The South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) is currently hosting its Green Building Challenge program, a program designed to help businesses reduce energy, water, and waste – while improving quality of life and making our community more attractive to work, live, and play.
There isn’t a community in the United States that doesn’t want to improve sustainability. But actually changing behavior and improving infrastructure requires bringing together the right resources, removing barriers, and getting people to work together.
SBCCOG launched the South Bay Cities Building Challenge program to engage the business community and scale sustainability. The new platform leverages three essential components to make that happen:
1. Information
SBCCOG has assembled a wealth of educational resources and has made it freely available. Using their online software, you can hone in on specific sustainability opportunities that fit your business, find financial incentives, and seek expert advice. Additionally, SBCCOG offers an extensive set of data management and reporting tools to keep track of your information.
2. Structure
SBCCOG designed the program around a set of well-defined, pragmatic activities that are within reach of most businesses. SBCCOG not only provides a roadmap, but also has local staff and volunteers to help guide you along the way.
3. Competition
SBCCOG adopted gamefication techniques that are proven to get results:
- Compare your performance to peers
- Bid your sustainability projects
Benchmarking helps business managers measure results and gain insight to basic questions such as “how are we doing?” while competitive procurement lowers prices and increases transparency when executing sustainability projects.
All three of these levers are designed to simplify sustainability for the South Bay business community, and help guide participants from insight to action.
Getting Started
SBCCOG’s platform is open to all businesses, building owners, and managers in the Los Angeles South Bay area. To get started, simply create a free account and enroll in the Challenge program, or learn more about the program and here.
by Brandon Matson
Brandon is the Governmental Affairs Coordinator for the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce. His primary responsibilities include facilitating the Chamber's Governmental Affairs Policy (GAP) group, planning Chamber events with legislators, and facilitating the Chamber's Political Action Committee (PAC). Feel free to contact him at any time.