for your commitment, and state your renewed ambitions for the year to come.

Programming: Continuing this year, the annual member’s night is a time to re-establish your connections as like-minded sustainability leaders, to socialize, and to be formally briefed by program staff as contributing members to this City’s goals.

The e2 program will again host an annual social night with the organization Green Drinks. This is an excellent opportunity to mingle with supportive members of the community and promote the sustainability efforts that your businesses have taken on.

Finally, the Best Practices Lunch Series will be returning this year beginning in March. These workshops offer a forum to learn from fellow e2 members about the practices and solutions that have improved their environmental impact and financial bottom line. You will also discover how those same strategies can be applied to your own business.

Salt Lake City is proud to recognize the 100+ businesses currently included on the e2 roster. Your leadership, innovation, and ongoing commitment are integral in moving our community towards a more sustainable and livable future.

Cheers to 2015,

Ralph Becker Mayor

Members Night + Green Drinks

e2 Members Night with Mayor Becker In January, e2 started off the 2014 year with a new event—Member’s Night. A lot of planning for the new year of the program is finalized in January, which presents an opportunity to gather our members together for an evening of socializing and a briefing of the months to come.

The upstairs loft of Squatters was a warm reprieve from the snowy January night outside and a fantastic setting for meeting fellow e2 business owners, exchanging ideas, and enjoying some great food.

Mayor Becker, who enjoyed chatting with our members that evening and hearing what was on their mind, took a few moments to address the crowd and reiterate the critical role of e2 businesses in progressing Salt Lake City’s leadership in sustainability.

In addition to an excellent spread from our various e2 businesses, other members of the program contributed items for the silent auction and prizes for the raffle—thanks to Mazza, Sugarhouse Barbeque, Zest, Caputos, Squatters, Alta, GreenBike, 3Form, Perfect Harmony, Sunlight Solar, and Clark’s Auto for making this evening happen.

e2 + SLC Green Drinks Every month the organization SLC Green Drinks organizes an informal gathering of the Salt Lake sustainability community at large, and the e2 program is proud host one of these events each year.

In February of 2014, we were pleased to partner with local winery Kiler Grove, Uinta Brewing, Bambara Restaurant and Hotel Monaco to hold our annual networking event.

SLC Green Drinks’ annual e2 Program Night is an excellent opportunity for e2 businesses to meet supportive members of the community and discuss on a personal basis what their businesses are doing as active sustainability advocates.

Best Practice: Recycling & Waste Management Presenters: Le Croissant, Momentum Recycling Venue: Momentum Recycling Lunch: Le Croissant Recycling and waste management are often the first things that come to mind when thinking about sustainability, and so this was a great topic for our first e2 best practices lunch session.

Le Croissant Catering and Momentum Recycling —both e2 members with very strong waste stream experience—came together to discuss the recycling system they established at the catering company several months earlier. Correy Selden explained the waste stream auditing system that helped transition Le Croissant to a 90% waste stream diversion rate.

Chris Lake and Chris Sanchez of Le Croissant, who had brought with them the excellent sandwiches and pasta salad that we enjoyed during the lunch hour, also spoke to the group about how the catering company’s recycling efforts had strengthened employee satisfaction and grown their loyal client base significantly.

Ultimately the strength of Le Croissant’s recycling efforts has led to other sustainability projects at their business, including energy-efficient lighting upgrades and window retrofits. Thanks to both Momentum Recycling and Le Croissant Catering for hosting this first e2 Best Practices session and for working together to achieve such positive impact.

Key Takeaways • Place recycling receptacles in highly visible areas • Seek employee input on recycling/ sustainability solutions • Purchase reusable items • Clearly designate waste receptacles with corresponding waste materials

Best Practice: Employee Engagement Presenters: 3Form & Varian Medical Venue: 3Form Lunch: Wild Grape Bistro According to Mike Johnson, Sustainability Director at 3Form, the key to a strong corporate citizenship profile is through direct employee engagement—this is what he brought our group together to discuss in April.

The employees of 3Form take part in a variety of sustainability activities year-round, including incentivized carpooling, the zero waste to landfill initiative, and the company’s annual Green Week.

Employees also take part in hands-on community-building activities, such as Design Build Bluff.

Mike Johnson explained that employee engagement at 3Form happens at every level of the company— from the employees working on the fabrication floor to the CEO, 3Form employees all make an active contribution.

Missy Nelson and Jordan Larson, both from Varian Medical, also discussed the employee engagement initiatives at Varian, including weekly Green Team meetings, monthly reports, quarterly training tutorials on the online sustainability portal, and an annual Green Week fair.

Key Takeaways • • • •

Organize hands-on community projects Engagement at every level of company Routine sustainability education Employee-motivated projects

Best Practice: Solar Simplified Venue: Architectural Nexus Speaker: Kate Bowman, Utah Clean Energy Lunch: Liberty Heights Fresh Utah Clean Energy (UCE) is one of Utah’s most accomplished energy efficiency and renewable energy advocacy organizations, and it was a pleasure for the e2 program to host a discussion about one of the initiatives that makes their group so effective.

May’s discussion was held in the community room of Architectural Nexus, one of our newest e2 members.

Kenner Kingston, company President, offered our lunch group a brief overview of the firm’s LEED Double Platinum offices, as well as their alternative transportation initiatives.

Utah Clean Energy’s Kate Bowman, recently recognized a White House Solar Champion of Change, walked the lunch group through the 10 easy steps to solar. This guide for installing solar technology is featured on SolarSimplified.org, the comprehensive web resource developed by UCE for Utah residents and businesses pursuing solar energy.

Liberty Heights Fresh provided delicious gourmet sandwiches and kale salad for lunch that afternoon— thanks to Steven Rosenberg for bringing along a great spread!

Key Takeaways • • • •

Visit SolarSimplified.org Work through the “10 Simple Steps to Solar” Install solar with listed incentives Support Utah Clean Energy and their incredible work!

Best Practice: Local Economies Venue: Local First Utah Speaker: Local First, SLC RDA, SLC Economic Development Lunch: Sage’s Cafe Local economies are a cornerstone of sustainable communities, and so the headquarters of Local First Utah in the Central 9th District was a very appropriate venue for our June lunch topic.

Matt Dahl of Salt Lake City’s Redevelopment Agency discussed the City’s ongoing efforts in the Central Ninth neighborhood by fostering commercial development alongside new public infrastructure and open space.

Jessica Thesing of Salt Lake City Economic Development highlighted the many opportunities available to businesses through the Economic Development Loan Fund, including the e2 energy efficiency loan.

Sage’s Café, newly located in the Central Ninth neighborhood, put together a lunch of vegetarian enchiladas, chips and salad for the group—thank you Sage’s!

Key Takeaways • • • •

Buy local and keep money in the local economy Source local to reduce transportation emissions Support Redevelopment Agency neighborhood projects Take advantage of Salt Lake City Economic Development loans for your own business

Best Practice: Holistic Sustainability Integration Venue: Uinta Brewery Speaker: Whitney Williams, Uinta Brewing Lunch: Uinta Brew Pub Utah breweries commonly have sustainable practices as a core philosophy of their business operations, and Uinta Brewing is a fantastic example of these practices in action.

Whitney Williams led the group through a full walking tour of the facility, which included an expanded canning operation, glass collection area, and the cavernous oak barreling room where the brewery’s specialty beer lines are conditioned.

Uinta has integrated a balance of several sustainability strategies throughout their operation, such as wind power purchasing, on-site solar energy generation, and lighting upgrades that were evident throughout the tour.

Thanks to Uinta Brewing for preparing sandwiches in their brew pub along with a few souvenirs from our outing—this was a great way to spend a July afternoon!

Key Takeaways • Form a balanced sustainability profile by addressing multiple impact areas • Transition to more recycable byproducts • Support clean energy with renewable energy credits • Take an hour off of work for a beer tour to increase awesomeness of day

Best Practice: Measuring Impact Venue: Impact HUB Pop-Up Location Speaker: Stephanie Stettler, Impact HUB Lunch: Cytybyrd Cafe After five lunch sessions exploring the many strategies our e2 businesses have taken to lower their environmental impact and improve their financial bottom line, a question comes to mind: how do you measure progress? We saved this topic for our final session of the best practices series.

Lunch was held at the temporary headquarters of Impact HUB Salt Lake, an organization and co-working space dedicated to entrepreneurs building businesses geared towards positive community impact.

Stephanie Stettler, part of the Impact HUB founding team, led the group through a discussion of what metrics businesses should track in order to measure and communicate their positive impacts. The group discussed why a strong environmental or social profile are indicators of company strength, and ultimately drive customer loyalty.

Cytybyrd Cafe, an e2 program member located on the first floor of the City & County Building, brought over a great assortment of sandwiches, salad and desserts to end the first year of the e2 Best Practices lunch series on a high note.

Key Takeaways • Identify and measure your business’ primary impact areas • Explicitly outline improvement strategies among employees and stakeholders • Clearly communicate your ongoing progress with clients • Publicize your progress and revise strategies as needed

e2 Pilot Projects The realm of sustainability is a proving ground, and in this spirit the e2 program periodically experiments with new initiatives. For 2015, we are piloting two new additions to the program.

Energy Benchmarking with Portfolio Manager The last session of the 2014 Best Practices series focused on measuring impact, and the EPA’s free Portfolio Manager tool is an excellent way for businesses to track their energy consumption. At the end of 2014, several e2 businesses volunteered to work with e2’s graduate intern Stephen St. Peter to build a profile on portfolio manager this spring.

The profile will provide a vivid picture of these business’s energy usage, and how it measures up to other businesses in their respective industry. From the analysis of these profiles, this pilot group of businesses will receive a report that includes prescribed energy efficiency actions, resources available for implementing these projects, and the projected benefits of those actions.

Based on the success of this pilot project, e2 program staff will evaluate the possibility of expanding this program in the future.

Open Response Annual Report Format Since the e2 program was founded more than 10 years ago, the annual reporting process has remained the unchanged.

However, the e2 program and many of its members have now been active in sustainable practices for nearly a decade, and it is time for the reporting process to expand and reflect the growing expertise of our members.

Until this year, the annual report form included a detailed inventory of impact areas such as energy, water, chemicals and waste. This report format is still available and is especially recommended for businesses that are relatively new to sustainable practices. However for our more experienced businesses, we are debuting a new open response format that you may choose to submit in place of the old format. This open response format will allow you to discuss your sustainability efforts and insights in a way that reflects your own ingenuity and renewed commitment to sustainability.

The new reporting format will be available in the members’ tools section of the e2 website, alongside the original reporting form (SLCgreen.com).

e2 Member Highlights Sunlight Solar “In 2014 we expanded our shop to include a new 2000 sq.ft NetZero office space. We built our office using a Zero Energy Design and a high efficient 10kw solar system, and the new office space actually produces more electricity then it uses! Now we are proud to say our entire business is powered by the sun.”

Architectural Nexus “This last year, Architectural Nexus has achieved LEED Double Platinum for its headquarters, the Architectural Nexus Design Center. This groundbreaking Design Center is the first in the Intermountain Region to achieve LEED Double Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Some of these energy-optimizing features included a photovoltaic system of solar panels; optimized insulation; high-efficiency heating and cooling equipment; energy-saving lighting; optimal shading and daylight structures; and water efficiency systems.”

Clark’s Auto & Tire Alan Boyer has grounded his auto shop business around the challenging philosophy of sustainability. Clark’s Auto & Tire is a well-established environmentally conscious auto service business, integrating renewable energy, limited waste and specialty hybridrepair strategies amongst many other unique efforts. This year, Alan’s business opened a new location in Millcreek, a testament to the demand and resulting support of the Salt Lake community for environmentally conscious businesses.

Congratulations to Clark’s Auto & Tire on their expanding business!

Double Play: 3Form & Alta Ski Resort In November, two of our e2 business members were recognized by Utah Business Magazine for their sustainability leadership within the Utah Business community.

Maura Olivos, Alta Environmental Center’s Sustainability Coordinator, was recognized for her role in guiding the many outstanding educational, research, and stewardship efforts of the organization which is housed at the skier services building of Alta ski resort.

Mike Johnson, Sustainability Director of 3Form, also accepted the Sustainable Business award on behalf of 3Form. Mike is tasked with managing 3Form’s numerous environmental and community efforts, as well as its certifications and employee engagement initiatives.

Congratulations to Maura Olivos, the Alta Environmental Center, Mike Johnson, and 3Form for being such exemplary e2 members.