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ISO Revisions Seek Overarching Guidance on 14001 Environmental Management Systems and Other ISO Standards

June 11, 2013 Add Comment Edit

Revisions are being undertaken in ISO 14001 in order to create an overarching format in conformity with Annex SL (previously ISO Guide 83) which defines the framework for a generic management system. This new guidance is holistic and is intended to end conflicts, duplication, confusion and misunderstanding from different MSS management systems. Since being issued in 1996 and then revised in 2004, the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems standard has been adopted by more than 250,000 organizations around the world.

Annex SL, is described as a “high level structure and identical text for management system standards and common core management system terms and definitions.” Annex SL offers overarching guidance on ISO management system standards (MSS). It is intended to help explain how different standards fit together with minimum redundancy. Annex SL offers a common format, structure and core requirements for ISO 14001, ISO 9001, ISO 27001 and ISO 50001.

ISO's goal in revising its standards is to conform to Annex SL so that standards share a common format. However this is no easy feat as consensus is required from all 130 participating countries. All new ISO MSS will adhere to this framework and all current MSS will migrate at their next revision. In future all ISO MSS should be consistent and compatible.

The ISO Technical Committee (TC) 207 has started the process of revising ISO 14001, with a target of issuing a Final Version in 2015.

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Event - New England Independent Schools Sustainability Conference: GSAx Northeast

March 31, 2013 Add Comment Edit

GSAx Northeast will take place on April 15, 2013, between 9am and 3pm, in Windsor, Connecticut. This event is Hosted by Loomis Chaffee and Co-Sponsored by Suffield Academy and the Green Schools Alliance. Educators and students will be present at this conference which focuses on what really works in independent schools. Participants can attend workshops and meet vendors providing innovative, energy-saving solutions.

GSAx Regional Conferences, Training Workshops and Resource Fairs, co-sponsored and hosted by a GSA School, bring schools together with experts, businesses and non-profit organizations to share knowledge and grow the movement.

Featured Speakers

Opening Keynote: Sajed Kamal, EdD
Author, Renewable Revolution

With over 30 years experience in the renewable energy field, Sajed Kamal has set up projects in the US, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Armenia and El Salvador. Award-winning poet, artist and educational consultant, Kamal is the recipient of the US EPA's "Lifetime Achievement Award" for the New England Region. Bill McKibben writes: "Kamal reminds us... that we must make the transition toward renewable energy as soon as is humanly possible... Even more powerfully, though, he reminds us how possible that transition is." Author of several books, Kamal lectures and consults internationally.

Closing Remarks: Dave Chameides
Chasing Sustainability

Dave Chameides, AKA "Sustainable Dave," kept all of his trash and recycling for an entire year in his basement to better understand his waste footprint; in the process, was able to cut his yearly trash output to a mere 30 pounds and live to tell the tale. His story became an international sensation.

Chameides is the Director of Sustainability at the Shalhevet School in Los Angeles. He continues to teach Chasing Sustainability, the environmental seminar he created 3 years ago, to schools, businesses and other groups.

For more information or to register, click here.

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Queens College Residence has a LEED Gold Rating

August 02, 2012 1 Comment Edit

Late in 2011, Consultant Community Environmental Center (CEC) announced that Queens College’s Summit Residence Hall received a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold rating, which is the second highest level of LEED certification.

The Summit, Queens College’s first residence hall, opened in August 2009. The building accommodates 506 beds for students and also includes a conference room, a fitness center and a lounge. Queens College, as part of the CUNY system, agreed to purchase renewable energy for 100 percent of the building’s electricity usage for the first two years of the building’s operation.

“We congratulate Queens College on its commitment to sustainability,” said Richard Cherry President of the CEC, “not only within its buildings but also through its educational programs and its Sustainability Council, which helps to bring sustainability to the daily workings of the school.”

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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The Natural Step Framework

April 27, 2012 Add Comment Edit

The Natural Step (TNS)Framework it is a comprehensive model for planning in complex systems. It is openly published and free for all to use. The TNS Framework is based on systems thinking; recognizing that what happens in one part of a system affects every other part. This scientifically rigorous Framework gives organisations the tools to perform a gap analysis using the lens of sustainability, and then work toward closing the gap. Furthermore, The Natural Step Framework complements other sustainability tools and methodologies, such as life cycle analysis or environmental management systems, by providing the context and strategic vision that makes them more effective.

The TNS Framework gives an organisation the tools to look at the whole picture, understand the rules of the game, define success, and move towards it together. It does this by developing a common language and understanding in order to facilitate cooperation. This allows for more effective communications and consensus building to realize a vision.

The TNS Framework uses an upstream approach that anticipates and avoids problems before they occur, rather than reacting to their downstream effects.

The Natural Step Framework has helped hundreds of different organisations around the world integrate sustainable development into their strategic planning and create long lasting transformative change. It is constantly being used, tested, refined and developed.

As the journey toward sustainability is complex, the TNS Framework has created three distinct learning paths. Pick the path that best suits your needs based on your awareness and experience with sustainability and The Natural Step Framework.

For those who are unfamiliar with The Natural Step Framework here is a quick overview.
For those who are somewhat familiar with the Natural Step Framework here is a complete (and quick) perspective to the approach.
For those who already know and understand The Natural Step Framework and would like to go deeper or get an in depth refresher go to deep learning.

To participate in an TNS eLearning visit the learning programmes page here . To learn more about applying the Framework click here. To contact the Natural Step Framework click here.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.