Wis. DNR secretary and national speakers headline event
Sustainability is no longer the right thing to do for the environment—it’s the smart thing businesses can do to ensure profitability and sustain a competitive advantage. That’s the word from experts who will be presenting at this year’s “G2B: Practical Green Solutions for your Business.” National speaker and author Darcy Hitchock will speak on the business reasons for pursuing sustainability; and Matt Frank, Wisconsin DNR Secretary, will provide a luncheon address highlighting how current and proposed regulations will impact Wisconsin businesses.
The one-day event will feature workshops, exhibits, nationally recognized speakers in sustainability and case studies from Fox Valley companies that are making their operations more sustainable. The focus of g2b is to provide actionable ideas businesses can put to work immediately and to identify practical steps to take on the road to sustainability. The April 28 event will be held at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton, WI and is produced in partnership with The Boldt Company, Bassett Mechanical, Woodward Radio Events and Insight Publications.
Nationally, commercial and industrial buildings are some of the heaviest consumers of energy accounting for 70% of total U.S. electricity consumption, according to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).The USGBC also reports that new construction by qualified builders produces buildings with energy savings in the 20-30% range.
Workshops will focus on topics covering greening business processes, sustainable new construction, greening existing buildings and the latest in innovations that save energy and protect the environment. Panel discussions will include first-hand case studies of area companies that have invested in sustainable buildings and business processes.
The event will host the first panel discussion about the cost paybacks on creating a green building. Board members and experts affiliated with the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance (WGBA) will review the bottom line of sustainable construction. Additional workshop topics are:
Morning Keynote from Darcy Hitchcock who will speak on the business case for sustainability. Businesses shouldn’t necessarily adopt a “one size fits all model” and sustainability has to make sense for individual companies on a customized level.
Sue Loomans, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance will help attendees learn the terms, concepts, myths and facts and the differences between “green” and “sustainable.”
Learn about the first LEED certified dairy manufacturing facility in the nation from Tera Johnson, President of Wisconsin Specialty Protein, a firm that uses the whey from organic cheese making to make protein powders
Green Marketing: Beyond random acts of green-ness. Go beyond photos of trees and grass in your corporate brochure and get to the roots of communicating sustainability. Learn how to identify elements that create a credible environmental message that supports your business goals.
Green Extremes: one of the greenest buildings in the world. Buddy Huffaker, executive director of the Aldo Leopold Foundation, will talk about the groundbreaking green features in their new Legacy Center building. The building, located in Baraboo, received LEED platinum certification.
Is producing your own renewable energy in your company’s future? How do you know what makes sense for your company—is it solar panels, a wind tower? This workshop will provide the basics for evaluating the benefits of different renewable energy sources and their cost effectiveness.
“Increasingly, our customers are using sustainable business practices as one of the measures of success for their companies,” said Tom Boldt, CEO of The Boldt Company. “As experts in green building, we can help them create structures that respect the environment, reduce waste and reflect their corporate missions.”
According to Kim Bassett-Heitzmann, CEO and President of Bassett Mechanical, “Businesses that don’t step up their green business practices will find themselves falling behind their competition. The economic benefits are there and the marketplace demands that companies demonstrate they are continuously ‘greening’ their business.”
Conference attendees may visit the exhibit area where a variety of businesses will display their green products and services.
For information on g2b: Practical Green Solutions for your business or to participate as an exhibitor or sponsor please visit http://www.g2bevent.com or contact Jennie Pietras at jpietras@wcinet.com or 920-593-3797. The attendance fee is $99.00 per individual.
