Sustainability Recognition Opportunities


Retailers are implementing impressive sustainability initiatives. Applying for recognition can help build additional support both internally and externally to help keep programs on track and provide reputational benefits. This matrix summarizes a variety of recognition opportunities in areas ranging from operations to consumer engagement available through third parties to showcase retail sustainability leadership.  

NOTE: Links to applications are for example purposes only and may not be the most recent form.

Please send any additional opportunities, corrections or proposed edits to erin.hiatt@rila.org
 

Category

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Recognition Opportunity Specific Category Retail Eligibility Report Process & Cost Prevalence
Building Design Leasing Construction Performance

BOMA 360 Performance Program

​​Holistic building management processes - operating procedures, safety, security, preventative maintenance, etc.

All retailers managing occupied commercial & industrial buildings, including owner-occupied buildings. Program is open to both members and non-members of BOMA; however, application fees are higher for non-members

Type: Application

Deadline: Rolling Acceptance - results announced at the end of each quarter. Recipients must re-apply every 3 years.

Cost: $900 to $1,800 for BOMA members and $1,140 to $2280 for non-members. Price variation based on square footage of buildings

As of January 2019, 2,000 BOMA 360 designations since program inception in 2009 (retailers unknown)

DOE Green Lease Leaders Awards (Institute for Market Transformation (IMT), with support from the DOE's Better Buildings Alliance)

​​Lease language

Any retailer who is a landlord or tenant

Type: Application

Deadline: March 31st. Recipients must re-apply every 3 years.

Cost: Free

In 2019, 23 awardees: 6 Gold Recognition, 13 Silver Recognition, and 4 Team Transaction Recognition

​EPA Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR Certification

​​Building design and construction

Any retailer

Type: Application

Deadline: Rolling Acceptance

Cost: Free

​As of April 2020, there are over 850 Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR projects, with many have officially certified, including over 300 retail stores.

EPA ENERGYSTAR Certification for commercial buildings

Building performance​​

Any retailer with an existing U.S. retail store(s), distribution center(s), and/or office building(s) that score a 75 or higher on EPA’s 1 – 100 ENERGY STAR Energy Performance Scale by benchmarking in Portfolio Manager.

Type: Application

Deadline: Rolling Acceptance

Cost: Free

As of 2020, ​36,235 ENERGY STAR Buildings & Plants certified including over 8,000 retail stores.

USGBC LEED Building Certification

​​Green building design

Any retailer whose building design and construction (BD+C) and/or interior design and construction (ID+C) achieves a tier of LEED certification, according to score:

  • Certified
  • Silver
  • Gold
  • Platinum

 

Type: Application

Deadline: Rolling Acceptance

Cost: Members from $5,200+ and non-members from $6,500+ per building

As of April 2020, there are 124,471 registered projects, globally

BD+C & ID+C ~2800 retail projects certified in the US (~3400 registered)

USGBC LEED Building Certification

​​Holistic building management processes - operating procedures, preventative maintenance, etc.

Any retailer whose building design and construction (BD+C) and/or interior design and construction (ID+C) achieves a tier of LEED certification, according to score:

  • Certified
  • Silver
  • Gold
  • Platinum

 

Type: Application

Deadline: Rolling Acceptance

Cost: Members from $5,200+ and non-members from $6,500+ per building

As of April 2020, there are 124,471 registered projects, globally

O+M - 1 retail project certified in the US

Climate Change

CDP Climate A List

 

Any retailer who earns an"A" on its CDP climate change disclosure

Type: Grade - based on CDP climate change disclosure response

Deadline: Summer - for overall CDP climate change disclosure

Cost: $975 subsidized contribution, $2,725 standard contribution

In 2019, 181 companies (4 retailers in the US) received an A grade

Communications and Engagement

EPA ENERGY STAR Excellence Award - ENERGY STAR Promotion

 

Any retailer who has planned and executed a successful promotion, marketing or consumer education campaign around an ENERGY STAR certified product category, series of products, or ENERGY STAR at large

Type: Application

Deadline: Winter

Cost: Free

In 2019, 5 organizations (1 retailer) received the award

Engage For Good - Halo Awards

 

Any retailer engaged in cause marketing or brand purpose work or their consumer promotion, advertising, or public relations agencies​​

Type: Application

Deadline: January

Cost: $195 (standard entry fee)

In 2020, 1 Golden Halo Award (Business) winner (1 retailer)

Energy – Operations

​DOE Better Buildings Challenge

Energy management​​

Retailers with a portfolio of buildings for which they track and control the energy usage, have signed a Better Buildings Challenge Partnership Agreement with DOE, share portfolio-wide data and submit two case studies.

Type: Commitment - to improve energy efficiency of portfolio of buildings by at least 20% over ten years

Deadline: Rolling acceptance - new Challenge members announced in Spring at Better Buildings Summit

Cost: Free

As of 2019, 360 organizations (29 retail, food service, and grocery partners) have committed to the Better Buildings Challenge

DOE Interior Lighting Campaign (ILC) Exemplary Performance Recognition

​​Interior lighting

Any retailer

Type: Application

Deadline: Spring

Cost: Free

As of August 2019, 10 recognized organizations (3 retailers)

EPA ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year and Sustained Excellence - Energy Management Category

​Energy management​​

Any retailer who has demonstrated improved energy performance of buildings through an organization-wide energy program, particularly by integrating and promoting ENERGY STAR tools and resources. Must show active participation in and promotion of ENERGY STAR.

​Sustained Excellence winners must have also received Sustained Excellence award 1-2 years prior.​​

Type: Application

Deadline: Winter

Cost: Free

In 2020, Partner of the Year: Sustained Excellence - Energy Management – 45 organizations (5 retailers) received the award.

EPA Green Power Partnership Leadership Awards

​​Renewable energy

Retailers who meet GPP-specified green power usage requirements can apply for awards including:

Partner of the Year, Excellence, Sustained Excellence, Direct Project Engagement

GPP Top Partner Rankings are separate and determined by top annual kWh users of green energy

Type: Application

Deadline: Spring

Cost: Free

In 2019,

Partner of the Year - 1 awardees (0 retailers)

Excellence - 7 awardees (1 retailer)

Sustained Excellence - 1 awardees (0 retailers)

Direct Project Engagement - 7 awardees (0 retailers)

SEIA Top U.S. Commercial Solar Users (Solar Means Business Report)

​​Renewable Energy - Solar

Retailers who are in the Fortune 500 and among the largest on-site solar adopters in terms of MW installed, number of installations, solar capacity installed in previous year, or % of facilities with solar

Type: Ranking - based on installed solar capacity

Deadline: Spring & Summer - SEIA collects data from companies, installers, and public sources

Cost: Free

In 2018, 9 retailers were featured in one or more top 10 ranking lists (Rankings, By number of installations, On-site only)

Alliance to Save Energy (ASE) Energy Efficiency Awards

​​Energy Management

Any retailers may be nominated who have:

1. Demonstrated an outstanding and/or unique contribution to energy efficiency

2. Demonstrated quantifiable, cost-effective energy savings or evidence of the quantifiable impact the new technology could have within its market segment

3. Evidence that actions taken (program, practice, etc.) can be replicated and/or can serve as a catalyst for further efficiency gains.

Type: Application

Deadline: Spring/ Summer

Cost: Free

In 2019, 4 awardees (0 retailers):

1 Star of Systems Efficiency awardee

1 Star of Doubling Down on Efficiency awardee

2 Star of Dynamic Efficiency awardees

Overall Sustainability/CSR

Corporate Responsibility Magazine's 100 Best Corporate Citizens

​​Business performance including governance, human rights, environmental

Any retailer in the Russell1000 Index

Type: Ranking - top 100 companies once evaluated according to 260 data poinType: Ranking - top 100 companies once evaluated according to 260 data points

Deadline: N/A - results released in Spring

Cost: Free

In 2019, 7 of the ‘top 100’ Corporate Citizens were retailers

Ethisphere Most Ethical Brands

​​Ethical business standards

Any retailer

Type: Application

Deadline: Fall

Cost: $3,000 USD

In 2020, 132 companies (5 retailers) were selected

Forbes the Just 100: America's Best Corporate Citizens

Environmental, social performance; products; job creation; investor alignment​​

Any retailer who is a top publicly-traded company in the U.S. (922 were researched in 2019)

Type: Ranking - Forbes and JUST Capital evaluate companies on"just corporate behavior", as defined by 36 components identified in a 2019 Roadmap for Stakeholder Capitalism public survey

Deadline: N/A - results released in Fall

Cost: Free

In 2020, 4 of the 'top 100' were retailers

GlobeScan/ SustainAbility Leaders

​​Sustainable development leadership

Any retailer who is identified by the GlobeScan-SustainAbility Survey respondents (>800 experts in 78 countries in 2019) as a sustainability leader

Type: Nomination by sustainability experts who respond to survey

Deadline: N/A - results released in Summer

Cost: Free

​In 2019, 3 retailers made the ‘Top 10’ rankings

Inclusion in S&P Dow Jones Sustainability World Index

Inclusion in S&P Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index

Governance, social, and environmental practices​​

Any retailer who is invited to participate in RobecoSAM’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) (over 3,500 publicly traded companies are invited)

For retail, there are two specific questionnaires: one for Retailing and one for Food and Drug Retailers.

Type: Application - invitation only

Deadline: Spring

Cost: Free

One Industry Leader is chosen for each of the 61 industry groups - which include Retailing and Food & Staples Retailing categories

RobecoSAM Sustainability Yearbook

RobecoSAM Gold, Silver or Bronze Class

RobecoSAM Industry Mover

​​Governance, social, and environmental practices

In 2019, 4710 companies were assessed in the the RobecoSAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). For each industry:

  • Featured in the Yearbook - top 15% of industry and score within 30% of industry's top performing company
  • Gold - Min. score of 60 and score within 1% of the top company's
  • Silver - Min. score of 57 and score within 1% to 5% of top company's
  • Bronze - Min. score of 54 and score within 5% to 10% of top company's
  • Industry Mover - Within the top 15% of industry, has achieved the largest proportional improvement in its performance compared to the previous year

 

Type: Application - invitation only

Deadline: Not specified

Cost: Free

In 2019, 90 global retailers participated in the Assessment. 17 of the 90 retailers received a Class designation (Gold Silver, Bronze, Industry Mover)

UN Global Compact Participant

Human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption

Any retailer

Type: Application

Deadline: Rolling Acceptance

Cost: Annual financial contribution

14,222 companies (~275 retailers) across 160+ countries

The Civic 50

​​Business performance based on Investment, Integration, Institutionalization, and Impact​

Private or Public company with U.S. operations and revenues of $1 billion or more​

Type: Ranking-Top 50 companies based on 4,000 points (1,000 per criteria). Additional ranking based on Global Industry Classification Standard

Deadline: Application is open December, submission deadline in March

Cost: Free

In 2019, of the 50 awardees, 1 was a retailer

Fortune: Change the World

Recognizes companies that have had a positive social impact through activities that are part of their core business strategy. ​​​

Any retailer- priority for companies with annual revenues of $1 billion or more.​

Type: Selection in collaboration with expert partners Shared Value Initiative. Fortune writers and editors then evaluate and rank the companies by these four factors:

  1. Measurable social impact
  2. Business Results
  3. Degree of Innovation
  4. Corporate Integration

 

Deadline: Not Specified

Cost: Free

In 2019, 52 companies were chosen (5 retailers)​

Barron’s Top 100 Most Sustainable Companies

​​Recognizes companies based on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices

Any retailer that falls into the top 1,000 publicly held companies incorporated and headquartered in the U.S., measured by market capitalization

Type: Ranking of 1,000 largest publicly held companies, conducted by Calvert Research, and based on 5 key stakeholder categories: shareholders, employees, customers, community, and planet

Deadline: Not specified

Cost: Free

In 2020, of the 100 companies, 12 were retailers.

FTSE4Good Index Serie

​​Recognize strong Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices

Any retailers that meets a variety of ESG criteria of inclusion requirements approved by an independent committee of experts. Please refer to www.ftserussell.com for details

Type: Selection Process

Deadline: Not specified

Cost: Free

In 2020, 1030 companies from developed companies in the index.

266 companies from the U.S.

Responsible Business Alliance Compass Awards

Recognize CSR efforts in leadership, innovation, and implementation​​

Any retailer who is a member of the Responsible Business Alliance or associated to the RBA indirectly through factories and/or suppliers.

Type: Application

Deadline: Summer

Cost: Free

In 2019, 3 winners

Leadership – 1 awardee (0 retailers)

Innovation – 1 awardee (0 retailers)

Implementation – 1 awardee (1 retailer)

Forest Stewardship Council Leadership Awards

Responsible Sourcing and forest management​​

Any retailer who contributes to the movement towards responsible sourcing and forest management.

Type: Application

Deadline: Fall

Cost: Free

In 2019, 12 companies and organizations received the FSC Leadership Award (1 retailer)

Products and Packaging

EPA ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year and Sustained Excellence - Retailer Category

​​Products offered in store

Any retailer of ENERGY STAR certified products that is already a Partner and in good standing

Sustained Excellence winners must have also won in a previous year

Type: Application

Deadline: Winter

Cost: Free

In 2020,

Partner of the Year - 1 awardee (1 retailer)

Sustained Excellence - 2 awardees (1 retailers)

EPA Safer Choice Partner of the Year

​​Safe chemicals and products

Any retailer who demonstrates leadership in furthering safer chemistry and products through the Safer Choice Program or use of the Label

Type: Submission

Deadline: May

Cost: Free

In 2019, 14 awardees (2 retailers)

SPC Innovator Awards

​​Packaging design

Any individual who works for a retailer with leading practices relating to packaging: design, partnership outcome, personal commitment, breakthrough process. Only SPC members may submit nominations

Type: Application

Deadline: July

Cost: Free

In 2019,

Innovation in Responsible Sourcing - 1 awardee (0 retailers)

Innovation in Design Optimization - 1 awardee (0 retailer)

Innovation in Recovery - 1 awardee (0 retailers)

Outstanding Person or Team - 1 awardee (0 retailers)

13 finalists (0 retailers)

Supply Chain

​CDP Supplier Engagement Rating Leaderboard Status

​​Supplier engagement - environmental

Any retailer who is among the highest scoring companies reporting information to CDP on its supplier engagement

Type: Highest Grade - based on CDP Supply Chain or Climate Change disclosure

Deadline: Summer - for overall CDP supply chain or climate disclosure

Cost: $975 minimum contribution

In 2019, 129 organizations achieved an A grade Supplier Engagement Rating (2 retailers)

EPA SmartWay Excellence Awards

Shipping practices and performanceShipping practices and performance​​

​​- air pollution, energy efficiency, and climate change

Any retailer who is a top performing SmartWay partner in good standing may be selected as a semi-finalist

Type: Application, if selected as a semi-finalist

Deadline: Supplemental materials from semi-finalists are due in Spring

Cost: Free

In 2019, 72 awardees (3 retailers)

Waste – Operations

​EPA WasteWise Awards

​​​Waste management

Existing WasteWise Partners who can submit prior years' waste data to qualify for Partner of the Year or Honorable Mention for one of four business sizes:

  • Very Large Business (20,000 + employees)
  • Large (1,000 to 19,999 employees)
  • Mid-size (500 to 999 employees)
  • Small (1 to 499 employees)

 

Type: Application

Deadline: March

Cost: Free

In 2019, 6 National business award winners (1 Retailer)

17 Regional award winners (1 Retailer)

EPA Sustainable Material Management (SMM) Electronics Challenge

Recycling and waste management​​

Any retailers in the electronics sector

Type: Application

Deadline: July

Cost: Free

In 2019, 9 Gold Tier Award winners (2 retailers)

2 Champion award winners

EPA Food Recovery Challenge

Food waste management​​

Any retailer can join the voluntary incentive program if they implement targeted strategies to reduce food waster in their operations and report results to compete for annual recognition from the EPA.

Type: Application

Deadline: July

Cost: Free

In 2019, 15 national award winners (1 retailer)

Water – Operations

​CDP Water A list

Water management​​

Any retailer who earns an"A" on its CDP water disclosure

Type: Grade - based on CDP water disclosure response

Deadline: Summer - for overall CDP water disclosure

Cost: $975 minimum contribution

In 2019, 72 companies made the Water Security A list

EPA WaterSense

​​Energy Management

Any retailer may become a partner. Partners are asked to:

  1. Promote the value of water efficiency and WaterSense labeled products, new homes, and programs
  2. Adhere to program guidelines
  3. Feature WaterSense on websites and related promotional materials

 

Type: Application

Deadline: Summer

Cost: Free

In 2019,

9 Sustained Excellence Award winners

3 Partners of the Year

13 Excellence Award Winners

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