The business world is starting to see the benefits of sustainability in all aspects of operations. More and more companies are finding that being sustainable not only helps their bottom line but also improves their brand reputation and their employees’ health and satisfaction. In fact, a recent MIT Sloan report notes that most businesses are anticipating “a world where sustainability is becoming a mainstream, if not required, part of the business strategy.”

Project management is already concerned with reducing costs, increasing value, and protecting scarce resources — all practices that fit nicely with being green. So it’s no surprise that businesses and project managers are incorporating green practices and considerations into many projects, not just those in a sustainable industry. All projects affect the environment somehow, and a project manager can help mitigate that by considering the environmental effects of a project and of the deliverables resulting from the project.

Seminar series

To delve into this more, the Project Management Institute SF Bay Area chapter and Keller Graduate School are co-sponsoring a series of 3-hour interactive seminars presenting case studies and interactive discussions about fascinating projects involving sustainability. Some examine projects for which a sustainable goal was the main deliverable, while others focus on projects that incorporated sustainable practices into aspects of project planning and execution. All the seminars provide stimulating insights into the benefits of sustainable projects and processes.

Our first seminar, in July 2011, provided a fascinating look at Walmart's journey to sustainability. Walmart went from corporate social responsibility pariah to a leader in green business, seemingly overnight. What happened to cause this shift? Is it real? What can it teach us about creating change in the companies where we work? As Bay Area sustainability strategist Mikhail Davis showed in his presentation, Walmart made a major commitment to achieve this transformation. In the process, the world's largest retailer reinvented itself and established a uniquely influential position in the green economy.

Green project management case study, Saturday Aug 20

At our second seminar, project manager Pete Marsh will recount the challenges of managing a $1.6M project to build a telecommunications site, with an off-grid PV hybrid electrical system, in a state park on a remote island. The complexities included dual customers, myriad stakeholders, challenging logistics (how many projects have to clear goats from a grass strip runway?!), and a complex environmental assessment. At this seminar, an in-depth retrospective of the project will be followed by hands-on breakouts to crowdsource ideas for what could have been done better.

Seminar info

The seminars are held at the Keller Graduate School’s Daly City location from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon PDT on the third Saturday of each month. For more details and to register, visit the PMI SF Bay Area Chapter website.