How do you get started?

If you have surfed this site a bit, you have probably guessed the best way to implement sustainability is to Connect-Learn-Do Sustainability. To be successful with most any new venture we need the support, advice and inspiration of our peers and those who have already been successful. A network of peers, a learning community can give us the knowledge and courage to try something new.

Where do you get started implementing sustainability principles in your business or organization? As it turns out, most any place is a good place to begin. What we have learned from the E4S Network is that implementation can start in any one of five general areas:

1. building improvements to existing buildings or high performance design for new buildings,
   
2. process or practice redesign,
3. product or service whole-system design,
4. new market identification and
5. a new company culture.

The E4S Learning Programs help the implementers of sustainability learn the fundamental principles of sustainability, how others have applied the principles to the five areas listed above and provides them with the process and resources they will need to be successful.

Over the course of the last 6 years E4S has created the Sustainability Implementation Journey (SIJ) Framework to help an organization get a great start.

E4S Sustainability Implementation Journey Framework

• Communicate Intention - Vision, Mission
• Form a Multi-functional Team
• Perform Baseline Assessments
• Set Goals and Measurements
• Create an Awareness and Education Process
• Implement Projects – Weave into current projects and start new ones.
• Continuous Learning & Celebration

To learn more about how to implement sustainability within your organization, consider participating in a Sustainability Implementation Group.