Architectural office and management consultancy meet the demanding standards of the Society for Applied Business Ethics
The first service companies have opted for certified sustainability: with RMP Stephan Lenzen Landschaftsarchitekten and the consulting firm “sustaineration”, two non-manufacturing companies now meet the high requirements of the CSE standard of the Society for Applied Business Ethics (GfaW) after the seal was opened up to all sectors. The world’s most demanding independent sustainability audit has been used for years by pioneering manufacturing companies as proof and a mark of their performance. With the extension to trade and services, GfaW is consistently pursuing its aim of being able to offer sustainability certification to every company. Because no traditional goods are produced in the service and information sector, companies in this area are often neglected in the sustainability debate. However, it is precisely here that forward-looking steps can be taken: Service companies are often well networked, characterized by high quality, long-term partnerships and a lived mission statement – plenty of hidden potential for sustainable business practices and consumption alternatives.
The newly certified CSE companies exemplify these aspects.
RMP Stephan Lenzen Landscape Architects has always been confronted with questions of sustainability when planning living spaces and landscapes. What criteria are used to select materials or cooperation partners? Is green IT used? Where is the office equipment sourced from? Such decisions may seem banal at first glance, but they have a significant influence on a company’s self-image and role as an economic player. Certification gives public clients of large spatial planning projects the opportunity to use not only monetary criteria for the selection of service providers, but also to quickly and easily include the sustainability factor. The management consultancy “sustaineration” has long pursued a consistently sustainable approach, advises mainly on the topics of corporate social responsibility and environmental management and shows on its website how it plans, implements and audits sustainability. Nevertheless, Managing Director Niels Christiansen opted for CSE on top, “because it not only places high demands on sustainability performance and the management system, but also on the business model and the core of the company. This is a simple and valuable addition to our own presentation”. The Society for Applied Business Ethics is the point of contact for sustainable companies. The standard setter has been offering CSE as a test seal for sustainability for more than 6 years and contributes to the expansion of ecological product diversity with its ecological product certifications.