Totally Green Inc : Sustainable Operations Summit in NYC

Sustainability experts to converge on NYC

The city's growing environmental cachet helps it to attract  a popular summit on green operations for the first time.

By Anne Field
January 3, 2012 8:00 a.m.

Environmentalists working to make New York City a greener place  soon will claim a new feather in their caps: The Sustainable Operations Summit,  a conference aimed at promoting green business activities, will bring its big  annual meeting to the Big Apple in April. Former President Bill Clinton will be  the keynote speaker at the seventh-annual summit, planned for the Hilton New  York from April 17 to 19.

Conference organizers chose New York in large part for the Bloomberg  administration's recent green initiatives, which range from supporting  green-business incubators to making efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions,  says Michael Owens, vice president of production and marketing for  CraigMichaels, the Manhattan-based company running the event. Those  considerations outweighed the higher cost of holding the gathering in New York  City, where the event will be 20% more expensive than in past settings such as  San Antonio.

"New York has become a beacon for sustainability and a model for other  cities, said Mr. Owens, who expects at least 500 attendees. "We think this will  put New York City on the map as a leader in sustainability. Mr. Owens noted  that his company is considering holding the conference in New York City  permanently.

Recently, a survey sponsored by Siemens Corp. and conducted by the Economist  Intelligence Unit, ranked New York City as the third greenest of 27 cities  surveyed.

The two-day event will emphasize the productivity and cost savings that can  result from retrofitting, recycling and other approaches to making operations  greener. Speakers will include Robert Hammond, executive director of Friends of  the High Line, David Bragdon, director of the Mayor's Office of Long-Term  Planning and Sustainability, and Curtis Ravenel, global head of Bloomberg LP's  Sustainability Group. They will discuss such topics as linking sustainability  with profitability, rethinking water consumption, and developing a comprehensive  environmental strategy.

There also will be eco-business tours of such companies engaging in  noteworthy green practices. One such venture is Bell Book and Candle, a  restaurant in the West Village that grows its own produce on a rooftop farm.

According to Stephan Doering, founder and managing partner of Shift Group, a  New York-based firm that helps companies become more sustainable, the conference  could make a big difference in boosting business efforts to become greener.  "This might be the instigator for attendees to really step up their efforts to  integrate green practices into their businesses, he said. "And it might help  companies to see how they can actually increase sales, brand recognition, and  employee retention when they do this.