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Contributed by The Ashkin Group

NTT, a global technology company, has just published the results of a corporate sustainability survey. 

The report, Innovating for a Sustainable Future, found that 44 percent of those companies surveyed enjoyed improved profitability due to the sustainability programs they have initiated.

The study's participants included corporate executives from more than 500 companies. It was conducted from September 2021 to October 2021.

Among the key findings of the report were the following:

• 69 percent report that becoming more sustainable is key to their organization's future.

• 47 percent said the pandemic elevated the importance of sustainability for their organizations.

• As to the actual financial benefits, 33 percent experienced reduced operating costs; 24 percent experienced increased revenue growth, all tied to becoming more sustainable.

• Four out of ten companies state that customers, employees, shareholders, and local communities expect their companies to drive positive change by becoming more sustainable.

"This study is one more indication of the many benefits of sustainability," reports Steve Ashkin, founder of The Center for Green Cleaning and Sustainability (TC4GCS.org).

"Protecting the planet and improving profitability can, and often do, go hand-in-hand."

As to how building owners, managers, and jan/san organizations can develop an effective and potentially lucrative sustainability strategy, Ashkin offers the following suggestions:

• Form a "sustainability team" to head the sustainability program and initiatives.

• Set a clear vision of what sustainability is and what it means for your organization.  

• Communicate sustainability goals to all stakeholders. In an office building, this would include building users and tenants. For cleaning contractors, it would include all cleaning workers.

• Select a technology that allows the sustainability team to track, monitor, and report sustainability performance and metrics.

• Look into technologies such as cloud services, AI, and IoT that can help improve efficiencies - and make sure they can "talk" to each other.   

• Consider sustainability when making future business investments and decisions.

• Publicize your sustainability improvements and the benefits derived

"Long term, sustainability positively impacts people, the planet, and prosperity," adds Ashkin. "Everyone likes a winner. Don't be shy about reporting your sustainability accomplishments." 

For more coverage on implementing sustainability metrics, click here.