Business Certification

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARDS: 

2023: Growing Home

Growing Home received the 2023 "Sustainable Business of the Year Award."   Growing Home, in partnership with the community, advances equity in food, housing, parenting education, and lifelong stability to create lasting change for the future. They also envision a thriving, healthy, and equitable community for all.    

So why was Growing Home chosen as the SAGE Sustainable Business of the Year? They stood out among SAGE businesses in the following ways:

• They’ve improved their daily operations by starting a compost service and have upgraded to high efficiency appliances
• They’re encouraging food security and local agriculture through the maintenance of a community garden
• They’re partnering with the City on a pilot program to provide air purifiers to residents in an effort to address air quality and respiratory health concerns
• And they are a two-time SAGE Accelerator Grant recipient 

2022: GQUE BBQ

GQue received the 2022 "Sustainable Business of the Year Award" because they’re equally dedicated to serving up amazing tasting food, providing a great place to work, and to benefitting the local community. They stood out among the business community in the following ways: 

• Became SAGE Certified by completing over 30 sustainable business best-practices
• Participated in Xcel Energy’s Small Business Energy Solutions program to identify high-impact energy saving opportunities for their building
• Recycles and/or sells their used cooking oil.
• Provide compostable plates and service-ware in their catering services.
• Supports the local community through donations and sponsorships to over 35 different organizations ranging from schools to sports teams to humane societies.

Practices like these that not only highlight how GQue not only serves up one tasty pulled pork sandwich, but does so in a way that benefit their business, the community, and the environment.

2021: VESTAR: THE ORCHARD TOWN CENTER 

Vestar: The Orchard Town Center was selected due to their outstanding sustainability achievements, including: 

• Becoming SAGE Certified through completing over 30 sustainable business best-practices
• Partnering with the City and Drive Clean Colorado to put on and promote an Electric Vehicle show-case at the summer farmers market
• Promoting and partnering with the City and Xcel Energy to encourage business tenants to participate in the Small Business Energy Solutions campaign.
• Maintaining and promoting the use of two on-site EV charging stations
• Planning to retrofit their parking lots with LED lightings
• Utilizing water efficient landscaping throughout the property
• Being a dedicated community member and neighbor through community donations and sponsorship to A Precious Child, Mark Junior Fund, and Food for Hope.

2020: PREMIER MEMBERS CREDIT UNION

Premier Members was selected due to their outstanding sustainability achievements, including: 

• Conduction of a comprehensive sustainability assessment that included gathering energy, waste, natural gas, paper, and water use baseline data and setting 2020 and 2021 reduction goals and achievement strategies.
• Responsible purchasing practices, notably using copy paper made of 100% recycled-content and printing 100% of their marketing materials on uncoated, 30% post-consumer recycled paper with soy or corn-based inks.
• Sourcing renewable energy across their branches through a solar electric system that offsets 14 tons of CO₂ pollution each year. This is equivalent to planting 1,078 total trees or to reducing 30,500 miles of auto travel per year.
• Educating consumers on ways to integrate sustainability into their finances, home, lifestyle and community activities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I get credit for good things I’m already doing? 
Yes! In fact, your business may already qualify. You can get credit for existing practices, as well as newly adopted ones implemented to meet the SAGE Certification requirements.

Do I have to do everything on the GBT checklist to become certified? 
No. Although you must complete the required “core” measures in the General, Energy, Waste, Transportation, and Water categories and one measure in the Community category. You only need to complete at least three “elective” measures in any of the categories. The certification checklist is intended to give businesses flexibility in their approach to becoming certified.

How do I determine if a measure is not applicable?
There are a couple of reasons why a measure could be not applicable (N/A) to your business. If you do not use, possess, or have control over a piece of equipment or policy in your building (perhaps because you do not own your facility), that measure would be considered N/A.

How long does my certification last? 
Once your business is certified, it will always be certified as long as you maintain and keep up the measures you committed to. SAGE advisors may conduct site visits to certified businesses to ensure measures are maintained. However, the SAGE Certification may evolve over time. Possible changes include multiple tiers of certification or the introduction of a certification specifically for resource tracking and management. SAGE reserves the right to revoke certifications if businesses are not in compliance with city codes, laws, regulations and/or the measures they have completed.

Is there a cost to certification?
No! SAGE Certification is a FREE service provided by the city for all businesses.

My business is out of my home. Can I get certified?
SAGE is designed to apply to businesses located in non-residential spaces. At this time, home-based businesses do not qualify for certification. However, the city offers sustainability assistance and services to residents, see our resources here. 

How long will it take for my business to get certified?
The amount of time required to complete the certification process varies depending on the complexity of your business and the practices you already have in place. To receive certification, all businesses register and complete the Green Business Tracker (GBT) assessment, a tool to help you collect information that will be used to measure your environmental performance and list the minimum requirements for earning certification.

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