UL Environment, Inc., a global leader in environmental evaluation and certification, today announces an initiative to develop the first global organization-wide sustainability standard. The standard will define core sustainability principles for businesses and organizations based on metrics verified by a third party. The new standard will serve as a procurement tool and will aid in understanding a company’s sustainability performance profile. This will be the first system of its kind applicable to multiple sectors and geographic markets.
“Companies and institutions are increasingly requiring sustainability of their partners and supply chains, but the piece that is still missing is a standard for organizations to use to measure their own sustainability efforts,” said Stephen Wenc, president of UL Environment. “With more than 115 years of experience, UL maintains nearly 1,500 standards and works with businesses in 102 countries around the world. We are in a unique position to apply our expertise to meet the need for a comprehensive corporate sustainability standard that crosses sectors and national borders.”
The standard is currently in development via a partnership with GreenBiz Intelligence, a unit of Greener World Media, along with multiple stakeholder groups and sustainability experts. An initial draft is expected to be issued in the summer of 2010.
“Product manufacturers and service providers are looking for guidance around how to develop sustainability into a competitive advantage,” said Joel Makower, chairman of Greener World Media. “While there are product and process standards and ranking systems, the market lacks a standard and rating system that addresses a company’s holistic sustainability. We aim to help companies understand what true sustainability means and how to get there.”
About UL Environment, Inc.
UL Environment (ULE) supports the growth and development of sustainable products and services in the global marketplace through standards development and independent third-party assessment and certification. ULE is a wholly owned subsidiary of Underwriters Laboratories, a global leader in conformity assessment that has been testing products and writing standards for more than a century. ULE currently offers Environmental Claims Validation (ECV), a service testing and verifying manufacturers’ self-declared environmental claims, Sustainable Products Certification (SPC), a service testing and certifying products to accepted industry standards for environmental sustainability and Energy Efficiency Certification (EEC), a service testing and verifying product compliance with mandatory and voluntary energy efficiency regulations and programs. ULE is developing additional environmental standards, as well as training and advisory services to support organizations in the sustainable products and services industry.
About GreenBiz Intelligence
GreenBiz Intelligence is a unit of Greener World Media, Inc. (GWM), the leading media and business information services company focusing on corporate sustainability leadership and strategy. GWM’s websites, conferences, and research reports are widely read by senior executives at Fortune 1000 companies. GWM produces the annual State of Green Business report, along with annual State of Green Business Forums, held in major cities. Its acclaimed flagship website, GreenBiz.com, is widely regarded for bringing credible news, opinion, and thought leadership on corporate sustainability strategy. GWM’s GreenBiz Executive Network, a peer-to-peer learning forum for sustainability executives, boasts membership from some of the world’s leading companies.
