A new sustainability standard for services was launched today by NSF – NSF P391:General Sustainability Assessment Criteria for Services and Service Providers.

It will help service providers in the US respond to the sustainability requirements of large purchasers, such as US General Services Administration (GSA) who are obliged by White House Executive Order 13514 (PDF) to become greener purchasers. Brennan Conaway from GSA states “As a protocol that is applicable to all service provider types and sectors, NSF P391 could be used to support our customers by identifying services that comply with E.O. 13514”.

NSF P391 evaluates the sustainability of a service provider in three key areas: Environment impact – energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions;  Labor impact – health and safety, employment practices; and  Social responsibility impact – community assessment.

Organizations can earn NSF P391 certification at the Conformant, Silver, Gold or Platinum level; and once certified, can display the NSF Sustainability Certified Mark in their advertising and marketing.

All kinds of services can apply to meet the new standard.; and we can predict that those selling to the Fed’s will be the first in line.