Certification Standards

IGBA helps small businesses increase their profitability through smart and innovative sustainability practices.

The Illinois Green Business Certification Program helps businesses improve environmental performance across six categories of sustainability. The categories cover the primary ways that businesses interact with their environment and communities. Our green business practices are rooted in action-based environmental reduction. Businesses benefit by reducing operational costs and increasing process efficiency. They also reduce community climate impacts and create safer, healthier places to work.

Get started today by applying
to become a green business.

Increased profitability.

 

Happier and more loyal customers.

 

Recruitment and retention of the very best talent.

Online Certification

The Illinois Green Business Certification program is continually evolving, creating one of the most engaging and accessible certification processes in the nation. With assistance from a grant from the EPA’s National Environmental Information Exchange Network (NEIEN) and partnering with the California Green Business Network, IGBA has launched an online platform for Illinois businesses called GreenBizTracker.

This powerful new tool makes it easier for businesses to incorporate leading green management practices and receive recognition for going beyond compliance. The robust online platform allows businesses to access state-specific resources, track environmental reduction metrics, and manage progress towards environmental accreditation. The platform also aggregates environmental impact across businesses and that is searchable to the public, helping consumers identify the impact of green practices, as well as connect with and support green businesses in their communities.

IGBA is currently seeking businesses and organizations to join our program on our new online certification platform — GreenBizTracker.

Certification
Badges

 

The IGBA Green Business Certification program now offers achievement badges for successfully completing each section of the certification checklist. Successful completion occurs when a business implements enough core and elective green practices to meet or exceed the point requirement for the section. Businesses can achieve certification badges as they work through the checklist and earn recognition along the way.

 

The badge system provides clarity in communicating the tangible actions a business takes towards being sustainable by resource reduction category. It encourages a step-by-step approach that promotes positive reinforcement for ongoing environmental improvements within a business. This results in the certification becoming more transparent to the customers and community as well as increasing engagement for businesses and their employees.

Businesses can achieve as many or as few badges as they like, and they can do it on their own timeline. If a business achieves all badges, they have reached full certification in the Illinois Green Business Program.

Contact us to start collecting badges for your business!