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How Do You Differentiate The Environmentally Friendly From The Unfriendly?

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The drive towards environmentally sustainable business practices has long been a double-edged sword in the network infrastructure space – especially for installers and integrators. Wading through vendor claims, customer demands and the potential minefield of finger pointing on who is responsible for what can leave network infrastructure professionals struggling to determine their ultimate role in the big green world.

But even as the need to address sustainability grows, the quantity and quality of information available to installers and integrators has more than kept pace. Looking back just a handful of years, environmental sustainability claims from most companies were a Wild West of sorts. Though they may have been good faith, well intentioned messages based on accurate data, there was a general lack of consistency on the key environmental benchmarks, as well as the methodologies to calculate them.

Fortunately, the smoke has started to clear. Globally recognised third-party organisations have emerged to set some basic green standards that can help installers build and communicate their environmental credentials and win more business.

Whether the customer requests it or not, installers and integrators need to include sustainability practices in bids/tenders and leveraging vendor environmental qualifications is the easiest piece of the puzzle. Choosing green partners and highlighting their credentials makes the installer’s services greener by default.

Vendors should have information at the ready and good ones will have information based on recognised third-party standards. Installers and integrators can validate this info with some basic questions:

  • ISO 14001 certified? This is still one of the most rigorous environmental certifications.
  • Are carbon footprint claims based on regionally/globally recognised standards, such as Greenhouse Gas Protocol, Carbon Trust, or others?
  • Have they received certifications from organisations such as EcoVadis, Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) and Blue Planet Friendly?

There are many other credible green indicators and it is not difficult to find out if the sustainability information provided by a given vendor is valid. If it is, it should be leveraged. In addition to the vendor’s information, installers should also consider the green potential of their own practices. While most contractors “clean up after themselves” by carting off any project jobsite scrap and packaging materials, how difficult would it be to ensure that the material is recycled or otherwise sustainably handled? Better yet, what documentation can an installer provide to their customers that any project scrap and end-of-life (EoL) material removed, including decommissioned network infrastructure such as abandoned cable, was responsibly handled? More and more customers will value, if not eventually demand that level of EoL documentation as part of their own sustainability and greenhouse gas accountability initiatives.

Beyond jobsite practices, what controls are in place to minimize fuel use by reducing trips to and from the project site? Are there energy efficiency and recycling programs at the installer’s facilities? There are sustainability self-promotion opportunities to be had all over the place – from a cutover to energy-efficient LED lights at the office, to the company garden, to those new low-flow toilets installed last year. Even simply using one of the many easy online calculator tools to estimate their company’s carbon footprint shows an installer’s commitment, and it is a mistake not to leverage these efforts to build green credibility. Take account of your sustainable practices (many of which an installer may simply consider a matter of common sense business efficiency), identify gaps and low-hanging improvement opportunities, and share those efforts with current and potential customers.

‘GLOBALLY RECOGNISED THIRD-PARTY ORGANISATIONS HAVE EMERGED TO SET SOME BASIC GREEN STANDARDS THAT CAN HELP INSTALLERS BUILD AND COMMUNICATE THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL CREDENTIALS AND WIN MORE BUSINESS.’

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Brian Duval

Regional Sales Manager - CT/RI, Siemon

Regional Sales Manager - CT/RI, Siemon

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