7/27/2010 by Catherine Conlan

Photo: Chaff is ideal for fertilizing azaleas and blueberries.

Businesses have heard a lot about “going green,” but when it comes down to it, what does that mean? Do customers and clients really care about it? And what is a “green office,” anyway? Does it make a difference?

More Northland businesses owners are raising those questions, and more are making changes they feel are necessary, whether that's adding a recycling program, changing to more efficient light bulbs or building all-new LEED-certified buildings.

“It's a belief that's got to make sense to the company,” said Bill Bennett of LHB Corp. in Duluth. “We work with companies and look at their philosophy and have a dialog about what it is they want to do. It'll be different levels that people are comfortable with, and they may need to take steps along the way.”

LHB is an engineering, architectural and design consulting firm that helps companies understand the environmental impact made by their construction and operations.

“We start the discussion right away, go through an analysis, and look at different alternatives for every company. Not everything makes sense for every site or project or client. Many clients don't feel like they need LEED certification, but want to do green things. It takes a knowledgeable process and making good decisions," Bennett said.

LEED certification is a third-party assurance that a building or community was designed and built to be energy-efficient and gentle on the environment, among other things. There are different levels of certification. But for a company that's looking to make incremental changes, there are other options than going through the certification process.

“I would say the first thing to do is recycling,” Bennett said. “It gets people thinking differently. It's a visible change.”

That was one of the biggest changes made at Barkers Island Inn, Resort and Conference Center in Superior, said Sarah Solomon, who oversaw the firm’s effort to be certified by the Superior/Douglas County “Count Me Green” program. “We had never recycled before,” she said. “Having a bin outside is extremely expensive, so we never did. It's mind-blowing how much stuff we were throwing away.”

Now, she said, the center has recycling bins in the bar, kitchen, at the front desk, lobby, pool area and throughout the facility.

“We had just mounds of paper and lots of bottles. It's making a huge difference.”

The “Count Me Green” program works on a point system, with companies making changes or demonstrating they already have made changes to earn points toward recognition.

“Some of the things we did were getting energy-efficient light bulbs, using cleaning products that are green and better for the environment, and so on,” Solomon said. “We have a questionnaire box at the front desk, and people can give suggestions about what changes we should make.”

Solomon said that before the recycling bins were added, some guests would bring their recyclables to the front desk, refusing to intermix them with other trash.

“They would come up and say, ‘I won’t throw this in the garbage,’ and then give it to me, and what do I do with it? Well, throw it away. Making these changes has made us a lot happier, and it makes guests a lot happier,” she said.

Changing to green cleaning products is another good early step, Bennett said.

“There is a LEED certification that building owners can use to make some headway – certification for an existing building – that focuses on operational procedures. People can take those steps, and it builds momentum and understanding. When you're looking at solar panels and geothermal, you get a different payback on money to do that...you need to ask yourself if it's worth it to put a solar array on your building. The answer varies with your energy use."

ARCO Coffee in Superior also is certified with the “Count Me Green” program.

“Some things we’ve been doing for a long time, and some we’ve added as time went on,” said Donald Andresen. He credited DECC food service director Chelly Townsend with giving him the idea to look into the program by showing him how much food waste can be disposed in better ways than being thrown away.

One material he thinks could be used better is chaff that's taken from coffee during the roasting process.

“We had it tested and it's ideal for [fertilizing] azaleas and blueberries,” Andresen said. “We used to just throw it away. It's a food product, it's food grade, it's got a pH of 5.4, and we were told it'd be a nice balance to add to the WLSSD fertilizer you can get.” The only question: how to sell or distribute chaff.

ARCO also does a lot of work with reusing items.

“We’ve recycled pallets as long as I've worked here, and we also accept them,” Andresen said, adding that they are the so-called “four-way” pallets that are standard for the grocery business. “We run ads and accept as many as people can drop off. We have space in the building, and we use them for the business.”

The company also reuses clean plastic packing peanuts and turns off its water heater overnight and on weekends. It also put an afterburner on its main roaster.

“It's cleaner, but there's not as much aroma,” Andresen said.

ARCO offers a green product as well – an organic roast coffee.

“It's grown with no pesticides or herbicides. With Count Me Green, what you do with the products you offer is part of the whole process as well,” he said.

While it's tempting for a business to tout its green cred, Bennett said any philosophical change should also be good for the business and sustainable. It should be meaty, help the bottom line, reflect company beliefs and be thoughtful, “not just eye candy."

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