thinking about the future of the built environment
How to link sustainability and profitability?
I have recently attended a great conference at the V&A part of the design festival where this question was debated. Apart from obvious things such as Use low carbon intensive material. Avoid shipping / air transport. Use flat pack / products stackable on palette ..
Some great points were raised by the sustainability manager from Ikea:
“Sustainability is all about ownership”
“We don’t want to have a sustainability strategy” I.E a pamphlet made in isolation by the sustainability team.
Ikea sets a direction and every department comes back with input and actions. Then there is a central coordination job around establishing sustainability KPI's and understand financial viability. They kicked off the process with workshop involving everyone from designers to suppliers about sustainability. They looked at what happened in the world and what it meant for Ikea…
It took from 2 days to 1.5 years to implement changes. In 3 years Ikea will sell solar panels in their shops. 150 shops will be equipped with photo voltaic.
Interesting example of a company where there is an attempt to have sustainability within their DNA.
... Now they just need to stop people driving to their "far away" shop and create efficient clean electric Ikea buses
I am interested to hear more about how to link sustainability and profitability, please feel free to comment & share examples.
Some great points were raised by the sustainability manager from Ikea:
“Sustainability is all about ownership”
“We don’t want to have a sustainability strategy” I.E a pamphlet made in isolation by the sustainability team.
Ikea sets a direction and every department comes back with input and actions. Then there is a central coordination job around establishing sustainability KPI's and understand financial viability. They kicked off the process with workshop involving everyone from designers to suppliers about sustainability. They looked at what happened in the world and what it meant for Ikea…
It took from 2 days to 1.5 years to implement changes. In 3 years Ikea will sell solar panels in their shops. 150 shops will be equipped with photo voltaic.
Interesting example of a company where there is an attempt to have sustainability within their DNA.
... Now they just need to stop people driving to their "far away" shop and create efficient clean electric Ikea buses
I am interested to hear more about how to link sustainability and profitability, please feel free to comment & share examples.
Add a Comment
About
© 2009 Created by Duncan Wilson on Ning. Create Your Own Social Network
You need to be a member of Arup Foresight to add comments!
Join this social network