Texas governments, businesses, and customers have all taken notice of climate change. Initially, companies changed business practices as a green crusade to save the environment, but it has now become a viable business strategy. Governments and consumers are even rewarding businesses that take their environmental impact seriously. Companies that want to add value to their brand, secure government contracts, or increase customer loyalty have to pursue green causes.

To gain a green reputation requires a third-party to verify their existence and impact. The certificates earned through third-parties validate and measure your initiatives. They can also help the business to gain expert insights into its activities. Your business can use various certification programs within the Texas area.

Choose an Organization

Numerous organizations can certify your green policies and provide phase 1 esa. Each organization will have different criteria, standards, and costs for its program. Choosing one is a matter of aligning your needs with what each can offer.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) provides third-party green certification for organizations worldwide. Hotels, hospitals, offices, schools, convention centers, homes, neighborhoods, communities, and cities can use the certificate.

The Green Business Bureau focuses on certifying large and small businesses. It has over 400 programs or greening initiatives that a company can join to earn ecopoints. The ecopoints that a business earns determines its level of certification. Companies can submit their green initiatives for assessment to gain further points.

B Corp provides an international certification covering the impact a company has on governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. The B Corp certification process is intensive and has high compliance standards. Although there is no minimum size, B Corp certification is suitable for companies with the resources to meet their high standards and who are legally required to provide impact assessments,

Check if Your Business Qualifies

There are several certification options that a business may choose. After choosing a certification organization, the company should check the requirements to see if it qualifies before applying. The qualifications are usually all-encompassing, but some organizations choose to work by location, industry, or size.

An example of a local specific certification organization is the Dallas Green Business Certification. It provides free green certification for Dallas businesses that prevent waste, incorporates recycling, and promote reuse, reduce, and composting in their business operations.

Each organization will have its unique criteria for qualification. Some are more focused on a niche segment and specialize in that specific market, such as:

• Public institutions like federal departments and their projects
• Land, water, nature, and air impact assessments
• Infrastructure standards, for example, buildings and how they use energy
• Power generation and systems
• Waste management

Follow the Application Process and Meet the Requirements

Each organization will have not only its unique requirements but its application process. To get a certification, you will need to hand in documents, accept a site evaluation of your initiatives, join initiatives, and sometimes pay a fee.

Evaluate your current green position. If you have completed initiatives, are currently running some, or planning a few in the future, it will determine which organization works best for you. You want a certification program that will recognize all your green efforts, so choose one that aligns with them.

Some organizations look at the business as a lone entity, some look at it as part of a supply chain, while others look at its impact downstream. The program that represents and measures your green activities’ full impact will work best for you. During the application, you list projects like waste management or your energy provider that generates its energy from renewable sources. You can click here to get started with clean, renewable energy for your business or here to learn more about waste management for Texas.

Consider More Than One Certification

As a start, you can join the free membership certification organizations. Although they are easier to enter and qualify for, they tend to have weaker standards and programs. But they offer a low cost, low barrier entrance into greening your company. After that, you can join more sophisticated organizations. Their higher standards and certification process will lend more value to your green credentials.

Obtaining more than one certification can be advantageous. It will show the growth your business has made over the years. Multiple certifications also affirm your commitment to going green because more than one organization will be vouching for you.

Having certification from more than one organization will also ensure that they cover your green efforts’ full spectrum. Including a local certificate also gives your business credibility in the community. It shows that your company cares about local environmental issues.

Certified Green

Adopting a green policy is recommended to make your business compliant, appealing, and a valued member of the community. To get the credentials, you will have to use a third-party to certify your activities and impact. Using certification will fast track your qualification for new opportunities and improve your image.