I recently spoke as part of a panel at the West Coast Green conference. The theme was how to successfully sell "green". On the panel were the Directors of Sustainability from HoK and Gensler in San Francisco and John Stein, President of Kirei USA. John represented the voice of the small manufacturer/supplier, while I spoke about corporate positioning and communications. The standing room only crowd was made up of an even split of architects/designers and product manufacturers.

It quickly became apparent that selling "green" is a moving target. The Gensler and HoK panelists wanted facts about products. And also they complained about the unnecessary confusion that is being created by the marketing and sales communications that’s coming from product manufacturers. While I'm not shocked, I was somewhat surprised that the Genslers and the HoKs of the world are constantly having to sift through greenwashing about products when what they need are facts. These firms typically are working on significant projects with the budgets to match. Yet they still receive presentations and materials from ill-informed sales reps and manufacturers that are incorrectly stating facts or worse, lying.

John Stein spoke of his success in turning Kirei into a rising star in building components. Kirei’s strategy is to provide information about how its products support green building ratings systems like LEED. Third-party green building ratings systems like LEED cut through the confusion by providing a common language and context in which to evaluate products. In effect, Kirei’s approach was to present the environmental facts within context and leave the green-speak out of the conversation completely.

Resoundingly, there was a plea for clarity and answers. The A&D community is dealing with fewer support personnel due to layoffs and tighter deadlines. And more times than not, they have a better understanding of sustainability issues. Products appeal to leading firms like Gensler and HoK when they are presented with facts and context, and without the eco-fluff and marketing spin.

Now there’s some food for thought for your marketing department.