Bob Willard: Making the Business Case for Sustainability

For Bob Willard, sustainability isn’t just about protecting the environment and our quality of life – it’s about contributing to the corporate bottom-line, too. In a recent presentation to imagineCALGARY Partners, Bob helped the audience realize that sustainability efforts can result in significant cost savings that no organization can afford to ignore.

“The pervasive attitude is that doing too much ‘green’ stuff does damage to the bottom-line,” Bob says. “Yet the business case is fantastic – it’s just unknown.”

Citing the difficulties in communicating the sustainability agenda, Bob stressed the importance of finding ways to make sustainability relevant within the business community. Concepts like “sustainability” can easily be equated to “asset management” – terms that are more acceptable within a business environment.

In his research, Bob found that over five years, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can expect to see a 66% improvement in their bottom-line with a focus on sustainability. Increased staff retention, improved productivity and enhanced public image combine with savings in operating costs (generated by energy efficiency) to present significant motivations for corporations to become sustainable.

During his presentation, Bob was quick to point out that imagineCALGARY is considered a world-leader in efforts to create a sustainable community. “imagineCALGARY is a showcase of what to do and how to do it,” Bob says. “There are lots of communities in Canada doing some versions of what you are doing here, but the scale in Calgary is just awesome and I applaud you for it.”

Bob has developed a series of slides and worksheets that are designed to help corporations evaluate and implement sustainability initiatives across their organizations. These materials are available for download under the photo on this page.

The 2008 imagineCALGARY Partner Symposium was sponsored by the Calgary Airport Authority, Calgary Economic Development, the Calgary Foundation, The City of Calgary, the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede, REAP Calgary and The University of Calgary.