evolveEA joins over 900 other companies in the movement to use business as a force for good

We’re incredibly proud to announce that evolveEA has become a Certified B Corporation™. So what exactly does that mean? B Corporations are a new kind of company that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. It’s like a LEED or Fair Trade certification, but actually applies to a business and the way its leadership and staff work toward social and environmental goals. There are currently over 900 Certified B Corporations from sixty industries, such as consulting, manufacturing, solar energy, and law. Some of the most recognizable B Corp certified brands include Etsy, Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia and Seventh Generation.

Why did we become B Corp certified? evolveEA’s Managing Principal, Marc Mondor explains:

Our approach to greening places, processes, and communities compels us to consider all the impacts of our work and our actions. With the B Corp framework helping us to measure our impact in areas key to our mission, this is a natural fit for us. The B Corp community’s collective impact is becoming widespread and we feel it is important to spread the word about B Corporations as a vehicle for positive change.

For mission-driven businesses, B Corp certification is a recognized standard by which social and environmental goals can be measured. Not only that, but B Corps are powering a global movement to celebrate and reward people using business for good, and it’s a movement that anyone can participate in. Many of the products and services that we all purchase regularly are available from the growing roster of certified B Corps in 32 countries. Consumers are now able to give preference to products and services bearing the B Corp mark on packaging, websites, and other marketing material, which is a great way to actively support the movement. This month, the B Corp community launched its “B the Change” campaign to build on the momentum around this movement—visit www.bcorporation.net/b-the-change to learn more about how you can participate!

The organization behind B Corporations, B Lab, was founded in 2006. The heart of B Lab is its rigorous certification process on social and environmental performance, to which any business can apply. Companies that pass often collaborate to raise awareness, share strategies, and publicize job opportunities. In states where legislation has passed, which includes Pennsylvania where evolveEA is based, certified B Corps are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their employees, suppliers, community, consumers, and environment in addition to the bedrock metric of shareholder value.

This movement answers a much-needed call for corporate responsibility by highlighting its value to business interests. evolveEA’s mission to advance sustainable systems and solutions already compels us to operate a green workplace and advocate for environmental sustainability. The B Lab Impact Assessment tool, however, has been quite helpful in identifying other areas for potential improvement. The scoring system provides a tracking and reporting framework that’s familiar to us as consultants on sustainability frameworks like the USGBC’s LEED system for green buildings. We’re proud to have scored above the 90th percentile among fellow B Corps in the Environment category of the assessment, but we were able to set goals for ourselves in the other categories of Governance, Community, and Workers via the assessment process.

evolveEA

evolveEA

evolveEA is a nimble multidisciplinary practice situated at the intersection of sustainability and the built environment. We help individuals, communities, and organizations take strategic action. We look through three lenses of sustainability: People, Process, and Place. Placemaking We create compelling and thought provoking landscapes, buildings, experiences, and objects to reexamine our relationship to our environment. We enable communities to create more livable places, systems and economies by addressing ecological, social and economic issues. Buildings + Systems We help teams add value to their building projects by identifying and implementing smart environmental strategies. We help building owners and operators optimize performance with attention to user needs and experience. Organizational Capacity We build capacity for organizations to analyze, plan and execute short- and long-term sustainability efforts. We engage organizations and individuals in the design of sustainable systems and processes.

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