Start implementing actions that can offset or counterbalance the environmental effects generated by business processes that cannot be changed.
How can we reduce the environmental impact of a process without making any changes to the original process itself?
Nowak, A., Leymann, F., Schleicher, D., Schumm, D., & Wagner, S. (2011, October 21). Green business process patterns. Proceedings of the 18th Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs. PLoP 11: Pattern Languages of Programs Conference 2011.
Some processes may be hard to redesign or restructure in regards to sustainability due to the nature of tasks they are performing or due to other internal restrictions.
The challenge is to find a proper solution for compensating the environmental impact without changing the process. In order to provide a trustworthy compensation, organizations can implement a certified compensation alternative to improve visibility at the customer’s site.
Whenever a business process that cannot be modified is initiated, a compensation process or activity is initiated, too. This process or activity compensates (parts of) the environmental impact caused by the original process.
Although the original process cannot be modified, the implementation of the pattern is able to achieve an improvement of the environmental impact from a global point of view because negative effects are not reduced, but compensated by positive effects. These positive effects may be further improved through an environmental certification of the corresponding compensation activities.
Production processes may require specific machines coming with a high upfront investment. These machines have certain well-defined process steps. The production waste originating from these machines, for example, may not be reduced without investing in new and expensive machines. So, although the production waste cannot be reduced, a donation for an environmental organization (e.g., for planting a tree or for buying rainforest) can be used to improve the environmental impact from a global perspective. Another example is the compensation of carbon emission occurred when burning fuel in auto mobiles. Oil companies provide a sustainability program that offers customers to compensate the amount of carbon dioxide for each refuel by investing in renewable energy.
This pattern can be used in a custom way by using conditional compensations. For example, the compensation process or activity is only performed at every tenth initiation of the original process. This decision can be based on different aspects like waste that has been produced during process performance or the compensation value, for example.
Although the original process cannot be modified, the implementation of the pattern is able to achieve an improvement of the environmental impact from a global point of view because negative effects are not reduced, but compensated by positive effects. These positive effects may be further improved through an environmental certification of the corresponding compensation activities.
Green Fares are standalone options that can be directly booked, available alongside existing Economy and Business fares.
Read moreFoundational free Patterns
Reduce the number of contacts with customers and third parties
Elevate physical constraints by applying new technology
Establish standardized interfaces
Consider a standardized interface with customers and partners
Order knock-outs by least effort and highest termination probability first.
Minimize numerical involvement
Too many cooks spoil the broth
Consider to deepen or broaden the skills of resources
Offer customers the possibility to choose among privacy settings
Explore whether a process can easily be used for additional products or services
Workload-based task assignment
Allocate tasks based on individuals' incomplete workload
Offer a green alternative with the same outcome, utilizing different steps, resources, or partners, while retaining the previous existing process
Consider the division of a general activity into two or more alternative activities