Emphasizing sustainability, no matter what stage you are at

MCS Influencer Mark Gies says it's important for businesses at every level of the value chain, including contractors, to understand what sustainability means.

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Mark Gies of S-5!, standing in for MCS Influencer Rob Haddock.

Megan Ellsworth: Hello, everyone. My name's Megan Ellsworth here at Metalcoffeeshop.com and I am back again for an April influencer topic response with Mark Gies from S-5!. Hi, Mark. This month's question is, how can contractors use sustainability in their business and sales? So Mark, what do you think?

Mark Gies: Cool. Good question, I think. I guess what's going on in my head is just thinking that it's important for businesses at all level of the value chain and roofing from the material suppliers through the contractors, to just really be aware of what's happening in our country and our world as far as more awareness of sustainability and working towards goals to be more sustainable. So I think it's important for every level and this includes contractors, for contractors, to really understand what really that means, not only to them, but what that means to people they may buy products from and who they buy products from. And a big part of it with roofing material is that material itself. Where does it come from? How much pollution is being made or being reduced in the manufacturing of it? Are they tracking it? A lot of large companies that have set up what I'd call ESG, environmental social guidance, sustainability type programs, one big part of it is tracking their materials to make sure that they're doing whatever they can to improve the sustainability of the materials as you go from cradle to grave.

So I think it's important for the contractors to be aware and then they may make decisions of who they're buying from, maybe not immediately, but down in the future, based on what company or some of these companies, like the big companies in the industry, like the Owens Corning, US Steel, et cetera, what they're doing and how they are improving our world by doing this. So I guess it's, the contractor's one step from the building owner. So they're the ones that are influencing the building owner to make the decisions about buying material that may be more sustainable than other materials. So they're a big part of that chain and I think to learn about it and then to potentially make decisions and incorporate that into your businesses, how we are formally working on the materials we buy and then, how do we conduct our own business? Do we recycle the waste that we come off of the roof with when we're building? So then you can start incorporating your own policies and your own methods of what you can do to make that value chain, all the way to the end user, as sustainable as possible.

And then, I would say, don't be ashamed to talk about it. The stuff that you are doing, I think people want to hear it. And you can use the social media, you can use, when you talk messaging, when you talk to customers that you are aware of it, you're getting more and you're starting to make these decisions and it may, I think, people like that, so this is something that you can use as a selling point and I think that's something that those messages you can definitely communicate. Don't be ashamed, I guess, to communicate those to your customers, the contractor's customers, all that they're learning, all their new decisions they're making, if they do start making those decisions. Don't be afraid to talk about them, because I think the building owners, your customers do want to hear that and they make decisions to hire you more often or to use you more often if you are taking steps in that direction, I guess.

Like I said, don't be ashamed to shout out. People may say, "Well, if I'm doing this, it's almost disingenuous to do it for the wrong reasons," but I think you should do for the right reasons but then don't be afraid to talk about it. Don't be afraid to message that to your own customer base, because I think, the way we're going in the world we're going, that is becoming some of these concerns and some of these better ways to practice business, all the way from the material beginning to the material end. All those players, the more work that's being done to document it and to track it and to make it better, people, I think, the end user, does appreciate that and the contractor is a part of that chain and they can not only make their own decisions, but they can also communicate that to their own customers.

The only thing that I would say is, I think he's made a point that research, research, research and I think it is not easy. There's a lot of buzzwords going around, there's a lot of... It is tough to unwind. It's pretty complicated to dig in. But I think the more people can do, the easier it does become. And I think there are things happening now. It's going to definitely be dynamic. What I see in the world, I think people are doing things now that may be fine-tuned over the years, but I think, as you said, it's really good for every level including and especially the contractor level, it's important to learn to do the work, to research and to learn about it.

Mark Gies is the director of strategy and market development at S-5!