Superior Environmental Performance

Green Tier is dedicated to helping businesses, communities, and organizations move beyond minimum environmental requirements to reduce environmental impacts and maximize their resources in order to achieve a concept called superior environmental performance.

Superior environmental performance is about going beyond the requirements of environmental regulations and creating measurable improvements in the quality of air, land, water, natural resources or human health. Green Tier defines nine outcomes of superior environmental performance listed below.

1. Reducing pollution from your facility

Limiting the discharges or emissions of pollutants from, or in some other way minimizing the negative effects on air, water, land, natural resources, or human health of, a facility that is owned or operated by an entity or an activity that is performed by the entity to an extent that is greater than is required by applicable environmental requirements.

The first example focuses on pollution prevention strategies that minimize negative environmental effects of your operations and processes. There are many strategies, like adjusting processes or upgrading equipment, to prevent pollution that lowers risk and saves money, while protecting the environment at the same time.

2. Reducing pollution from your products or services

Minimizing the negative effects on air, water, land, natural resources, or human health of the raw materials used by an entity or of the products or services produced or provided by the entity to an extent that is greater than is required by applicable environmental requirements.

The second example covers pollution prevention from a different angle, looking both upstream and downstream in your supply chain. You may identify ways to reduce environmental impacts of raw materials used to create a product or offer a service. This may mean setting requirements for your supply chain so that you can offer a more environmentally friendly product or service. With a life cycle perspective, you may evaluate the environmental impacts, life expectancy, or potential for reuse or recycling.

3. Restoring and protecting the environment

Voluntarily engaging in restoring or preserving natural resources.

Some examples of restoring and preserving natural resources, could include encouraging employees to volunteer on company time, restoring company-owned land, or even donating to a credible organization that is dedicated to environmental protection or restoration.

To see what resources are near you, check out this map for ideas to engage in voluntarily restoring or preserving natural resources.

4. Helping others reduce pollution from their facility, products or services

Helping other entities to comply with environmental requirements or to accomplish the results described in subd. 1. or 2.

This example is about being a good neighbor and environmental steward by helping others with their compliance obligations or by sharing best practices and techniques to prevent pollution as outlined in 1 or 2 above.

5. Collaborating with others to reduce their environmental impacts

Organizing uncoordinated entities that produce environmental harm into a program that reduces that harm.

Helping others to reduce their impacts can be achieved through a collaborative effort, like helping your supply chain reduce their footprint, forming an industry association, or creating a Green Tier Charter. The goal is to collaborate with others to reduce environmental impacts common to the group.

6. Reducing waste throughout the life cycle of your products or services

Reducing waste or the use or production of hazardous substances in the design, production, delivery, use or reuse of goods or services.

The next example again addresses the concept of life cycle thinking in the design, production, delivery, use or reuse of goods or services. This could involve reducing waste or the use of hazardous substances throughout the life cycle of goods and services. You might look at the inputs, current processes, outputs or cleaning and maintenance of equipment to achieve this example.

7. Reducing your use of nonrenewable resources

Conserving energy or nonrenewable natural resources.

Example seven offers the opportunity to reduce dependency on non-renewable natural resources. This could mean conserving energy through efficiency projects that reduce your use of fossil fuels. Generating renewable energy on-site or investing in off-site clean energy projects are effective strategies to achieve superior environmental performance.

Other strategies to limit the use of nonrenewable resources include reducing the use of plastics, rare earth metals or other non-renewable natural resources. Life-cycle analyses can be useful to evaluate the merits of replacing nonrenewable raw materials.

8. Reducing your use of renewable natural resources

Reducing the use of renewable natural resources through increased efficiency.

The eighth example refers to conserving renewable natural resources like air, land, water, and biomass. This might mean reducing water use in cooling systems, enhancing air pollution controls, reducing the use of wood products, using more recycled content in your products, or reducing runoff to prevent soil loss and water contamination.

This example can be achieved in ways that are similar to example 7. You might consider increasing the efficiency of energy sourced from renewable energy sources like solar panels, wind turbines, or geothermal wells. With increased energy efficiency, the energy sourced from renewables can be distributed more efficiently, thereby reducing the energy intensity of renewable energy production.

9. Reducing your overall environmental footprint

Adopting methods that reduce the depletion of, or long−term damage to, renewable natural resources.

Our final example ties in with operational efficiencies, conservation, and pollution prevention. This example encourages you to examine current production methods and their respective environmental impacts. You could implement alternative methods that will have a lesser impact on renewable natural resources.

For example, you might consider purchasing wood products from a sustainable source. Select harvest improves tree health, improves nutrient management, reduces runoff and soil loss, safeguards water quality, and provides wildlife habitat.

Another example of this is in the printing process; LED curing technology can be used to eliminate the use of mercury vapor in a process, resulting in improved air quality and employee health.

While these outcomes are broad and many different activities can qualify as superior environmental performance, it should be noted that this list is not all inclusive. There may be some actions that are not listed which can still lead to the superior environmental outcomes. Other activities may even fit into several of the categories defined above!

Environmental Project Ideas

We have compiled links to case studies, best management practices, articles and tools that can serve as a source of inspiration. This tool is intended to provide ideas for goals and projects to help you along your path toward achieving superior environmental performance. Check out our Environmental Project Ideas tool!

Reporting Superior Environmental Performance

Green Tier participants are required to report on their progress towards achieving superior environmental performance. Participants demonstrate their commitment to this outcome by connecting their goals and projects to the superior environmental performance outcomes in their Green Tier annual reports. More information about annual reporting can be found on the annual report instructions webpage.

Some Green Tier participants also choose to connect their commitments to other environmental programs. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed by the United Nations is one common framework often used to show a commitment to sustainability. We have created a crosswalk to make sustainability reporting easier by visually displaying where the outcomes from achieving superior environmental performance may overlap with the SDGs. Participants who choose to work toward both programs can use this crosswalk to show how their environmental efforts are accomplishing multiple outcomes.