When it comes to coastal or lakeside projects, owners and their key stakeholders need to consider the impact of construction on the land, air and surrounding bodies of water. Regardless of project location, it’s important to preserve delicate ecosystems and habitats to maintain balance.

Environmental certification programs are just one tool industry leaders leverage to mitigate negative impacts and uphold a mission to preserve, maintain and improve natural ecological environments. Green Marine is one of the top certification programs dedicated to helping project owners better protect coastlines and create a more sustainable future through enhanced environmental performance.

What is Green Marine?

Green Marine is an environmental certification program made up of Canadian and US-based ship owners, ports, terminals, shipyards, and seaway corporations.

Under the program, certified participants take a voluntary, transparent and inclusive approach to addressing key environmental issues using a series of 14 performance indicators. Green Marine sets these indicators to identify environmental issues including air, land and water pollution as a result of maritime operations. The indicators are then used to gather comprehensive, measurable results that assess how certified participants have applied them in capital projects to protect habitats and species in the area.

Green Marine’s far-reaching environmental program helps any marine company to reduce its environmental footprint. Whether registered as a certified participant, a program supporter or partner, Green Marine provides a common ground to share knowledge and advance environmental excellence.

Participants vs Partners

Participants in the Green Marine certification program are interested in lessening the environmental impact, and continuously improving the sustainability of their marine operations. The certification program introduces participants to a detailed framework to help them measure their existing environmental footprint, practices and environmental impacts. Participants’ results are measured annually on a scale of 1 to 5 levels. Once they have achieved a certain level, participants then work towards a goal of increasing their rating through mitigating actions.

Partners, on the other hand, include suppliers of services, products, technology and/or equipment. Partners support certified participants by offering tools or opportunities that can improve their environmental sustainability results.

Partnering to Level Up

Finding enough capacity to tackle capital projects, especially in a time of economic recovery, can be challenging in any industry. Ports, shipyards and terminals are consumed by day to day operations and may have limited resources when it comes to managing Green Marine’s certification program, funding and/or capital projects themselves.

A Green Marine partner, particularly one specializing in sustainable construction and/or project management, can provide support services to help participants reach the next certification tier by:

  • offering a range of Green Marine certification support services through the Port Emissions Inventory Tool (PEIT). This involves working with owners to complete an excel-based tool with information gathered from the port, which alleviates capacity constraints and enhances reporting quality.
  • providing dedicated evaluation support to Level 1-2 participants by collecting and submitting data through PEIT.
  • providing specialized expertise to Level 3-5 participants. This includes partnering with an expert in capital program delivery to support planning, funding and project management functions.

By engaging with a service provider that is well versed in capital projects, programs and Green Marine certification, participants can achieve higher evaluation results and strengthen their ability to deliver quality, environmentally safe projects along the coast.

Connect with a Qualified Green Marine Partner

Whether you’re interested in committing to a greener future, or looking to become a supporting partner, Green Marine can help you achieve your environmental goals. Visit the Green Marine website to learn more.