Practicing What We Preach

Today, our cohort helped plant over 400 trees along a river bike trail in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood. This volunteer effort was to help offset our carbon footprint from international study trips to Germany, Scandinavia, and Brazil.

In class, we learn of the importance in businesses taking responsibility for all Scopes of their emissions (including Scope 3 which accounts for employee transport and travel). As students, we realize the importance of taking into account our Scope 3 emissions as well. Planting trees aids in offsetting the emissions from air travel.

Our sustainability professors, Dr. Sroufe and Diane Ramos joined the class in support of our efforts. Dr. Sroufe commented, “Given their schedules, it’s is great to see SMBAs plugged into clean-up projects and tree plantings, networking with industry professionals such as those with us today from FedEx, and giving some of their time and effort to a cause that will live on well after they have graduated. This event will be something we can show future applicants that come to campus.”

The day was made possible by organizations including Tree Pittsburgh, FedEx, REI, TreeVitalize Pittsburgh, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Our classmate, Peter Greninger, arranged the day for our class. Thanks Peter!

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Students visit Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens:

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Last week the cohort took a trip to Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Oakland to learn more about its sustainability initiatives. Jason Wirick, an alumnus of the MBA, Sustainability program hosted the class. Jason is currently the Director of Facilities and Sustainability at Phipps.

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens has been a Pittsburgh attraction since 1893. Its greenhouses and gardens attract many visitors a year. Phipps is a strong advocate of green-building practices and sustainable gardening. Some if its key green initiatives include:

-LEED Silver certification of Welcome Center
-Green Restaurant Association certified cafe
-On-Site renewable energy generation.
-Geothermal heating and cooling
-Sustainable landscaping
-Water efficiency

Additionally, the new Center for Sustainable Landscape, schedule for completion this spring, is expected to be one of the world’s first certified living buildings.

Jason discussed the benefits and challenges of being an industry leader in green buildings. It has been designed to meet or exceed the three highest green standards: the Living Building Challenge; LEED® Platinum and SITES Certification for landscapes.

Jason spoke to the difficulty in finding products that meet building codes as well as Living Building /LEED criteria. For example, commercial doors and cabinets have chemicals on the Living Building Red List due to their environmental harm and air quality issues. Flame retardant drapes and blinds are other examples of materials that pose problems. Jason talked about the importance of working with the Living Building Challenge as well as commercial manufacturers to let them know there is a need for these products.

Jason’s presentation and tour were both a welcomed break from the classroom and also helped prepare the cohort for one of our projects this semester. Our class will complete a Green Building project focusing on our own building at Duquesne, Rockwell Hall.

For more information about Phipps, please visit http://phipps.conservatory.org/

Students Hear from Guest Speaker Rob Zahorchak

By: Zach Stern and Maureen Coyle

The cohort kicked off the second half of the spring semester with a presentation from Rob Zahorchak, LEED Green Associate and Communications Director for the Green Building Alliance.

Rob spoke to the qualifications necessary for a building to be certified green and discussed some local examples including PNC, Alcoa, and Pittsburgh’s Convention Center (The 1st Green Convention Center in the world). He also touched on the process for individuals to become Green Associates.

Rob specifically spoke about LEED, its point system, and the business case for LEED in both Western PA and the United States. Pennsylvania has emerged as a leader in LEED buildings, ranking seventh in the nation, and Pittsburgh-based PNC has the most LEED certified buildings of any company in the country. Current government incentives as well as improvements in sustainable materials have made LEED more attractive than ever for many commercial buildings. In the United States, over 2 billion square feet of building space has been certified by LEED.

Rob explained the changes and future implementation of updated LEED standards and how each level of certification will change. He also spoke about forms of LEED that allow for continuous improvements beyond initial certification. The ultimate goal for the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) is for all LEED Gold and Platinum buildings to be “net zero facilities,” meaning that they are off the energy grid and emit no harmful pollutants.

The Green Building Alliance is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded it 1993, it was one of the first USGBC affiliate organizations. For more information, check out GO-GBA.org

Leverkusen, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt

Hello all and Happy March!

We have spent the last two days in Cologne and are now in Frankfurt until Saturday. Yesterday we joined Cologne Business School students for a conference at their school’s U2B week (University to Business). We discussed electric vehicles, smart homes, and carbon neutrality opportunities for companies. This panel discussion went very well and had lots of times for questions. We then headed to Dusseldorf for another panel discussion with the FOM University.
Today we toured the Bayer headquarters for the day in Leverkusen before heading to Frankfurt. We began with a discussion from the head of sustainability and then took a tour of their museum as well as their campus. The sheer size of the organization as well as its focus on sustainability, social responsibility and work/life balance of employees were all very impressive.
This evening we went out in Frankfurt for a nice dinner. I must say I am not a big fan of the German food but other classmates have been enjoying it. Tomorrow is a free day of touring and sight-seeing in Frankfurt before we head home. More pictures to come later when I charge my camera.

Emitec and RWE visits

Just got back from a wonderful dinner with the cohort, our director Tom and his wife, and our many hosts from the Cologne School of Business.  It was a nice evening and great way to reflect on the last two days of business meetings.

Yesterday, our group visited German company Emitec.  Emitec hosted a chat about their core business, catalytic converters, and opportunities for their business and products to clean air emissions.  The conversation was very refreshing as our speaker focused mainly on sustainability from a human health perspective and was not as interested in the environmental aspects.  Our cohort enjoyed hearing this perspective and realized the importance of being able to speak sustainability to people that have varied opinions and ideas about the concept.

After visiting Emitec, we headed to Cologne School of Business for a mixer with some MBA students.  We are looking forward to seeing them again later this week.

Today we went to RWE, an energy utility company in Germany.  We toured a power plant and met with executives from the organization who spoke on everything from renewables, to lignite fuels and the banning of Nuclear in Germany.  As an energy buff, I must admit this has been my favorite business trip thus far.

Tomorrow we are heading to Dusseldorf to hear a panel discussion about sustainability hosted by Proffesor Linda O’Riordan, a sustainability specialist.

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Bitte. Danke. Sprechen Sie Englisch?

Greetings from Germany! Today is our third day in the city of Cologne. We arrived early Friday morning and have spent the weekend enjoying some sight seeing, walking tours, German foods, and the nightlife of Cologne.

On Friday we spent the day walking around and getting a lay for the land. The city of Cologne is a mixture of old German architecture and post WWII architecture. There is a huge Cathedral in the center of the city that is one of the most breathtaking things I have ever seen.

Out of the other European countries I have been to, this is the first place that I have not ran into any other Americans. This is a great experience as it is very easy to stay inside your comfort zone by finding other Americans abroad. Fortunately, most Germans speak English and are happy to in exchange for some attempt at saying please or thank you in their language.

Yesterday we went to see Cologne play Leverkusen in soccer. The two teams are a huge rivarly. The Leverkusen fans had to be police escorted into the stadium and had their own fenced off section to prevent any fighting. The cheers and chants of both team throughout the game made it quite an experience though our “home” team Cologne did not win.

Beginning tomorrow we will be touring many different businesses and meeting MBA students from the Cologne Business School. More to come…

MBA Students participate in live value-mapping workshop at Deloitte

By: Steven Opar

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On Friday February 3, 2012, MBA Sustainability students and one of our consulting course instructors (Diane Ramos) participated in a hands-on Idea Cafe at Deloitte’s Pittsburgh headquarters, gaining insight to how the international consulting giant “helps clients with their toughest challenges” by aligning solutions to the C-suite priorities of their clients.

Our Deloitte hosts were two Duquesne University Business School alumni — Brad Johnson, Relationship Senior Manager, and Stacey Puskar, a Senior Management Consultant. Amy Holmes, a Pittsburgh-based Deloitte recruiter, also participated and took the time to meet with students who are interested in consulting careers.

Johnson introduced a method that Deloitte uses to identify solution paths for a particular project. He demonstrated how Deloitte’s “Enterprise Value Map” and a matrix technique are used to place a value on alternative solutions. We were then divided into small working groups and guided through a food industry case study where we applied the techniques to come up with recommendations for enhancing revenue, raising operating profits, and using assets more efficiently.

The time spent with Deloitte will benefit us as we work on our second consulting projects. We will have new techniques for identifying “value levers” and “decision criteria” and for helping our clients “determine which actions should get energy behind them.” We also learned what Deloitte values in an applicant, and some of us enjoyed promising “face time” with a well-regarded employer of MBA graduates.

Students hear from Guest Speaker, Dr. Patty DeMarco

Last week our class had the opportunity to hear from guest speaker Patty DeMarco. Ms. DeMarco holds a Ph.D in genetics from the University of Pittsburgh and is currently the director for the Rachel Carson Institute at Chatham University.
2012 marks the 50th year since  Rachel Carson’s novel, Silent Spring was published. The book is considered the starting point of the environmental movement due to its warnings on environmental pollution and the harmful use of pesticides.

On a local level, Ms. DeMarco spoke about Chatham’s Eden Hall campus and the university’s response to the President’s Climate Challenge. Chatham University is the home of The Rachel Carson Institute as part of the University’s new School of Sustainability and the Environment which will be located at the Eden Hall Campus. The Eden Hall Campus is being built as a sustainable, low impact campus.

DeMarco also spoke about energy on a macro level including consumption issues in both the United States and developing world.
She discussed the current archaic grid system and opportunities for change noting that two-thirds of energy produced is wasted in transmission. The infrastructure necessary to reshape the grid system will not be an easy task. DeMarco offered a parallel example explaining the infrastructure needed for cars and roads when the automobile was first invented.

Our class enjoyed both the presentation and question and answer portion with Ms. DeMarco.  More information on The Rachel Carson Institute can be found at http://www.chatham.edu/rachelcarson/

ChoosePAWind Press Conference

Yesterday, ChoosePAWind held a press conference at Duquesne University to announce the launch of its website and the importance of choosing Pennsylvania Wind Power.
Katy Belleza, Marketing Manager for Everpower Wind, introduced the new ChoosePAWind website as well as the speakers for the conference.
The diversified list of speakers discussed the environmental, economic, and social importance of choosing local wind energy. Duquesne University is proud to be one of the leaders in choosing PA Wind and sustainability as a whole. Currently, the campus generates 80% of its power using an on-site cogeneration facility. The other 20% is now purchased from Pennsylvania wind energy providers.
John Hanger, former head of PA’s department of energy, spoke to the importance of choosing an energy supplier. He drove home the point that if you don’t choose your supplier you are choosing the status quo. It is when consumers choose suppliers that they are able to ChoosePAWind and clean energy.
Choosing wind is important but choosing local wind is what really drives home the sustainability movement. Supporting local wind projects helps the Pennsylvania community in terms of jobs, resources, and air quality.

This semester, my project team is working with EverPower Wind to research and forecast future energy demands and how wind will play a part in this new energy landscape. The conference left our team feeling eager and excited to be doing a project in an ever changing and growing industry.

Our Presentation to Heinz

By: Erin Fargo and Maureen Coyle

Completing Our First Client Engagement

Last week, the Duquesne MBA- Sustainability class of 2012 delivered another milestone. We completed the 51st consulting project since the program was launched in 2007. In early October, The Heinz Company presented the sMBA cohort with the challenge of measuring and developing Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions specific to one of its well known brands. Scope 3 emissions can represent up to 70% of a product’s carbon footprint and present a huge opportunity for reducing environmental impact. With the guidance of Dr. Robert Sroufe and Diane Ramos (course faculty), students were asked to analyze inbound and outbound transportation data and develop team-specific bounds, goals, recommendations, and alternatives. The cohort was divided into six teams, each focusing on a raw material for production and a different competitor of Heinz.

The intense eight weeks of research and analysis led up to final presentations at the Heinz Global Headquarters, located in PPG Place, where teams delivered their research, findings, and recommendations to a panel of seven Heinz executives.
Calming the Nerves

Much like the Heinz presentation, a huge part of our MBA experience involves group work and presentations. Initially, those comfortable with public speaking really stand out, while others struggle to tame the nerves associated with presenting. However, as cliché as it sounds, practice makes perfect. It has been amazing to watch classmates transform into confident and well-informed presenters in just three months.

In preparation for this, many of the groups worked on presentation skills. Groups worked with our director, asked classmates to count “ums” during rehearsals, and prepared individually by practicing in front of the mirror and even recording themselves speaking.

The results were incredible. It was such a rewarding and great team feeling to watch our classmates executing the delivery of a project that required so much effort. We were really able to take a step back and realize the professional development that has already occurred during just one semester of the program.