As part of the St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project, the RCGA is launching the St. Louis Green Business Challenge to inspire regional businesses and organizations to become more sustainable at their individual office sites. To assist participants in the Challenge, the RCGA is partnering with Sustainable St. Louis and the Missouri Botanical Garden’s EarthWays Center.

RCGA Board Chair for Energy and Environment Tracy Hart, president of Tarlton Corp., announced that her company will be the first company to enter the Challenge.  Ameren; Bryan Cave; Burns & McDonnell; Colliers Turley Martin Tucker; Christner; Gallop Johnson & Neuman; Geotechnology, Inc.; HOK; RCGA; and 3Degrees have also signed up to be the charter participants in the Challenge.  Enrollment in the Challenge is now open to all RCGA member companies and organizations, with a first round goal of an initial 100 participating companies.

Sustainability as an opportunity for regional economic growth is one of the 4 Strategic Initiatives that the RCGA Board has adopted, directing the RCGA’s overall activities in 2010. This initiative, called the St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project, aims to lead the St. Louis region toward a “greenbelt economy” that fosters green savings, green opportunity and green talent. The St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project is one of 8 Pilot communities selected by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the national Climate Prosperity, Inc. effort in 2009, to demonstrate that regions responding to the environmental imperatives of climate change also enhance their economic development.  St. Louis is paired with Silicon Valley; Seattle/King County; Denver; Montgomery County/Washington Metro; Portland, Oregon; and the states of Delaware and Florida as a Pilot in the national project.

The Green Business Challenge will use a scorecard to measure savings and sustainability achievements at a company’s headquarters site in 6 areas: Energy, Waste, Indoor Environment, Water, Transportation, and Outreach.  Green Business Challenge teams determine their individual baseline score and then improve on their baseline by implementing sustainability strategies throughout 2010.  Companies will be recognized for their improvements and accomplishments at a special Green Business Challenge event in November.

A recent “green savings” example is the 38% energy savings by the owners of the Empire State Building in New York City as a result of their current energy retro fit.  Consulting, design and construction partners, Johnson Controls Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle and the Rocky Mountain Institute recently completed an 8-month modeling and analysis project which will save 38% of the building’s energy and $4.4 million annually.  In addition, the Willis Tower in Chicago is undergoing a $350 million green savings plan to reduce their base building electricity by up to 80% and their sustainability project plans to create more than 3,600 jobs.

To support the Challenge teams, the RCGA has engaged the Missouri Botanical Garden’s EarthWays Center, a regional leader in promoting sustainability through environmental education and improving the built environment. Glenda Abney and her staff at the EarthWays Center will provide complementary technical consulting assistance for the Challenge, answer questions for participating teams and assist the RCGA in monthly seminars that inform participating teams on sustainability strategies related to the Challenge scorecard.

To register your company for the inaugural St. Louis Green Business Challenge, please contact the RCGA’s Eric Schneider at eschneider@stlrcga.org, and for more information, please go to www.stlouisgreenchallenge.com

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