Some of us get stymied by our lack of imaginations when it comes to trying new and untested frontiers. Sometimes we’re short on vision and, as a result, we lack the conviction needed to branch out and try new boundaries.

That’s one of the reasons we’ve come up with 56 ways to help you make your place of business more eco-friendly.

These green initiatives are part of a new program by the National Association of Green Agents and Brokers (NAGAB), a non-profit group of realtors committed to greening the world in which we live. The program, which is aimed at businesses, is an opportunity for your company to dramatically improve its reputation as a leader of environmental citizenship.

Becoming a NAGAB member organization is a great way to build your brand and reach key audiences such as customers, suppliers and employees. NAGAB and its Greenrealestate® program are trusted brands that evoke high awareness levels among Canadian consumers and business leaders.

NAGAB provides corporations with a complete toolkit of communications support materials to help your company realize the full marketing and public relations benefits of your NAGAB affiliation. These can include a listing in the NAGAB Greenrealestate® office index three times a year, a company listing in each NAGAB e-newsletter which gets distributed to thousands of Canadian realtors and a NAGAB certificate for your lobby announcing your Greenrealestate® designation to corporate visitors.

Qualifying for the program is simple. As mentioned, we have a checklist of more than 50 initiatives that will make your company eligible. Your firm’s green plan might include replacing memos with email messages, installing low-flow aerators on sink faucets and changing the landscaping outside your office to include drought resistant plants. Or you might insulate all hot water pipes and tanks, apply window film to replace solar heat gain and use recycled laser and copier toner cartridges.

Toronto firms  Freeman Real Estate Ltd. & Market Point Realty  will become the first companies to display NAGAB’s Corporate Green Designation. A total of almost  50  agent in both companies ƒ have completed or are about to complete their accreditation as a Greenagent®.

The 40-year-old firm founded by Barry Freeman subsidized the cost of the program for its agents.

“It’s important to have agents who can talk intelligently about energy efficiency and sustainability,” says Freeman. “It’s also another skill set they can promote that sets them apart and that will hopefully earn them more money.”

Being a realtor with green credentials will automatically raise your status in the buying public’s eye. As society evolves and becomes more sensitive to matters of sustainability, you are positioned to step in, offer your know-how and seal the deal.

The Bathurst Street realtor scored an Emerald level – the highest ranking– thanks to the many green upgrades it made during a recent renovation of its site. Required initiatives for an Emerald rating are 20 or more, for a Jade level corporations need to implement 15 to 19 green projects and for a Turquoise designation it’s 10 to 15 initiatives.

In an effort to build awareness, NAGAB will also offer its new corporate program to real estate boards free of charge in the hopes that their green stewardship will ultimately trickle down to their membership. Boards and private companies that qualify will be entitled to offer the Greenrealestate® program to their agents at a 60 per cent discount.

“As a realtor who came through the age of consumption, it’s an honour to be at the forefront today leading our industry through the age of conservation,” says Freeman, whose real estate career began in 1966. “If we can get CEOs and presidents of real estate companies promoting the program from the top down it will encourage more agents to become certified. That’s good for our future and the health of our planet.”

Elden Freeman B.A., M.E.S, broker is the founder and executive director of NAGAB. Freeman says he believes that realtors can and should play an important role in educating their clients on increasing energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. For more information about NAGAB or to sign up for a coursevisit www.nagab.org. To contact Elden Freeman call  1-877-524-9494 or email him at  elden@nagab.org.