Fundamentals of Sustainable Business. Matthew Tueth

Degree in Sustainable Business for Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI (2002) and served as Program Director until 2015. Tueth consults with organizations on sustainable business and has given keynote presentations throughout the U.S. and Japan. Tueth has also led college field courses in resource management of national parks for 12 summers, which had provided him with the opportunity to travel six times to Denali, Wrangell–St. Elias, and Kenai Fjords National Parks in Alaska. Tueth is married and has two daughters and now lives on the Oregon Coast.

       Acknowledgments

      The author thanks

      The Steelcase Foundation for its gracious and generous support of this project.

      Former Aquinas College President C. Edward Balog for his continuous leadership, support, and confidence.

      Student worker Mariel Borgman for her assistance during the completion of this work.

      His longtime friend Jim for inspiration in the earliest stages of this project.

      His wife, Maggie, for her patience and support during the many months of work that spilled into their private time and for her countless hours of editing and advisement.

       Contents

       Preface

       About the Author

       Acknowledgments

       Chapter 1Houston, We Have a Problem

       1.1Our Early Approach to Mounting Problems

       1.2Our Problems Continue

       1.3Early Visionaries and the Resistance to Change

       1.4Do Current Free-Market Mechanisms Help?

       1.5An Intelligent Beginning

       1.6Are the Results Worth the Effort?

       Chapter 2Selecting a Design Consultant

       2.1The Problem with Stewardship

       2.2Naturally Our Best Foot Forward

       2.3Pernicious Material Processes

       2.4Nature’s Path of Production

       2.5Two Closed-Loops into One

       2.6Nature’s Energy Path

       2.7Following Nature’s Energy Path

       2.8Other Sun-Powered Opportunities

       2.9Envision a Sun-Powered Human Society

       2.10Cutting Our Nuclear Power Losses

       2.11The Advantages of Local Energy Production

       2.12Changing Energy Trends

       2.13Innovations Solving Multiple Problems

       Chapter 3The Bull’s Eye

       3.1The Triple Top Line

       3.2Social Value — The Short Post on the Three-Legged Stool

      3.3The Nature of the Movement

       3.4High Stakes and New Takes

       3.5How Do We Begin?

       3.6No Single Silver Bullet

       3.7The Better Part of Valor

       3.8The Toyota Way

       3.9Approaching the Bull’s Eye

       3.10Intelligent Building Design

       3.11Urgent Challenges, Appropriate Remedies

       3.12Early Organizational Change

       3.13The Scorecard

       3.14A Helping Hand

       3.15Staff Roles in the Transition

       Chapter 4Businesses Taking Care of Business

       4.1United States For-Profit Companies

       4.2European For-Profit Companies

       4.3Caribbean and South American For-Profit Companies

       4.4Australian For-Profit Companies

       4.5Asian For-Profit Companies

       4.6Non-Profit Organizations

       4.7Sustainable Business Forums

       4.8Other U.S. Non-Profit Organizations