Nowadays, every company’s management knows what should be done to make the company environmentally friendly. However, the lack of expertise, funds, or time is often the main reason why companies remain passive in this field.
The good news is, as with everything else in life, there are people educated in the field who can turn things around for your company.
What Is Green Consultancy?
Green consultancy has become one of the professions of the future. According to Green Building Council Australia, Green Consultancy covers a wide range of professional skills, like the creation and implementation of sustainability strategies and expertise in energy efficiency.
Green consultants help organizations improve and evaluate their internal practices and processes in terms of environmental impact. These consultants can develop a complete plan for green action and assist in the process of implementation of such green strategies, which are ultimately beneficial and effective for each company.
Some giant companies have already opened new work positions, such as “Chief Sustainability Officer.” However, there are a lot of companies that do not have such in-house experts.
With the specific period in the evolution of business sustainability, where the world is situated at the moment, companies are looking for external independent experts to tackle environmental and sustainability challenges.
How to Find the Perfect Green Consultant for Your Company
Adding a green consultant to your team will be extremely important for the overall success of your company. If you want to achieve the best possible results in this sphere, you need to find an experienced and qualified green consultant. Nobody needs an “expert” who fills in documentation and conducts a general assessment of the situation.
What to Look for When Hiring a Green Consultant
Qualifications
It is recommended to look for a consultant who has a fruitful background in the built environment. Another thing that every HR manager should take into account is the concrete experience in project management, a skill that’s important in organizing and leading the whole process.
Relevant professional experience in the building industry – interior design, engineering, architecture, or facility management – is crucial to understand the process of building functions to take advantage of the environmental prospects from the start.
Experience
Preferably, the companies should look for a consultant who has been responsible for preparing and implementing a project from the beginning to the very end, rather than only contributing small parts. Contact the consultant’s previous clients to learn more about their role in each project.
Knowledge
To create the ideal green environment, you need someone with the know-how to create a SWOT analysis of your project. That means a detailed identification and assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that accompany your project on its way toward realization.
Your company will definitely need someone who will listen to the entire team and stay focused on priority goals in the management of the project. Your consultant must have a solid, practical understanding of the background of your project, and consequently, the overall aims, which cannot be reached by only accomplishing the basic details of a technical manual for a green environment.
A professional consultant will recognise the synergy between the things that are surrounding the project. They will help your company implement policies that are part of the envisaged framework, but will also follow the associated cost implications.
Commitment
Every company should look for a consultant who displays the highest commitment and passion to the green building field, and is actively engaged in advancing sustainable green building practices. Even though it is a really tough task to find a devoted worker in general, this may present the key aspect of the personal and professional skills that a green consultant should possess.
Different Green Consultants Have Different Types of Expertise
When looking for the perfect consultant, you must be aware that you cannot find a brilliant combination of every possible aspect of the green consultancy. You must focus on one primary sphere of the green consultancy, such as sustainability strategy, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED ), greenhouse gas management, energy efficiency, or waste and recycling.
Why Having a Green Consultant is Important
Developing and implementing a complete environmental sustainability project may significantly reduce the maintenance and operational costs of your building. It will also ensure its practicality in a swiftly changing marketplace, boost productivity, and reduce your overall environmental footprint.
The right green consultant will make the whole process more effective and efficient, and will strive to create a sustainable building that operates neatly both now, and more importantly, in the distant future. By having the right green consultant with proper training and knowledge, “green” things will be resolved easier and faster in your company.
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Image Courtesy: Flickr Image by Andres Garcia