Organizational Success

We focus on creating business value to help your business grow in a sustainable way. We help you understand the landscape of sustainability relative to your business. We work with you to develop meaningful strategies to advance your company and align with emerging trends such as circular economy, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, or other initiatives important to your company.

Aspire Sustainability focuses on creating business value – directly and indirectly – employing:

• Customized sustainability strategies & solutions
• Credible, science-based corporate goals & metrics
• Improved supply chain sustainability programs
• Efficient energy, water & waste reduction strategies

Aspire Sustainability offers strategic, dedicated expertise at a variety of engagement levels ranging from focused projects to sustainability guidance and program development. Many companies do not require a full-time sustainability team, yet can benefit from a trustworthy, expert resource on a part-time or on-call basis. We are available to serve you in any combination of these capacities and are deliberately flexible to ensure that we meet your needs. Let us be your sustainability experts. We are the sustainability resource you can grow with.

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Sustainability Strategies and Solutions
We have extensive experience developing efficient sustainability strategies and solutions that resonate with business leaders, customers, and other stakeholders. In our experience, the most effective strategies are those that are customized to the specific business context or industry sector. We can help you become a leader within your industry, with strategies that motivate customers as well as ensure business vitality and success.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) describes a corporation’s initiatives to assess, manage, and take responsibility for effects on environmental and social well-being. CSR, also called corporate conscience, corporate citizenship or responsible business, is a business approach that contributes to sustainable development by delivering economic, social and environmental benefits for all stakeholders. The purpose of CSR is to drive change towards sustainability and is commonly transparently reported via frameworks such as GRI, CDP, and DJSI. We can provide insights and guidance to help you.
Corporate Goals and Metrics
Establishing your company’s commitment to sustainability is important to ensure continuing success in today’s marketplace. Corporate sustainability goals have continued to evolve from first-generation ideas of reducing carbon and water footprints to more relevant and impactful goals related to social equality, science-based emissions reductions efforts, and access to quality water. The most impactful goals are those that are aligned with your company’s values, are context-based, and tied to materiality. We bring enlightened thinking to help you create, reinvent, or advance the right goals and track the appropriate metrics to ensure economic prosperity, a thriving community, and a healthy planet.
Supply Chain Sustainability
Supply chain sustainability is a holistic view of supply chain processes and technologies that addresses the environmental, social and economic aspects of a supply chain. It is based on the principle that socially responsible products and practices are not only good for people and the planet, they are also good for building positive brand awareness, lowering risk and improving long-term profitability. A supply chain sustainability program may highlight opportunities to improve transport logistics, materials suitability, supplier engagement, conflict minerals, energy and water hotspots, etc.
Energy, Water and Waste Reduction Strategies
Conserving water, reducing energy use, and eliminating solid waste can improve the environment, reduce operating expenses, and help communities become more sustainable and resilient. We can work with sourcing, facility, and employee teams to identify and integrate strategies that help improve efficiency and save money in areas such as water consumption, energy use, and waste reduction and diversion efforts.
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Life Cycle Management (LCM)
Life Cycle Management (LCM) is a systematic approach or strategy for managing product-related environmental issues throughout a product’s life cycle. LCM is not a single tool or methodology, but a management approach focused on understanding life cycle impacts through various programs, concepts, and tools. We can help you take a life cycle perspective across many aspects of your company and operations to improve productivity, reduce costs and risks, and increase environmental benefits.
Life Cycle Costing (LCC)
Life Cycle Costing (LCC), also known as Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), is a calculation of costs across the life cycle of a product. This includes purchase price, installation cost, operating costs, maintenance and upgrade costs, costs of disposal or salvage at the end of the product’s useful life, or other costs not captured on a traditional balance sheet. Occasionally, environmentally-friendly products can have higher upfront costs (capital costs) than alternatives yet have lower operating costs (use and maintenance) and longer lifetimes. An easy-to-understand example of this is LED lighting, which may cost more to purchase initially but should have much lower energy costs and maintenance across its lifetime – considerations that can result in lower life cycle costs. We can perform LCC analyses to help convey this cost message to your customers and credibly reinforce your marketing communications and strategy.
Natural Capital Accounting
Natural Capital can be defined as the planet’s supplies of natural assets which include geology, soil, air, water and all living things. It includes biodiversity and ecosystems services that provide essential goods and services, from fertile soil and multi-functional forests to productive land and seas, from good quality fresh water and clean air to pollination and climate regulation and protection against natural disasters. Natural Capital Accounting is an attempt to account for, value, and report the benefits that nature provides and therefore make more informed decisions and become a more sustainable business.
Certifications, Green Rankings, Professional Memberships
In today’s sophisticated business environment, saying you’re “green” doesn’t cut it. Sustainability certifications are meant to demonstrate that your commitment to sustainability meets credible, transparent, identifiable standards. There are countless sustainability certifications, labels, and rating systems in the marketplace today covering all industries, products, operations, buildings, supply chains, and disposal activities. The same is true for green rating schemes and professional societies. Being active, visible, and responsible within your industry can be a competitive advantage. We can help you identify the most credible and competitive certifications for you to pursue.

Some common examples include Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Fair Trade Certified, B Corporation, USDA Organic, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), WaterSense, and Green Seal.

Customer and Stakeholder Engagement

Communication, leadership, and collaboration strengthen your company’s credibility, relationships, and integrity. We understand the importance of meaningful engagement with a variety of stakeholders, including customers, shareholders, regulators, competitors, and more. With our broad industry experience, we are able to bring big-picture thinking to help you identify multifaceted opportunities to connect – from active engagement in professional organizations to third party certifications and distinctions to leadership in trade associations. Let us support your outreach efforts.

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Life Cycle Management (LCM)
Life Cycle Management (LCM) is a systematic approach or strategy to managing product-related environmental issues throughout a product’s life cycle. LCM is not a single tool or methodology, but a management approach focused on understanding life cycle impacts through various programs, concepts, and tools. We can help you take a life cycle perspective across many aspects of your company and operations to improve productivity, reduce costs and risks, and increase environmental benefits.
Life Cycle Costing (LCC)
Life Cycle Costing (LCC), also known as Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), is a calculation of all the costs across the life cycle of a product. This includes purchase price, installation cost, operating costs, maintenance and upgrade costs, costs of disposal or salvage at the end of its useful life, or other costs not captured on a traditional balance sheet. Occasionally, environmentally-friendly products can have higher upfront costs (capital costs) than alternatives yet have lower operating costs (use and maintenance) and longer lifetimes. An easy-to-understand example of this is LED lighting, which may cost more to purchase initially but should have much lower energy costs and maintenance across its lifetime – considerations that can result in lower life cycle costs. We can perform LCC analyses to help convey this cost message to your customers and credibly reinforce your marketing communications and strategy.
Natural Capital Accounting
Natural Capital can be defined as the planet’s supplies of natural assets which include geology, soil, air, water and all living things. It includes biodiversity and ecosystems services that provide essential goods and services, from fertile soil and multi-functional forests to productive land and seas, from good quality fresh water and clean air to pollination and climate regulation and protection against natural disasters. Natural Capital Accounting is an attempt to account for, value, and report the benefits that nature provides and therefore make more informed decisions and become a more sustainable business.
Certifications, Green Rankings, Professional Memberships
In today’s sophisticated business environment, saying you’re “green” doesn’t cut it. Sustainability certifications are meant to demonstrate that your commitment to sustainability meets credible, transparent, identifiable standards. There are countless sustainability certifications, labels, and rating systems in the marketplace today covering various industries, products, operations, buildings, supply chains, and disposal activities. The same is true for green rating schemes and professional societies. Being active, visible, and responsible within your industry can be a competitive advantage. We can help you identify the most credible and competitive certifications for you to pursue.

Some common examples include Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Fair Trade Certified, B Corporation, USDA Organic, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), WaterSense, and Green Seal.

Customer and Stakeholder Engagement

Communication, leadership, and collaboration strengthen your company’s credibility, relationships, and integrity. We understand the importance of meaningful engagement with a variety of stakeholders, including customers, shareholders, regulators, competitors, and more. With our broad industry experience, we are able to bring big-picture thinking to help you identify multifaceted opportunities to connect – from active engagement in professional organizations to third party certifications and distinctions to leadership in trade associations. Let us support your outreach efforts.

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Net Zero

Net Zero is an approach that emphasizes a systems view to strive for net zero environmental impacts (e.g., water, energy, and emissions) in companies, buildings, and communities. This strategy is attained by a combination of deliberate design and operation activities such as reducing consumption (energy and water) and increasing efficiency (energy and water), onsite reuse (water and waste), and generation (renewable energy).

  • Energy: Zero energy buildings combine energy efficiency and renewable energy generation to consume only as much energy as can be produced onsite through renewable resources over a specified time period.
  • Water: Net zero water is an analogous concept to net zero energy. Through a combination of rainfall harvesting, aggressive conservation, and water recycling, buildings can achieve self-sufficiency from the water “grid.” 
  • Carbon Emissions: Carbon neutrality, or having a net zero carbon footprint, refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing a measured amount of carbon released with an equivalent amount sequestered or offset, or buying enough carbon credits to make up the difference.
Zero Waste
Zero Waste is about waste prevention through sustainable design and consumption practices, and optimum resource recovery from waste. Zero Waste strongly supports waste avoidance and prevention approaches rather than waste treatment and disposal, thereby supporting a more circular economic model aligned with nature’s “no-waste” principle.
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal set of 17 goals and 169 targets and indicators that UN member states will be expected to use to frame their agendas and political policies over the next 15 years. This set of goals, which is a follow-up to the Millennium Development Goals, aims to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all by 2030. We can help align your company’s values and materiality to address the relevant goals in a meaningful way in support of this sustainable development agenda.

Net Positive Movement and Handprints

An inspiring initiative emerging in the global marketplace is the concept of Net Positive, along with a similar effort known as Handprinting. These concepts are about giving back more than you take. It is about not just doing less bad or reducing your impacts but deliberately having a positive impact with your company’s operations and products, with your employees and suppliers, in your communities, and on our planet.

Circular Economy

A circular economy is an alternative to a traditional linear economy (make, use, dispose), in which we strive to keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them while in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life. A circular economy is restorative and regenerative by design. We can advise and support your efforts to create new business models, identify opportunities and risks around materials and end of life recovery options (reuse/re-design/recycling), and incorporate eco-design elements into your product sustainability strategy.

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Our experts support innovation and environmental leadership across organizations serving varied customer segments and market regions around the world. Here are examples of how environmental sustainability efforts can help enable business success for you:

Brand Image

  • Brand image of your products
  • Brand image of your company

Competitive Advantage

  • Counter a competitor offering green products
  • Position using sustainability features & eco-labels

Stakeholder Engagement

  • Influence wiithin your industry or at a policy level
  • Influence with your customers and community

Cost Reduction

  • Lower materials/supply chain expenses
  • Reduce manufacturing and operating costs

Product Differentiation

  • Gain market share based on environmental attributes
  • Gain price differential based on environmental attributes

Customer

  • Address customer interest in environmental aspects
  • Meet customer requirements for sustainability issues

Risk Reduction

  • Identify & mitigate environmental risks
  • Avoid potential future liability

Regulations and Standards

  • Prepare for changing sustainability regulatory landscape
  • Meet industry standards, such as sustainability metrics

Proud partners with

Angela Fisher
Breckenridge, CO

Aspire Sustainability LLC

info@aspiresustainability.com

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Bill Flanagan
Albany, NY

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