UC San Diego Summit: 10 Things Every Business Leader Should Know About Green Business

LA JOLLA, Calif., March 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- What does the University of California San Diego, a nationally recognized living laboratory for sustainability that received $33 million last year for research, have to say to business leaders about going green?

Sustainable business advice, green business opportunities throughout the region and the "greening" of all organizations will be some of the topics at the Green Business Summit from 9 am to 1 pm, Saturday, April 16, at the Price Center on the UC San Diego campus. The keynote address will be delivered by Will Marre, consulting director of UC San Diego Extension's Responsible Enterprise Forum.

To register, visit http://www.extension.ucsd.edu/events/summit  

At the summit Marre will expand on his list of 10 things every business leader should know about strategic sustainability and how to make a green business difference:

1. Sustainable Abundance is good for business. Every product and every service needs to be re-invented to create a sustainable future. This is the greatest economic opportunity in history.

2. High Sustainability Standards and Maximizing Human Benefits can generate "leapfrog" designs to invent new products and new business models.

3. Sustainability Thinking saves money. The relentless challenge to improve durability, re-use parts and eliminate packaging brings bottom line innovation.

4. Removing the Bad attracts new customers. Consumers and business customers are stampeding to choose the benefits of non-toxic, no-waste products.

5. Create a Cause Bigger Than Your Brand. Over 80 percent of consumers say they choose brands that support good causes because it makes them feel like they are "voting with their wallet."

6. Sustainability Obliterates Costs. When smart people consider how to satisfy a need or want without waste or even cost, new business models spring to life.

7. Sustainability Drives Game-Changing Business Models. When leaders consider solving huge problems in sustainable ways, new thinking creates breakthrough businesses. Before the radio, who would have thought of music with a band?

8. Sustainability Creates Smart Marketing. Engaging your customers in the benefits and breakthroughs of your green and sustainable products requires a new level and a new type of communication. It's called smarketing -- marketing that makes your customer smart.

9. Sustainability Attracts Top Talent. The best science, engineering and business schools report that top graduates only want to work for companies that are serious about making a difference in creating a sustainable future.

10. If You Don't Fully Embrace Sustainability, You Are Toast. The debate over green is over and green won. Consider the failures of GM and the transformation of Wal-Mart. It's better to ride the wave than drown in the riptide of change.

The Green Business Summit, hosted by UC San Diego Extension, offers a chance to network with business and university leaders to learn the latest in sustainability business trends. Held in conjunction with the campus-wide UC San Diego Green Open House, the Green Business Summit registration fee of $20 will be donated to the UC San Diego Scholarship Fund. To register, visit http://www.extension.ucsd.edu/events/summit  

The tradeshow hours are from 9 to 9:40 am and 10:30 to 11:30 am. Presentations from author Marre, architect James Timberlake and UC San Diego Sustainability Director Dave Weil will run from 9:40 am to Noon. A Sustainable Walking Tour of the Green Open House from Noon to 1 pm will take attendees through the many informative displays across campus, showcasing a green car show and live entertainment.

UC San Diego strives to be one of the nation's most sustainability-minded universities. Modern climate change science began at the university with the Keeling Curve, the first measurement of the greenhouse gas build-up by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

The Green Business Summit speakers will offer differing views of green business opportunities, including doing business with UC San Diego and its multi-billion-dollar annual budget.

Marre, author of Save the World and Still Be Home for Dinner, is an Emmy Award-winning writer, speaker, coach and co-founder and former president of the Covey Leadership Center.

Timberlake will speak on current and past LEED architecture projects, and how sustainability has successfully driven his business. He is a founding partner of KieranTimberlake. The firm has received over one-hundred design citations, including the 2008 Architecture Firm Award, the highest honor bestowed on a firm by the American Institute of Architects.

Weil will discuss how UC San Diego's campus acts as a living laboratory for leading sustainability technology programs and how they affect both campus and community. Currently he manages UCSD's Building Commissioning and Operational Sustainability programs, including the campus renewable energy, water conservation, sustainable fleet, Green Building / LEED initiatives and UCSD's Sustainability Resource Center.

Media Contact: Henry DeVries, 858-534-9955 or 619-540-3031 (after hours); [email protected]

SOURCE University of California San Diego Extension