The Institute for Sustainable Development announced that four organizations achieved full Green Plus™ Certification in the third quarter of 2010: The Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce (IN); Global Electric Electronic Processing's (GEEP) branch in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; High Construction and Greenfield Architects (Lancaster, PA),: and Pantek, Inc., of Independence, Ohio. Fourteen more organizations have become Green Plus™ Movers after completing the first major step in the program.

The Institute's Green Plus™ program recognizes smaller enterprises' dedication to triple bottom line sustainability by measuring their business, environmental and community practices. Green Plus™ Certification is the Institute for Sustainable Development's highest level of recognition.

"We are proud to be working with smaller enterprises nationwide that are dedicated to triple bottom line sustainability," said Chris Carmody, Executive Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development. "These organizations are pushing the boundaries of small business sustainability in their respective communities and are realizing positive economic and employee change through their efforts," Carmody concluded.

"During the last several years, we've formalized, expanded, and championed our approach to sustainability," said Matthew Twomey, President and CEO of High Construction Company and COO of Greenfield Architects. "As our teams at High Construction Company and Greenfield Architects Ltd. went through the Green Plus Certification™ process, we found it informative and inspiring," concluded Twomey.

Organizations that have completed the first step in the Green Plus™ program are also recognized and earn the designation Green Plus™ Mover. Those organizations include: Bull City Forward, Crafton Tull Sparks, Denver Truck Painting, Four Seasons Produce, Graystone Properties, HRW, Inc, Linda Cromartie of Team Jodi, Midland Concrete & Sand Transportation, Paulsen, Megaard & Co, Pharmaceutical Calibrations and Instrumentation, LLC (PCI), South Eastern Efforts Developing Sustainable Spaces (SEEDS), Shoeboxed.com, The Scrap Exchange, and Universal Printing.

New Green Plus™ Certified Organizations

Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce - Columbus, IN (http://www.columbusareachamber.com/)

The Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce in Columbus, Indiana is a member driven organization working to grow the region's economic cluster through a "pocket of greatness." With the goals of fostering innovation and helping companies to better leverage enabling technologies, the chamber continues to strive toward achieving their mission of excellence and economic growth.

"The Green Plus certification Process was an interesting opportunity for us to evaluate the Chamber's policies and procedures that can have positive effect for our employees, our Members, and the environment," said Valerie Chowning, membership director of the Chamber. "One of the most significant outcomes for us is that we have leveraged our position in the business community to promote green efforts and community resources at our events to encourage positive changes that can affect the environment," concluded Chowning.

The chamber has chosen to lead by example through their efforts to adopt a more environmentally sustainable method of doing business. They are investing in a large scale remodeling to switch to energy efficient appliances and to install Dirtt office systems, which improve lighting and reduces waste. As a leader in the Columbus business community they have made it their responsibility to increase environmental awareness. Their hope is to utilize the Green Plus certification to stimulate their members in focusing on more sustainable efforts.

Global Electric Electronic Processing - Research Triangle Park, NC (http://www.geepglobal.com)

GEEP is a Canadian company focused on reverse supply chain solutions for telecom and IT products. It earned Green Plus Certification for its Research Triangle Park location in North Carolina. GEEP has taken a leadership position in the recycling of IT products through state-of-the-art facilities and innovative equipment. Their mission, "zero landfill objective," is to work with clients to recycle end of life inventory in an environmentally safe way. They are certified and registered to ISO 9001:2008 (quality) and 14001:2004 (environmental) standards.

"At GEEP, we take great pride in protecting the environment by recycling electronics in the most responsible manner, and the Green Plus Certification is more evidence of our commitment. We relentlessly look for ways to improve, and [the] diagnostic tool gave us some very good ideas which we are putting into action," said Dan Roe, business development executive at GEEP. "GEEP recognizes the need for people to make smart choices now, to safeguard a brighter future for all of us, and we are proud to be associated with an organization like the Institute for Sustainable Development," concluded Roe.

Sustainability is part of GEEP's core mission and they are constantly developing ways to improve this aspect of their business. Through their work they are able to demonstrate that recovering materials from recycled scraps is more efficient than mining ore often necessary for many IT parts. Not only has GEEP demonstrated a commitment to the environment, but they have also been actively involved in their community through participation in food drives and computer giveaways to schools. GEEP has shown a strong commitment to environmental sustainability and continues to emphasize it through their everyday work.

High Construction and Greenfield Architects - Lancaster, PA (http://www.highconstruction.com/ and http://www.greenfieldarchitects.net/)

High Construction located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania provides commercial construction and design-related services in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey. As a design-builder, general contractor, and construction manager, they build facilities that create solutions for businesses. High Construction is focusing on building trustworthy relationships and being innovative leaders.

"Since the High® companies' inception nearly 80 years ago, our organization has embraced a number of the guiding business principles that...include fostering a positive work environment for our employees and partners, being responsible stewards of the environment, and investing profits responsibly to secure our future in ways that are also good for our community," said Matthew Twomey, President and CEO of High Construction Company and COO of Greenfield Architects. "As we continue to chart our company's course towards incorporating more sustainable products, processes and services, we look forward to continuing to help our customers accomplish their own similar goals through the green-related facilities, services, and expertise we provide," concluded Twomey.

High Construction has implemented energy use reduction efforts and invested in water use reduction methods. These efforts have included lighting and occupancy timers, CFLs, low power modes of electronics, and reduced flow faucets. Not only are they making physical changes to their workspace, but they are also promoting employee education of sustainability issues. They are planning an energy conservation week in January 2011 to further promote behavior changes and regularly disseminate information about a wide variety of sustainability topics.

Pantek, Inc. - Independence, OH
(http://www.pantek.com/)

Founded in 1995 in northeast Ohio, Pantek, provides comprehensive IT services to companies who utilize Open Source technologies. Their many years of IT industry experience allow them to offer a competitive advantage in technology to their clients.

"Going through Green Plus certification really opened our eyes to sustainability issues and to the environmental cost of doing business. Now that we know, we're taking the necessary steps to minimize that cost - because it's the right thing to do," concluded Barry Zack, president of Pantek.

Since moving to a new building in 1998, Pantek has shown a strong commitment toward sustainability and improving their green practices. In choosing a location for their new offices, a major criterion was available natural light; all offices and cubicles have sources of sunlight. Notably, in order to reduce environmental strain from commuting, Pantek, has also developed a program in which employees who demonstrate excellence in their work, may work from home 1-2 days a week. As an IT company, computers are essential to Pantek's business; to fill this need they utilize power efficient computers with rated energy saving power supplies. They are also planning to employ more efficient computer servers.

New Green Plus™ Movers

• Bull City Forward - Durham, NC (http://www.bullcityforward.org)


• Crafton Tull Sparks - Rogers, AR (http://www.craftontullsparks.com)


• Denver Truck Painting - Denver, PA (http://www.denvertruckpainting.com)


• Four Seasons Produce - Ephrata, PA (http://www.fsproduce.com)


• Graystone Properties - Cleveland, OH (http://www.graystoneproperties.com)


• HRW, Inc. - Raleigh, NC (http://www.hrw.net)


• Linda Cromartie of Team Jodi - Chapel Hill, NC (http://www.teamjodi.com)


• Midland Concrete & Sand Transportation - Cleveland, OH (http://www.gogreenplus.org/author/midland-concrete-and-sand-transportation-inc)


• Paulsen, Megaard & Co - Bothell, WA (http://www.paulsenmegaard.com)


• Pharmaceutical Calibrations and Instrumentation, LLC (PCI) - Raleigh, NC (http://www.pci-llc.com)


• South Eastern Efforts Developing Sustainable Spaces (SEEDS) - Durham, NC (http://www.seedsnc.org)


• Shoeboxed.com - Durham, NC (http://www.shoeboxed.com)


• The Scrap Exchange - Durham, NC (http://www.scrapexchange.org)


• Universal Printing - Durham, NC (http://www.universalprinting.com/)

About the Institute for Sustainable Development
(http://www.gogreenplus.org)

The Institute for Sustainable Development is a North Carolina Research Triangle non-profit initiative of universities and chambers of commerce to help small businesses and their communities benefit from sustainable practices and to foster a new generation of sustainability leaders. The Institute's North Carolina university partners include Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment, Durham Technical Community College, Elon University's Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Institute partners with the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, a 1,400 chamber of commerce network with 1.3 million business members, to offer Green Plus™ nationwide, and with seventeen regional chambers of commerce to provide sustainable business education in twelve states. It also runs a national Green Plus™ Sustainability Fellows program, training students from graduate schools around the country to help smaller enterprises understand and benefit from the triple bottom line.

Institute for Sustainable Development

Institute for Sustainable Development

The Institute seeks to educate, motivate, and recognize smaller enterprises for their efforts toward greater sustainability regardless of their means, and to extend practical knowledge and expertise in sustainability by developing new leaders in the field.

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