Understanding Impact Business Models: Resource Conservation

What is the intent of the Impact Business Model?    

How do I assess my company’s eligibility for this Impact Business Model?    

What are some examples of companies that have this impact?    

My company may be eligible for this IBM. How do I open this IBM in the B Impact Assessment?    

My company may be eligible for this IBM. What supporting information do we need to provide?    

Concepts in the B Impact Assessment

What is the intent of the Impact Business Model?

Resource conservation refers to limiting the use of resources or limiting the amount of emissions going into the environment. Resources and emissions can be reduced by designing systems, products, and services that avoid the use of materials that may pollute the environment or by creating solutions that divert resources and emissions from becoming pollution. By offering products and services that consume fewer resources or produce less waste, companies can provide consumers with sustainable alternatives that conserve resources. Companies that can demonstrate that they are a clear alternative to another traditional product and that their type of product has reduced emissions qualify for IBM credit (for instance, through a life cycle analysis). 

The Resource Conservation Impact Business Model (IBM) is found in the Environment Impact Area in the B Impact Assessment (BIA).  

How do I assess my company’s eligibility for this Impact Business Model?  

For the Resource Conservation IBM, a company must earn revenues from products or services that have one of the features described below:

• Product or service uses resources or minimizes carbon more efficiently than market alternatives (e.g., energy-efficient appliances, low-flow shower heads)

• Product or service uses recycled, used, or compostable input materials (e.g., recycled paper, used furniture, compostable bags)

• Product or service is designed to share resources efficiently in order to minimize overall resource consumption

• Product or service creates systems for resource conservation (e.g., recycling programs, composting services, energy or water assessment software, water recycling systems)

Often this can be easily determined when products or ingredients with certifications that have been reviewed meet B Lab’s criteria for a credible certification, such as the Global Recycle Standard, Energy Star, etc. 

What are some examples of companies that have this impact?

Some examples of companies that capture their impact in the Resource Conservation Impact Business Model include:  

• A retail company that sells plant-based cheese alternatives received the Resource Conservation Impact Business Model for avoiding the carbon emissions generated through traditional dairy farming.

• Tennis balls made from used tennis balls qualified for Resource Conservation IBM, demonstrating a lower carbon footprint than the ones made from virgin materials.

• A recycling company received the Resource Conservation IBM for their impact in recycling traditional materials like cardboard and plastics, as well as finding alternative recycling and upcycling solutions for materials including wood debris and construction materials.

Please note that these examples are illustrative and non-exhaustive. 

My company may be eligible for this IBM. How do I open this IBM in the B Impact Assessment? 

If you are considering opting into this IBM, you will have to answer specific questions about the impact of your product/service that will determine which Impact Business Models you see in your BIA. These questions, called gating questions, ensure that you see the content that is most relevant to your company in your assessment. 

To find the gating questions for the Resource Conservation IBM, navigate to the Environment Impact Area and search for the questions titled “Environmental Business Model,” “Environmental Product or Service Impact,”  “Environmental Product Benefits,” and “Direct Impact on Resource Conservation”. Please refer to the screenshots and the highlighted answer options shown below for the correct responses that will open the Impact Business Model. Any deviation from this will prevent the Resource Conservation IBM from becoming visible in your BIA.

To ensure that the Resource Conservation Impact Business Model shows up, answer the following gating questions as shown in the images below. Any deviation from this will prevent the IBM from becoming visible in your BIA. 

My company may be eligible for this IBM. What supporting information do we need to provide? 

To demonstrate that your company’s product/service falls within one of the four categories of resource conservation impacts listed above, you may be asked to provide documentation such as: 

• Life Cycle Assessment or Carbon Footprint Assessment of the company's product or service, as well as the market alternative. Please ensure the same system boundaries are chosen when comparing an assessment to a market alternative assessment, ensuring all life cycle stages of the product are included: raw materials – process – transportation – retail / use – waste.  

• Valid third-party documentation that follows B Lab’s principles for credible third-party certification.

• Evidence and examples regarding the conservation impact of products or services the company administers.

This documentation confirms the eligibility of your company’s product/service for the Resource  Conservation IBM – next, we must measure the intensity or scope of the positive impact of the beneficial product or service. To do this, your company must provide a spreadsheet with revenue associated with the beneficial products or services. Lastly, you must also provide information about whether your company measures the impact of the product/service and tracks the outcomes related to the product/service to determine if it is achieving the intended positive environmental impact.

Concepts in the B Impact Assessment

Resource conservation refers to limiting the use of natural resources and/or the amount of waste going to landfills. Products and services that have a direct positive impact on resource conservation could include energy or water-efficient appliances, products with recycled or compostable input materials, recycling programs, energy or water assessment software, and composting services.

Energy Conservation: Energy conservation refers to efforts made to reduce the total amount of energy needed to carry out current processes or tasks. The term does not include an overall reduction in energy consumption from reduced organizational activities (e.g., partial outsourcing of production). 

Water Conservation: Water conservation refers to efforts made to reduce the total amount of water needed to carry out current processes or tasks. The term does not include an overall reduction in water consumption from reduced organizational activities (e.g., partial outsourcing of production). Conservation efforts include organizational or technological innovations that allow a defined process or task to consume water more efficiently. This includes improved water management practices, process redesign, the conversion and retrofitting of equipment (e.g., water-efficient equipment), or the elimination of unnecessary water use due to changes in behavior.

Life Cycle Assessment - A comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) addresses the environmental aspects and potential environmental impacts (e.g. use of resources and environmental consequences of releases) throughout a product's life cycle from raw material acquisition through production, use, end-of-life treatment, recycling, and final disposal (i.e. cradle-to-grave). The phases of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are defined in the ISO standards 14040 and 14044: the goal and scope definition phase, the inventory analysis phase, the impact assessment phase, and the interpretation phase.

The most common impact categories are climate change – total, fossil, biogenic, and land use; ozone depletion; photochemical ozone formation; acidification; eutrophication - freshwater/marine / terrestrial; human toxicity; water use; land use; particulate matter emissions; Ionising radiation, human health. The main stages of the product life cycle are 
1. Raw material acquisition and pre-processing (including transportation associated); 
2. Manufacturing; 
3. Distribution; 
4. Usage/retail; 
5. End-of-life.

Market Alternatives - A ‘market alternative’ is a product or service that fulfills the same purpose and is available to customers in the same geographical area as the product or service evaluated in the B Impact Assessment. 

Near-term outcomes - This refers to the immediate or near-future results or consequences of a particular event, decision, or action. These outcomes typically occur within a relatively short period, ranging from a few days to a few months. Near-term outcomes are often tangible and measurable, and they can influence subsequent actions or decisions. Unlike outputs, which focus on what is produced/delivered, near-term outcomes focus on the impact or changes that occur as a result of the outputs. They are the effects or consequences of utilizing or implementing the outputs.

Long-term outcomes - The results or consequences that occur over an extended period, usually spanning months, years, or even decades. Long-term outcomes often have a broader impact and may be less immediately visible or measurable than near-term outcomes. For instance, long-term outcomes in the context of environmental conservation could include the restoration of an ecosystem, the reduction of carbon emissions over several decades, or the preservation of endangered species.