The National Association of REALTORS® was recently recognized by the Business Intelligence Group as a global leader in sustainability promotion. The annual Sustainability Awards honor organizations that have made sustainability an integral part of their business practice, highlighting NAR for the work it’s done since implementing its association-wide Sustainability Program in 2017. The program has catalyzed a surge of member interest and support, integrating corporate social responsibility and triple bottom line concepts into NAR’s decision-making practices.
“The National Association of REALTORS® is honored and encouraged to earn a 2019 Sustainability Award from the Business Intelligence Group,” says NAR President John Smaby, a second-generation REALTOR® and broker at Edina Realty in Edina, Minn. “This award validates NAR’s efforts over recent years to reduce our association’s operational impact, establish strategic sustainability priorities and encourage our members to do the same, beginning with the development of our Sustainability Program in 2017.”
NAR has taken recent steps to fully engage its 1.3 million members on the increasingly relevant matter of sustainability. Specifically, the association has worked at local, state, and national levels to adopt sustainability conversations and committees; it has hosted annual Sustainability Summits to continue progress of sustainability initiatives around the real estate industry; and has adopted a set of 15 Sustainability Strategic Priorities to integrate throughout the association.
“The role of sustainability is becoming more prevalent in most organizations, but these nominees have provided everyone with a leadership standard we can all model,” said Maria Jimenez, chief nominations officer, Business Intelligence Group, when announcing the 2019 award winners. “We are so proud to reward and recognize all of our winners and finalists, as they provide the leadership and vision needed to protect our environment.”
The Sustainability Advisory Group’s inaugural meeting was in May of 2018 and focused on coordinating and articulating NAR’s sustainability efforts. In just six months, the group authored a set of 15 Sustainability Priorities for the organization and achieved unanimous Leadership Team approval.
“While the impact of these initiatives can already be felt amongst our membership and in communities across the country, NAR is committed to continue leading the industry in this direction,” Smaby concludes. “We look forward to working to increase awareness about sustainability for REALTORS® and highlighting the business opportunities for agents who better understand home performance, valuation and sustainable development.”
For more information, please visit www.nar.realtor.
