Measuring Progress towards Sustainability Principles, Process, and Best Practices

A number of leading companies in the U.S., Europe and Japan have made a commitment to become sustainable enterprises, and have launched proactive programs to improve the environmental and social performance of their products, processes, services, and facilities. However, one of the key challenges faced by these companies is how to track their progress towards sustainability and communicate it to both employees and other important stakeholders. This paper is intended to assist business decision-makers who wish to initiate continuous measurement and improvement of their " triple bottom line, " i.e., the economic, environmental, and societal performance of their products, facilities, and enterprise. First, a set of guiding principles is presented, suggesting that performance measurement should: 1) focus on both resource and value indicators, 2) explicitly represent the triple bottom line, 3) consider the full product life cycle, and 4) combine both leading and lagging indicators. Next, a comprehensive performance measurement process is described, including specific steps for planning, implementation, and review, based upon established practices within the business community. Finally, examples are given of five well-known companies that are recognized leaders in the field of sustainability measurement. The intent of this paper is to provide both a conceptual understanding of the state of the art, and a survey of best practices across several industries, thus creating a pragmatic foundation for establishing a customized sustainability measurement process within any company. The paper is based upon Battelle's experience in developing and implementing performance measurement processes for a variety of industrial clients, including several leaders in the sustainability movement. In particular, the performance measurement process is based on the results of a multi-year program sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).