Read more in CUES Complete Guide to Facilities. Jason Bauer's Going Green campaign won the CUES Golden Mirror Award Rookie of the Year. See it here.

By Ron Jooss

Editor's note: This article first appeared in the August 2009 issue of Credit Union Management.

It seems as if everyone is going green today, even within the financial industry. Many credit unions offer some form of green loans or do their corporate duty to separate garbage into disposable and recyclable containers. But few credit unions, very few actually, have made focused attempts at distinguishing themselves in the marketplace as green businesses as a primary strategy for driving growth.

Consultant Mark Weber of Weber Marketing Group, a Seattle-based CUES Supplier member, thinks the current recession has caused both consumers and credit unions to lose at least some of their zeal for a full commitment to sustainability. "I think this recession has probably stalled the green movement significantly on several fronts," Weber says. "It's caused a pullback on all capital spending. It's especially caused a pullback on nonessential spending and it causes organizations to take what may be more philosophical, social responsibility initiatives and go, 'Not right now.' When you're dealing with a capitalization challenge and an earnings challenge you have to step back."

NO TRACK RECORD
But perhaps more importantly, Weber says, no track record exists to show that a commitment to sustainability moves consumers to choose one company over another. "I've seen organizations that have faced the challenge of deciding, one, how far do we want to take our brand on going green? And, two, does it fit our membership, does it fit our marketplace, will it move people in the community to want to bank with us because we're green? And I think that there's just not enough hard evidence to say absolutely, a complete full-on green brand will drive earnings and member growth profitably. I think it causes a lot of CEOs to pause and say, 'I'm not going to be the first one out there with a full-on green branding strategy.'"

But Weber can point to a few credit unions that are building their brands around sustainability. This decision, he notes, was made much easier by two factors: 1) the credit union's location; and 2) its membership's affinity to its natural surroundings.

GREEN LIFESTYLE
In the Pacific Northwest, where $797 million/64,000-member Columbia Credit Union is located (specifically, Vancouver, Wash.), natural beauty and the outdoor lifestyle are everyday elements of the culture, according to Columbia Community CU executives.

"It's a unique environment up here," says Steve Kenny, interim CEO and chief operating officer. "I think people are more aware about what's good and what's bad for the environment. There is a corporate responsibility. We can't take advantage of our environment and not worry about preserving it for the future."

Portland, Ore., just across the Columbia River from the credit union, has been recognized as among the most eco-friendly cities in the nation, with extremely high per-capita rates of hybrid vehicles and commercial buildings with LEED status. [The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, provides standards for environmentally sustainable construction.] Even the area's most popular burger joint, Burgerville, is a sustainable business that uses locally-grown ingredients, incorporates wind power and does on-site composting.

In 1998 Columbia Community CU got a hint of how attuned its members were to the Pacific Northwest surroundings when it redesigned its logo. When surveyed, a group of community leaders and influencers favored designs that incorporated the imagery of the Pacific Northwest environment. Management took this as a cue to begin employing eco-friendly practices such as using soy-based inks and using recycled products for marketing materials.

In 2005 the CU's board and management decided to incorporate sustainable building features into its branches and position the CU as an eco-friendly financial institution. To facilitate that process the credit union senior management team and board gathered with a consultant for what Colleen Boccia, SVP/marketing and chief deposit officer, describes as an "eco-charrette." (Wikipedia defines charrette as "any collaborative session in which a group of designers drafts a solution to a design problem.") That session was productive to say the least. "We probably had a couple hundred ideas on the white board," Boccia says.

To narrow that list, instead of focusing on preserving certain natural resources, the team looked for better ways to maximize resources it had in abundance. For example, rain is plentiful in the Pacific Northwest. By collecting rain-water to use for non-potable uses like flushing toilets and native landscape irrigation, Columbia CU saves 13,000 to 14,000 gallons of water each year.

Another example: The credit union could maximze sunlight inside its branches by using an omni-directional skylight and a lighting system activated by natural daylight.

These ideas, among others, were integrated into two new branches that Columbia CU opened in 2008, both of which received LEED Gold Certification. To meet the gold standard (See cumanagement.org/more for more on LEED certification) virtually every aspect of the building is compatible with the local ecosystem. For example, the concrete in the Washougal branch parking lot has the texture of Rice Krispies Treats. This makes the concrete porous and prevents
drainage from contaminating local bodies of water.

ON THE INSIDE
On the branch's interior, guest chairs are made from recycled seat belts and workstations are clothed with corn fiber that is 98 percent biodegradable. Desks are made from wheat board composed of wheat fiber compressed and adhered with non-formaldehyde-based glue.

The building process itself was held to equally high standards. To meet LEED requirements, 75 percent of construction debris had to be recycled. "Ironically, we had to put a sign up front that asked people not to steal our trash," Kenny says.

More than 50 percent of the wood for the project had to be purchased from Forest Stewardship Council-certified forests. [The Forest Stewardship Council develops forest management standards throughout the U.S.]

"When we decided to build green we decided that we wanted to go through the extra step in making sure that everything was certified," Boccia says. "We wanted to make sure that when it was all said and done if someone asked, 'Can you prove that you are actually making a difference?' we could actually answer, 'Yes, we are. We are making a difference.'"

So, do these efforts, along with the credit union's many community green outreach programs, make a difference to its members when they choose their financial institutions? Yes, say both Kenny and Boccia.

"I've had new members come in and specifically state they are opening accounts with us because of our commitment to the environment," Kenny says. "They've researched the Internet and looked at our commitment and what we do, and made a conscious choice to come to us because of those things."

"All things being equal, a free checking account is a free checking account," Boccia adds. "But if people know they can use a financial institution that is going to share their values, it strikes a chord with them."

Columbia CU shares its belief system within its community as well, partnering with Vancouver Urban Forestry to sponsor local tree planting, sponsoring re-usable, recyclable bags at Vancouver Farmers Market and serving as a charter member of the Northwest Biofuels Association. Columbia CU management team members sit on the boards of both Identity Clark County (an organization that links civic improvements with a healthy economic environment) and the Columbia River Economic Development Council. Columbia CU also purchases 100 percent renewable energy for its two LEED Gold branches and at least 50 percent for its other 12 locations through Clark Public Utilities' Green Lights program, supporting the purchase and research of renewable energy in the Pacific Northwest.

SIMILAR TERRITORY
Very similar to Columbia CU, $185 million/17,000-member Boulder Valley Credit Union, Boulder, Colo., also began its green efforts incrementally before realizing that a full-blown green branding effort might hit home with its members.

As VP/Marketing/ E-commerce Jason Bauer recalls, in 2007 the credit union was adding solar panels to one of its branches. CEO Rick Allen suggested that the addition of the solar panels might offer a marketing opportunity. So Boulder Valley CU offered loan rate breaks on hybrid autos and home equity lines of credit for eco-friendly home improvements.

"We got a lot of positive comments from members," Bauer says. "Then the epiphany came from the marketing side: Why aren't we doing more of this, being in Boulder, Colo., and why hasn't anyone else done it?"

The credit union established a microsite, www.we.carecolorado.com, with the tagline, "Better Banking. Naturally." The site outlines the steps Boulder Valley CU has taken to differentiate itself as a sustainable business, lists its partners, offers eco-resources members can use to educate and become greener themselves and also includes a link to join the credit union.

At the top of the microsite home page is the credit union's Eco-Conscious CU logo, which Bauer says appears on virtually all the organization's marketing material. "It's like a seal or a stamp," Bauer explains. "Whether it's an ad for a vacation getaway or an auto loan, somewhere on the ad you will see that logo even if it's not something we're outwardly promoting as being eco-friendly. It's always present next to our name. That's how we envisioned pushing the green brand out to our members."

MORE THAN A WEB SITE
Of course, the credit union has had to do more than build a Web site with a logo to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability. In addition to using the aforementioned solar panels at its main branch, Boulder Valley CU, has made a commitment to environmental business practices, from recycling to on-site composting to the use of energy efficient lighting. As a result of those efforts, Boulder Valley CU is the first financial institution in Boulder County to receive eco-conscious certification from Partners for a Clean Environment, an environmental division of Boulder County.

As Bauer notes, any organization that "waves the green flag" is subject to scrutiny. "I'm totally confident that if someone came in here and asked us a list of questions: 'Do you do this? Do you do this?' We could answer them positively. We're very dedicated to this. And we did it for all the right reasons."

Bauer does believe the credit union's sustainability efforts have differentiated it in the marketplace. "I think we're in a market, financial services, where you're not really going to see a brand-new product or a brand-new service," he says. "It's pretty much all been done before. Everybody's pretty much offering some variation of everything else. It's very hard to differentiate yourself in this market. I think this is a very effective way to do it. Especially in our area. Rather than being a generic credit union or a generic bank you have more depth to you and people relate to you. A question we got initially was, is this a political thing? It's not. It's a human thing as far as protecting the environment."

Bauer says Boulder Valley CU is primarily a SEG-based financial institution, though it does market to the entire community. The credit union's commitment to sustainability has led to a nice windfall of green-based employers that have signed on with the credit union. "We're able to say we're the first fully eco-conscious banking alternative in Colorado, and that's a true statement," he says. "When you look at what we're doing vs. what other [financial institutions] are doing, it's a very powerful thing, and it's something we believe in as an organization."

Bauer says new members are so excited when they sign on with the credit union that they forget their complementary eco-friendly light bulb. "That's the best part about it: People who sign up for membership are so fired up about it," he says. "They say, 'Finally, I can go green when I bank, too.'"

Creating that kind of excitement is about much more than recycling and green loans; it takes organization-wide commitment. But remember: Both Bauer and executives from Columbia CU had taken small steps toward sustainability before deciding to build their entire credit union brand around going green. And they both agree, almost verbatim, that the little steps add up very quickly if there's a top-down organizational commitment to sustainability.

For credit unions that want to take their sustainability one step further, Columbia CU's Boccia recommends enlisting an expert, someone to help your organization get a bead on its local green community. After that, buddy up with another organization that's committed to going green, Boccia recommends. "Find someone to partner with. That's really a great way to start. Find out who else is interested. Then you can start pooling your resources together. If they have some areas where they can't do it by themselves or where services aren't available, you can create your own critical mass and join together. You can be leaders in your community."

Ron Jooss is a CUES editor, ron@cues.org.

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