Despite the state of the economy, companies must incorporate green innovation process and design eco-friendly products. In fact, an Aberdeen Group study found 62% of manufacturers are pursuing green product development initiatives. Yet, most companies are unsure about where to begin, how to prioritize investments and justify the high cost of going green.
Needless to say, going green is a business imperative that drives a company’s bottom-line and competitiveness. Green innovation is primarily about new product development and redesigning existing products so they are environmentally compliant.
Here are some tips on going green the right way, based on observations and conversations with leading innovation companies:
- Identify a sustainability executive to champion and measure green innovation initiatives. The program must tie to the company’s business objectives and drive revenue.
- Operationalize green across the enterprise so ‘design for green’ becomes part of the standard innovation process – whether it’s new product development or redesigning products, they must comply with the sustainability guidelines.
- Assess and understand what percentage of your company’s intellectual property portfolio is green compliant and quickly transform those patents into market-leading, eco-friendly products.
- Use innovation software to generate concepts that identify green compatible material substitutions to upgrade strategic products so they meet environmental and regulatory standards.
- Utilize semantic technology to research and apply revolutionary principals such as biomimicry to design eco-friendly products.
In short, companies that adopt and drive green innovation initiatives will gain financial and competitive edge, which in turn will help foster people, planet and profitability.
What are your thoughts on going green?
Posted by Mark Atkins 
