Certification Benefits & Checklist
At its core, certification is a way of ensuring that an activity, product, or service meets certain standards. Certification is not an end in itself. It is one of a number of tools for motivating businesses and others to improve their environmental, social, and economic performance while rewarding them for doing so. These rewards are sometimes tangible and sometimes not.
Benefits For Business
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Certification as a whole helps organizations to improve themselves and the certification process is a way to teach themselves the elements of sustainability (risk, resilience, reporting, taking action) in their operations and focus their attention on the changes they need to make in their businesses. A business that knows how to improve itself and its operations tend to be more efficient and attractive to more clients while engaging employees further.
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Certification tends to reduce operating costs. According to EarthCheck, the tourism industry has been shown to dramatically reduce the costs of water, electricity, and fossil fuels, without reducing the quality of service.
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The process of implementing certification is often accompanied by easier access to technical/scientific assistance and financing for businesses to implement new technology. Businesses become educated about these technologies, while donors and financial institutions are more likely to offer low-cost financing - sustainable/green bonds.
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Certification can provide a marketing advantage to certified businesses, as consumers learn to recognize credible certification brands.
Benefits For Clients
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A certified organization or business provides visitors and guests with environmentally and socially responsible choices. It helps consumers to know which businesses are truly socially and environmentally responsible and to make choices on this basis.
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Certification in general increases public awareness of responsible business practices.
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Certification can alert tourists to the environmental and social issues in an area, allowing them to act more respectfully or contribute to solutions.
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Certified businesses and destinations tend to offer better quality service.
Can you trust the data and quantification?
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Sustainability programs must be built on evidence-based and scientific data.
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Poor indicators will deliver incorrect measurements and outcomes Indicators need to be SMART Simple, Measurable, Achievable. Repeatable, Timely).
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Data must be collected consistently collected and independently verified.
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Programs must be comprehensive and not have hundreds of criteria just for the likes of it. Particularly if your organization only needs a certain percentage to pass.
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Historical data is essential because it allows performance-based trends to be outlined and discovered more easily by management.
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Does the program meet strict audit guidelines?
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Does the program accurately track operational performance against industry and competitor benchmarks or baselines?
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Does the program have internationally recognized carbon reporting calculators that will allow science-based targets (SBTs) to be determined?
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Does it provide ISO trained independent auditors which deliver ISO quality reports with a specific code of conduct?
Is the program credible?
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Strong and credible programs are built on good science-based elements and serviced by trained and talented people who care. Ask who the people you are going to be working with?
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Is the program holistic? Sustainability needs to have 360-degree thinking covering design, construction, and operations.
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Does it have a secure software platform that allows data to be seamlessly uploaded and analyzed to provide ROI advice?
Does it meet stakeholders' needs?
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Owners want bottom-line metrics on the performance of their assets.
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Management wants practical advice on how to improve resource efficiency and reduce costs and risks.
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Consumers want peace of mind and transparency that they are staying in a healthy building which is good for their wellbeing and good for the planet.
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Financial markets demand data integrity.