Sustainability: Is there any there there?

Sustainability is often a catchall term to describe many activities, from greening to metrics. This variability illustrates the numerous meanings and implementations of sustainability reflected in different economic sectors. The purposes of this presentation are to: identify definitions of sustainability; describe how sustainability is measured when implemented in three sectors (health care, hospitality, academia); to consider the similarities and differences of these measurements across the sectors through a combination of peer-reviewed literature and interviews with people who include sustainability in their roles within organizations; and to provide recommendations based on these findings. Many similarities exist between these three sectors. The results from this comparison of the research literature and qualitative semi-structured interviews suggest:

1. little consensus exists within a sector or between the sectors on what aspects of sustainability should be considered, its relationship to a clear definition of sustainability, and how information from other sectors could be considered;
2. most metrics are proprietary, not tested for reliability or validity, and require membership in a trade organization for a specific industry to be used and the measurements cannot be viewed within sector or across sector; and
3. sustainability leaders had varied roles within their organizations and most sought, on their own, additional training on issues related to sustainability, with none having formal education in developing tools or metrics. For the most part, sustainability efforts of the leaders were linked to cost-savings for an organization. This mirrored what was found in the research literature, that the key aspect frequently cited linked sustainability to cost-savings, not economic development, social impact or environmental stewardship.