we integrate sustainable strategies that help organizations flourish.
Integrate: We PLAN & IMPLEMENT strategies that help you achieve organizational goals.
Planning
- Data collection and analysis
- Benchmark emissions, energy and resource use
- Clarify the vision
- Build consensus
- Identify and prioritize goals and strategies
- Establish metrics
- Master plan energy/sustainability elements
- Workshops
- Leadership immersion
Implementation
- Lead sustainability initiatives
- Manage culture change
- Coordinate stakeholders
- Ongoing advisory services
- Employee training
- Life-cycle analysis
- Facilitate operational changes
- External communication strategies
- Ongoing measurement and reporting
- Online tools for engagement and tracking
Many of the aforementioned services can be provided independently or as part of a larger project. In other words, if you’re just looking to explore what sustainability means for your organization at a high level, we can rightsize the project to meet your needs.
Sustainable: Long-lasting & targeted
Sustainability is about thinking in long terms, which means more than quarterly profits. Our focus is on long-lasting strategies that are woven into the fabric of the organization. They will help you achieve existing organizational goals rather than creating a whole new set of goals that don’t align with your mission or vision. Our approach is targeted and specific to you and incorporates the always unique aspects of your organization.
Strategies: We explore both STATIC & DYNAMIC opportunities.
Static
These are typically one-time changes to a process, software or infrastructure that produce long-lasting results. The focus is on finding the low-hanging fruit that will produce immediate results with short paybacks and high ROIs. The quick wins build momentum throughout the organization.
Dynamic
Our dynamic strategies engage people in a meaningful and rewarding way so that sustainability becomes part of the organizational culture. We use a bevy of research-supported methods to engrain the sustainability mindset into the organization and move the entire organization forward.
Organizations: All shapes and sizes
First and foremost, we only work with organizations where we are sure we can add value. There must be a clear avenue for us to help and your organization should be poised and ready to move forward. The challenge many experience is how to move forward, which is where we come in. Our approach is a good fit for a range of shapes and sizes. Whether you are large and complex, small and family-owned, or a government entity, two commonalities hold true: there’s a need for sustainability expertise and experience, and a desire to pursue the opportunity.
Flourish: Profits, people & the planet
Let’s not kid ourselves; profitability is immensely important and is undoubtedly a key focus, but there’s much more to making an organization successful. You’ll start to flourish when you decrease energy and material waste, bolster your reputation, mitigate risks, reduce operational emissions, make raving fans out of your employees and clients, and increase market share. Yes, believe it or not, all of these things can happen as a result of integrating sustainable strategies into your organization’s fabric. Ultimately, it’s about making choices that are good for profits, people and the planet.
Case Studies
Omaha Public Schools
Our work with the state of Nebraska's largest school district (45,000+ students and 8,000+ staff) began in late 2009 when we completed an Energy Action Plan. The Plan's foundation was an ENERGY STAR rating for every school; upon which several energy and resource conservation strategies were built. Opportunities for increased efficiency were identified in several areas, and the Plan specified strategies to save money and improve the district's environmental footprint.
Once the Plan was completed, the school district asked us to take the lead in implementing many of the strategies contained therein. We have been serving as the District's sustainability coordinator since July 2010 and have established the District's Green Schools Initiative. It's an endeavor that engages not only internal staff and administrators, but also includes students, parents and other community members.
During the first twelve months we created the infrastructure to support the Initiative longer-term, sought out and implemented specific energy saving opportunities, and assisted the district with a major lighting retrofit, which was the top recommendation from the Energy Action Plan.
As we enter our second year as the Initiative's coordination team, our attention turns towards engaging the schools on a one-on-one basis. We have been able to shift policies at a District level; now our plan is to ensure they are implemented in every school and the district's administrators, faculty, staff, students, parents and the community are all actively engaged.
But the proof is in the pudding. The district's average annual energy expenses have decreased over $500,000 from an all-time high in September 2010. The Omaha Public Schools project has proven to be an excellent marriage of operational efficiencies coupled with organizational engagement.
We look forward to each and every minute we get to spend with our future leaders, and are continually amazed at how passionately the district's students approach greening their schools. It's a project that has been successful and fulfilling on many levels.
Our work with the Omaha Public Schools has proven to be an excellent marriage of operational efficiencies coupled with organizational engagement. It's been an absolute treat to work with Omaha's youth.
Craig Moody
Principal and Project Manager
Verdis Group
The Nebraska Medical Center
Early in 2010, The Nebraska Medical Center learned that it was paying more per square foot in energy costs than the national average for hospitals. This despite the fact that Omaha's energy prices are among the lowest in the country. The Nebraska Medical Center was consuming far more energy per square foot than their national counterparts and something needed to change.
Our work began soon thereafter with an ENERGY STAR benchmarking of the entire campus; one of the more complex benchmarking exercise we have experienced with 33 buildings and 4.2 million square feet included. The results clearly showed opportunities for energy efficiency increases were plentiful.
While completing the benchmark, we began work facilitating The Nebraska Medical Center's green team: the Energy Advocates. It was an initiative just getting off the ground, and our effort focused on helping the team identify and prioritize energy-saving activities, creating a communication campaign, and administering a baseline survey. Through our partnership with The Nebraska Medical Center's team of volunteers, we were able to engage folks from across the organization in conserving energy.
An important element in the organizational engagement process was the use of our Pledge Tool. The Nebraska Medical Center teamed up (competed with) UNMC on an organization-wide pledge to conserve energy and resources. The tasks to which pledgees have committed are simple yet impactful. Our online pledge platform provided an easy means by which nearly 5,000 people could participate, and its unique, automated email reminders and public recognition component have ensured that pledgees stick to their commitment.
Soon after completing the ENERGY STAR benchmarking, The Nebraska Medical Center's executives asked us to develop an Energy and Sustainability Master Plan. Using the Green Guide for Healthcare's Operations Pilot as a foundation, we partnered with Kiewit Building Group to benchmark The Nebraska Medical Center's performance versus the GGHC's LEED-like requirements over a total of 136 credits in categories such as Sustainable Sites, Transportation, Waste Management and Environmental Services. The final Energy and Sustainability Master Plan identified organizational energy
and sustainability goals, and outlined a three-year strategy for achieving increased efficiency, reducing waste, lowering emissions and saving oodles of money.
Today we remain actively engaged in leading the Energy Advocates and are partnering with The Nebraska Medical Center on several of the strategies and initiatives that were laid out in the Energy and Sustainability Master Plan. One of the larger projects is the development of a campus-wide Sustainable Materials Management Plan.
Working with the Verdis team has been a valuable experience for us. Not only have they been a tremendous help in organizing our sustainability initiative, they have helped us lead a change in culture which has been truly amazing. They have been, and continue to be, an outstanding partner.
Don Futrell
Executive Director - Facilities
Management & Planning
The Nebraska Medical Center
Verdis helped us achieve a shift in culture that we could never have achieved on our own. Having their expertise on our side was absolutely critical to the success of such a large initiative.
Brandy Olson
Manager, Operations/Logistics and Process Improvement
Perioperative Services
The Nebraska Medical Center
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Building off of the work at The Nebraska Medical Center, the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) undertook a similar volunteer-focused initiative to engage its staff and students. UNMC had a green team previously established, but it was ready for a breath of fresh air.
Our initial focus was to explore and prioritize a variety of different activities the team was considering at the time. On such a massive campus, it's easy for volunteer teams to become overwhelmed by opportunity-overload. Our prioritization machine zeroed in on some important strategies that may have been lost in the shuffle without our assistance.
While honing in on projects, we partnered with UNMC's public affairs team to create a communication campaign that complemented its existing brand. The "LiveGreen" team subsequently sprung to life and several new communication strategies were borne.
An important element in the organizational engagement process was the use of our Pledge Tool. UNMC teamed up (competed with) The Nebraska Medical Center on an organization-wide pledge to conserve energy and resources. Nearly 5,000 participated, and the tool's unique, automated email reminders and public recognition component ensured follow-through.
Today we continue to closely partner with UNMC in facilitating the activities of the LiveGreen team. We have led the development of a major lights off campaign called "Flip the Switch", organized a campus-wide Earth Week event, and are helping to create and organize a lunch 'n' learn program focused on sustainable living.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center, much like all other governmental entities, is stretching for every dollar, and they view our work as an integral part of their quest to conserve energy, save money and minimize their environmental impact.
The Verdis team offered invaluable support and guidance as we moved forward with our green efforts. Their methods are backed by research, and they have strong knowledge of how to enact behavior change on a large scale. Thanks to Verdis, we now have an initiative that benefits the environment, saves money, and increases employee satisfaction.
Melanie Stewart
Research Resources Manager
LiveGreen Coordinator
UNMC
Omaha Community Center for Sustainability
One of Omaha's newest nonprofits, the Omaha Community Center for Sustainability (OCCS) is a catalyst for change in the Omaha community towards a more sustainable future. To that end, the OCCS promotes a more environmentally sustainable way of life by transforming attitudes and decision-making among consumer, business, civic, and political communities.
We have been involved in the development and subsequent activities of the OCCS in three primary ways. First, in early 2010 we completed a major gap & compatibility analysis that painted a broad picture of the green landscape in Omaha. It also identified several national and international models for other similar centers.
Second, we partnered with HR&A Advisors of New York and Lamp, Rynearson & Associates of Omaha to complete an in-depth strategic plan for the OCCS. Our primary focus was drilling down deeper on a few of the sustainability center models we identified previously with a particular eye on the details of their physical and organizational development.
Finally, we are working with the University of Nebraska-Omaha and the Peter Kiewit Institute to prepare a strategic plan and subsequent University of Nebraska Board of Regents proposal to create a
Center for Urban Sustainability within the University. We have sifted through information and insight obtained over the course of several dozen interviews and hours of research to zero in on the Center's unique and compelling value position. It's a project that's brought us to every end of the university.
All three efforts have required in-depth research, conversations with hundreds of current and potential stakeholders, consensus building, and ideating paths forward for multiple organizations. Quite simply, we're ring-leading a complex project. And we're good at it.
Verdis has been instrumental in the conception and development of the proposed Center for Sustainability at the University of Nebraska. Without their involvement this project would still be at the starting gate.
Fred Amis
Chairman
Omaha Community Center for Sustainability
Metropolitan Community College
The state of Nebraska's largest community college, Metropolitan Community College (MCC) has seen their Institute for the Culinary Arts really elevate the community-wide conversation around food. As such, they have taken a particular interest in Omaha's urban agriculture scene and solicited our help in further ascertaining what role it should play moving forward.
Our first assignment was to facilitate a workshop wherein many of Omaha's movers and shakers in the urban agriculture community, about 40 in all, were asked to think about and build consensus around what Omaha's urban agriculture future holds. It was a fascinating discussion and despite the group's often diverging opinions, they were able to agree upon five guiding principles for the urban agriculture system of tomorrow.
But the vision and excitement coming out of that meeting needed a champion to carry it forward, and MCC was interested in determining specifically what role it should play in moving forward. As such, we helped MCC gain clarity on its role moving forward by conducting several interviews, conducting research, and completing a stakeholder summary report that succinctly and clearly outlined how several stakeholders felt MCC should proceed.
Once again, we found ourselves ring-leading a complex situation: meeting with stakeholders, building consensus, supplementing our findings with supporting research, and providing guidance for MCC to move forward. Urban agriculture systems are complex and involve many different parties. On behalf of MCC, we are bringing them all to the table to plant the seed of an urban agriculture system in Omaha. Let's eat!
Metropolitan Community College is doing great things in the urban agriculture community, and we were particularly excited about helping them really focus their efforts. It's an important step forward for such an important institution.
Chris Stratman
Senior Associate & Project Lead
Verdis Group
Sarpy County
Sarpy County may be the smallest county in Nebraska, geographically, but it is also the fastest growing in terms of population. In the spring of 2011, Sarpy County recognized the potential to save money by reducing energy, and sought a project team to complete an energy element for the county's master plan. Verdis was awarded the contract for this important endeavor, alongside our frequent teammates at Lamp, Rynearson & Associates and Steven Jensen Consulting.
We began by collecting and analyzing energy consumption data for Sarpy County's operations as well as the county as a whole. We worked extensively with county operations staff, our partners at OPPD, MUD, and Black Hills Energy, the NE Energy Office, and Offutt Air Force Base to compile data on energy production and consumption in Sarpy County. Other data were collected from similar community energy plans across the country to look for trends as well as examples of specific actions Sarpy County might consider.
Throughout the process, we also helped bring together a coalition of more than 30 stakeholders to serve on the core committee for the project. This core committee serves to guide the energy element by developing specific goals, objectives, and actions based on the data previously collected and analyzed. In addition to the core committee, this project involved public meetings and engagement to ensure the final plan indeed reflects the desires of residents in Sarpy County.
As we wrap up the final pieces of the project in 2012, it is becoming abundantly clear that there are several opportunities for the community to be more energy and economically rich; the latter a function of the the former.
Our experience on this project is invaluable to political subdivisions throughout Nebraska that are interested in developing a plan to reduce energy use and thereby make fiscal resources available for other purposes.
Incorporating an energy element into a city or county master plan shows stewardship of taxpayer resources, helps us be more energy independent and secure, and is good for the environment. I expect Sarpy will reap the rewards for many years to come.
Patrick McAtee
Senior Associate & Project Lead
Verdis Group
Joslyn Institute for Sustainable Communities
In November, 2010, Omaha was home to the first of four Conversation Conferences on Nebraska Environment and Sustainability developed and hosted by the Joslyn Institute for Sustainable Communities. Throughout 2011, three other Conversations Conferences were held in Lincoln, Grand Island, and Scottsbluff, NE. In total, over 450 Nebraska residents from across the state attended these four conferences to discuss sustainable resource use around the five topic areas of energy, food, land, water and materials.
One of our core values at Verdis is continuous improvement to stay on the leading edge of sustainable thought and practice. So when Daniel Lawse was invited to serve as the Statewide Resource Coordinator for the energy topic, he was honored to accept, given his extensive knowledge around energy issues and solutions. It offered him not only an opportunity to travel across our great state listening to Nebraskans discuss energy in their community, but a chance to share his thoughts on how Nebraska communities can prepare for a more secure energy future.
In this role he attended all four conferences to facilitate and stimulate day-long conversations around energy with groups ranging from 15 to 40 Nebraskans. In addition, Daniel served as a consistent voice from one city to the next and as a resource for conference attendees if they had questions about energy issues between conferences. After the last Conversations Conference, he wrote a final summary report, portions of which were published in the statewide newspaper Prairie Fire.
As a result of these conferences, Nebraskans now have a better understanding of the state of our sustainability challenges and opportunities. These conversations have empowered attendees with new knowledge and connections to make positive changes in their own community--from something as simple as talking with their neighbor about saving energy to more comprehensive changes such as finding ways their business can be more energy efficient or creating local and state policies to help their communities flourish.
We were extremely pleased to have the opportunity to hear so many Nebraskans who are aware of energy opportunities in their community. I witnessed first-hand the resourcefulness and creative problem solving of Nebraskans. Every conversation was filled with hope for a better energy future in the state.
Daniel Lawse
Principal
Verdis Group
The Triple Bottom Line
sustainability strategy
The cornerstone of our work and the foundation of every good sustainability initiative is an energy and sustainability master plan. Our catered, comprehensive and collaborative approach generates a road map of strategies that will align sustainability with your organizational mission and goals.
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Establish a Baseline.
The process begins with the collection and analysis of several different datasets in order to establish important benchmarks. We help you identify where you stand today, determine what your core environmental and social impacts are, benchmark your resource consumption patterns and greenhouse gas emissions, and establish the foundation upon which to build your plan and measure future progress.
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Organizational Alignment.
We work with people throughout your organization to compare energy and sustainability benchmarks versus the broader, overarching organizational mission and goals. Sustainability is best viewed as a strategy by which an organization can achieve its full potential. Every organization is different with distinctive sets of values and aspirations, and aligning it all is critical.
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The Master Plan.
With the foundation built, we engage key stakeholders in developing and prioritizing the goals and strategies of the Energy and Sustainability Master Plan. The completed Plan is thorough yet succinct and includes all the right elements to help you take advantage of the sustainability opportunities most applicable to your organization. It’s a road map that will tell you where you’re going and how to get there.
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Engage & Implement.
Creating a path forward via the Master Plan is an important outcome, but a good plan doesn’t truly result in any tangible results; it must be rolled out and implemented. We use research-supported strategies to engage the entire organization and build a culture that unabashedly adopts sustainability as a key strategy, and we help you get busy implementing all the strategies outlined in the Master Plan.
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Measure & Re-evaluate.
As part of the master planning process, we develop tools that make it easy to track your progress. It’s important to regularly and frequently take stock of what has been accomplished and where you’re headed next. As we learn together, we can consider revisions to the path forward in light of the information at hand. Things can change, and we’ll help you be resilient and adaptable.
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Talk it Up.
Once you've taken a great leap forward and have successes to tout, it's time to shout it from the rooftops. We will help you cater your message to your target audience. Whether they are customers, citizens, students or attendees, the steps you've taken will make them more loyal to your organization.
Other Stuff.
Every organization seems to occasionally have an issue or two arise that require some in-depth analysis. When it comes to sustainability, we can help make the research and analysis more accurate, efficient and complete.
We understand that not every organization has either the capacity or the aspirations to line the rooftop with solar panels. That’s why we align all of our work with your organization’s current mission and goals and cater the sustainability strategies accordingly, in essence helping you find the shade of green that best suits your organization.
Current Thinking
After making great strides in OPS with energy efficiency improvements (both on the building systems side and the occupant behavior side), Verdis is ready to tackle the next frontier: demand reduction. Read More »
Schools across the country are experiencing budget challenges, but that doesn't mean that all green initiatives should fall by the wayside. In fact, quite the opposite is true. A strategic and well-executed conservation initiative eases the financial pressures. Read More »
You don't have to stop gift-giving altogether to be greener this holiday season. Rather, give your loved ones experiential gifts.They're better for the planet and better (mentally, physically and spiritually) for that special someone. Read More »
Two guys walk into a coffee shop and ask, “You want to start a sustainability business?” One replies, “Only if it can change the world.” The other says, “I concur.” Many months and several planning meetings later, Verdis Group was born in July, 2009. Read More »
How does a small company focused on sustainability build a vehicle fleet? With bicycles of course. Given our office location, we decided to keep a stable of Verdis Velos for short trips near the office. Read More »
