How You Can Advance Sustainability in the Security Industry

At AcceleRISE 2024, Amy Musanti of ASSA ABLOY highlighted the importance of sustainability and how to encourage deliberate decision making.

The Security Industry Association (SIA) recently closed out a successful sixth annual AcceleRISE – a unique event presented by the SIA RISE community and gathering tomorrow’s security leaders. The sold-out event took place Aug. 12-14, 2024, in Washington, D.C., and offered attendees meaningful opportunities to connect, take their careers to the next level, explore the nation’s capital and have fun.

AcceleRISE 2024 – a three-day program featuring industry-leading subject matter experts and emerging security leaders – offered inspiring talks and panel discussions, interactive workshops and lively activities on a variety of topics in leadership, career development, technology, fostering the future of the security industry and more. One highlight was a session on selling sustainability and influencing buying decisions based on responsible products and energy-efficient security solutions from Amy Musanti, director of sustainability at ASSA ABLOY.

What does sustainability really mean?

Musanti defines sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the availability of future generations to meet their own needs.” When a customer asks you for sustainability in solutions, whether it’s a building owner, architect, contractor, consultant or distributor, they may mean one or more of the following:

• Low-carbon: Reuse of buildings and materials, whole building life cycle analysis, environmental product declarations, optimized low-carbon materials and/or biobased and sustainably harvested solutions
• Health: Low-emitting materials, ingredient disclosure, green chemistry, supply chain and ecosystem and/or social equity
• Circular: Building reuse and salvage, recycling and recycled content, extended producer responsibility, zero-waste manufacturing and/or biobased and sustainably harvested solutions

Why are customers asking for sustainability?

The construction industry is responsible for over 30% of the extraction of natural resources and 25% of solid waste generated in the world, and the security industry is working to address an increase in needs in terms of controlling costs, government regulations, implementation of sustainable design, responsibly sourced materials and reduction in carbon footprint. The movement toward using healthy and sustainable building materials is being driven by:

• Enhanced building value: “Incorporating better building materials into a project can increase a development’s value, especially if the project achieves a healthy or green building certification,” said Musanti.
• Green building certifications: Nearly every prominent sustainable building certification includes requirements for embodied carbon reporting, chemical avoidance or ethical material sourcing. These programs are points-based frameworks that track products’ contributions toward program guidelines – such as being healthy, cost saving, efficient and better for people and the environment.
• Occupier demand: “Integrating healthy, low-carbon materials in buildings can make assets more attractive to sustainability-minded tenants, who increasingly desire spaces that promote wellness, productivity and cognitive performance,” said Musanti.
• ESG investing requirements: “As investor interest in ESG intensifies, real estate owners and developers are increasingly including building materials as part of their sustainability targets,” said Musanti.
• Regulations: “New policies and financial reporting requirements for embodied carbon and certain chemicals are pushing the industry to integrate low-carbon and nontoxic materials in buildings,” Musanti said.

Additionally, buildings need to comply with their local energy codes and standards, which are mandatory and vary by location.

What are sustainable building solutions?

Musanti encouraged attendees to “think beyond typical contributions” like lighting, HVAC, furniture and finishes and consider low-energy access control and thermal exterior envelopes – “products designed with sustainability in mind.”

The core of a sustainable built environment includes energy efficiency and “better ingredients,” not sacrificing on security or aesthetics, prioritizing product documentation and transparency, educating and advocating for involvement and inclusion and taking all products into consideration, said Musanti, who emphasized that all segments and markets within the security industry are an opportunity to broach sustainability.

How can industry professionals get involved?

Musanti urged attendees to see stainability “as an opportunity, not a challenge,” encouraging security professionals to:

• Build a foundation: Incorporate sustainability from start to finish.
• Ask questions, like “Where was the product made?” “Where did it come from?” “How was it made?” “What is the environmental impact and/or what are the material ingredients?”
• Generate demand: Inquire about clients’ sustainability goals and demonstrate how you can contribute to those goals.
• Communicate the value: “Products, processes, practices, policies and planet [lead to] profit,” said Musanti.
• Measure success: Analyze the results, lessons learned and opportunities for growth.

Want to get more involved? There’s an advisory board for that! SIA’s ESG Advisory Board serves as a platform for dialogue about these critical marketplace issues, which may lead to enhancing ESG strategies to meet customer expectations, global ESG standards, investor interests and government requirements. Key advisory board initiatives include producing educational content around globally recognized socially responsible practices and proven ESG measures, thought leadership for security practitioners about managing ESG threats related to enterprise security, recognizing members that achieve defined ESG goals, presenting educational sessions at industry events and presenting SIA’s annual Security Industry Community Service Day. Learn more and get involved here.

SIA RISE is a community that fosters the careers of emerging leaders in the security industry. In addition to the SIA RISE Scholarship, SIA RISE offers fun in-person and virtual networking events for young professionals, the Talent Inclusion Mentorship Education (TIME) program for early and mid-career professionals, the 25 on the RISE Awards, career growth webinars and trade show education tracks and the annual AcceleRISE conference – a unique event designed to ignite new thinking, strengthen leadership and sharpen business acumen in young security talent. The SIA RISE community is open to all employees at SIA member companies who are young professionals under 40 or have been in the security industry for less than two years; learn more and sign up to join. 

See photos from AcceleRISE here. Plans are underway for next year’s AcceleRISE conference. To learn more and stay up to date, visit https://accelerise.securityindustry.org/.