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INVENTORY COUNTS
Can going green be personal as well as profitable?
I
s the movement toward sustain- ability something distributors should look at from a profitabil-
ity standpoint, or does it really just fall into the realm of corporate altru- ism? Can both goals be met? I re- cently had the opportunity to sit down with the president of a supply company catering to the comme r c i a l construction market. Jordan Bader, who is president of Acme Con-
struction Supply, recently built a new facility with sustainability in mind. He had his eye on obtaining LEED building certification from the U.S. Green Building Council and chose a contractor who was able to guide him
“The contractors avoid the spaces designated for “Fuel Efficient Vehicles” or “Carpool.”...
market. Most of our customers really like what we are doing. They see the opportunity to
There is a certain amount of awareness and respect that resonates with the contractor
interested in LEED certification.”
charge more for their services when catering to owners
through the process. With the guid- ance of his contractor, and several in- vestments in sustainable products, his new building was awarded LEED Silver status. In the interest of full disclosure, the
fact that I share the same last name as the subject of this article is no coin- cidence. Jordan Bader is my brother and runs the family business that we both grew up in. This article is a brief recap of our inter- view. Jason: Why did you de-
cide to go for LEED certifi- cation on this new building? Jordan: It was primarily
a personal choice. It re- flected my interest in sustainability, and I was given the opportunity to do something different. Another motiva- tion was to learn about the sustain- able construction process. Since we cater to the commercial construction market, our customer base will be asked to provide sustainable options to their clients. By personally partic- ipating in a sustainable project, I had
tractors avoid the spaces designated for “Fuel Efficient Vehicles” or “Car- pool.” I would have expected them to disregard the signage. That tells me that there is a certain amount of awareness and respect that resonates with the contractor market. Most of our customers really like what we are doing. Most of them see the market for sustainable building practices.
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the opportunity to see what type of products and services our company should be investing in. Jason: What are some of the fea-
tures that enabled your facility to earn LEED Silver certification? Jordan: The LEED certification process is very complicated. There is a new construction checklist avail- able from the U.S. Green Building Council that outlines all the possible ways you can accumulate points. The point totals are what determine your certification levels. They cover site features, water efficiency, energy op- timization, material content and job- site recycling, indoor environmental quality and design innovation. The building owner has to weigh the cost/point ratio when making deci- sions on what sustainability options to invest in. The most visible feature is a large solar energy array. Some of the minor features were low water use fixtures, fluorescent lighting and signage for fuel efficient vehicle parking. Jason: Is the solar energy produc-
tion system a significant offset or more of a feel-good investment? Jordan: We purchased a 16-kilo-
watt solar array designed to cover about 20% of our usage. Any more would have been cost prohibitive. Even in the cloud-covered Pacific Northwest, the system produces about 20% to 22% of our power usage. At the current rate of return, it will take about nine years for the sys- tem to pay for itself. As power prices go up, that time line should diminish. Jason: Have there been any posi-
tive or negative comments from your customers? Jordan: If there have been any
negative comments, I haven’t heard them. It is kind of funny that the con-
They see the opportunity to charge more for their services when catering to owners interested in LEED certi- fication. We get a lot of questions about the process and some of the features we invested in. By far, the solar energy project has attracted the most attention. Our customers have brought potential clients over to look at the installation. We are very open. The local fire department actually spends time on our roof studying ways that these solar arrays can cause fire hazards when they are poorly installed.
BY JASON BADER Inventory management specialist
LEED certification, pay attention to cost per point. There are some items on the checklist that will not give much of a return on investment. Seek out guidance from a contractor or de- veloper who specializes in sustain- able building practices. If you want to upgrade an existing facility, seek
•THE WHOLESALER® —MAY 2011
Jason:What about the employees?
Have there been any negative reac- tions? Jordan: Since the new building
did not produce a significant bump in operating expenses, there have not been any negative reactions. They got a bigger building with about the same rent. Most of the employees like the fact that the company is on the fore- front of the sustainability movement. They are proud of the certification. The people who work in the building are more than willing to talk about all its cool features. Jason: Do you use the LEED label
or “green” designation in any mar- keting or branding? Jordan: On our website, we have
a “Green Initiatives” section that talks about all the ways that we sup- port sustainability. We market our knowledge of solar power building structures. The LEED certification plaque is prominently displayed at our new facility. Perhaps we don’t leverage it enough. As I mentioned earlier, our real marketing comes from being
open with our customers and inviting them to bring their prospective cus- tomers into our facility. That open philosophy has given us a solid repu- tation in the markets we serve. Jason: What advice would you
give other distributors or building owners who want to get involved with sustainability? Jordan: If you are going after
out specific contractors who have ex- perience in energy or water reduction. Roofing contractors can recommend ways to reduce cooling costs through different roofing materials. Start with a lot of research and visit some LEED certified sites in your community.
Sustainability here to stay The sustainability movement is not
a passing fad. Distributors can learn a great deal about the needs of their customers by doing some investigat- ing. If you cater to the building indus- try, in any form, the products going into these projects will likely provide higher gross margin dollars. Think about what “organic” produce did for the grocery industry. Whether your motives are financial or altruistic, you will be well served to dip your toe in the water. You can view Acme Construction
Supply’s green initiatives and solar energy production under the “About Us” section at
www.acmetool.com. Until next time, good luck.
n Jason Bader is the managing part-
ner of The Distribution Team, a firm that specializes in providing inven- tory management training, business operations consulting and technology utilization to the wholesale distribu- tion industry. Bader brings over 20 years of experience working in the distribution field. He can be reached at 503/282-2333, Jason@Distribu-
tionteam.com or at wwwthedistribu-
tionteam.com.
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