SUMMARY:

Industrial ecology (IE) is an emerging discipline, based upon the concept of "industrial metabolism" that offers companies a means of increasing competitiveness while enhancing environmental performance. Industrial ecology is a systems framework for managing energy and materials flows for high efficiency and low pollution. IE is a systems approach that enables executives, managers and designers to balance financial, technical, and environmental objectives¾and applied IE opens opportunities for cost savings, new revenues, and definition of new product lines. Companies pioneering this approach include Fortune 100 companies.

IBSAIL offers Industrial-Ecology Briefings to corporate executives on industrial ecology and development of strategies to realize benefits from the incorporation of IE into the organization. Two briefing types are offered:

Generic (Briefing on IE with case examples)

Client-Specific (Briefing on IE related to the client organization)

The Client Specific session is customized to the individual company's needs. During a Pre-Briefing analysis, while reviewing the firm’s strategic issues, capabilities, and market position, opportunities are often identified by the reviewing team that are related to the executive group during the Client-Specific Briefing.

TOPICS THAT CAN BE ADDRESSED IN THE BRIEFING INCLUDE:

1) Overview of industrial ecology as a field of whole-systems management;

2) Unique contributions of industrial ecology to integration of environmental and business management, including what IE can accomplish beyond established environmental management approaches, such as pollution prevention or total quality environmental management;

3) Cases studies illustrative of typical IE strategies and suggestions of corollary opportunities for your company;

4) Benefits of industrial ecology for companies in your industry, such as enhancement of your firm’s competitiveness through reduction of how reduced environmental costs, new revenues, and higher morale;

5) Survey of typical industrial ecology methods and tools;

6) How your company can benefit from industrial metabolism, design for environment, dynamic input-output modeling, and product-life extension;

7) Application of the industrial ecosystem and eco-industrial park concepts to facility siting, design, and rehabilitation. How your facilities can collaborate with neighboring plants to enhance environmental and economic performance;

8) Industrial ecology support for implementation of strategic environmental management, including ways to partner with suppliers and customers. How industrial ecology's systems approach converts fragmented methods into an overall strategic approach;

9) Organizational implications of industrial ecology¾ how its implementation can support change initiatives leading to better organizational performance¾ and what organizational changes are appropriate;

9) IE support for compliance to regulations and standards¾ how IE enables companies to go beyond compliance and enhance economic performance;

10) Possible future applications of IE in your industry¾ what scenarios indicate pathways to increased competitiveness for your company;

11) Strategic opportunities for your company. How your company can become more competitive through application of ideas generated in pre-briefing dialogues with company staff.

PRE-BRIEFING PREPARATION

The client-specific briefing is based upon a comprehensive review of your company's situation and analysis of specific opportunities for applying industrial ecology. In addition to pre-briefing interviews, we review information provided by your staff and scan publicly available reports on your company. We work with your staff to determine which of the above listed items are appropriate to address and the relative emphasis we should place on them. The result of this process is a briefing session which delivers short-term opportunities your team can act upon as well as possible expansion of your company's long-term strategic vision.

SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY

IBSAIL’s associates have contributed to the development of the field of industrial ecology and the concept of the eco-industrial park through research, writings, conferences, and workshops and have:.

1) created and implemented the first two US-EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) projects to advance application of industrial ecology;

2) researched and written The Source of Value: an executive briefing and sourcebook on industrial ecology for EPA's Futures Unit. This is an introduction to industrial ecology for public and private executives. The report focuses on the potential benefits of applying industrial ecology to management and design at different levels of industry and government (including local economic development and municipal infrastructure). (Developed in collaboration with Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

3) written the Fieldbook on Development of Eco-Industrial Parks and participated in a case study at Brownsville, Texas to test the concept. The Fieldbook considers many strategies for community sustainable development as a context for industrial park development or renewal. content ranges from the soft infrastructure of policy, finance, economic development, and education to the issues of facility and infrastructure design, recruitment, and management in industrial park development.

Current industrial ecology projects include support for strategic planning at Sandia National Laboratories, planning for redevelopment of a California Army base as an eco-industrial park, and the design and execution of a Industrial Ecology Game.

© 1997 Institute for Business & Social Architecture International, Ltd. 
325 Legacy, Sandpoint, ID 83864
Off: (208)255.7607  Fax: (208)265.4727   Email:ibsail@ibsail.com 

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