There's a new club on the block at Columbia University School of Business. It's green - not as one might expect, as the color of money, but as the color of a healthy environment.

The Green Business Club was founded this academic year by Chris Baker, Joe Chmielewski and Kate Grossman, all CBS '09. It's an offshoot of the umbrella Social Enterprise Club and has about 140 dues-paying members.

On the club's website, its vision is described as engaging "students, the Columbia Business School community and business leaders across industries on the intersection of business and sustainability." And according to Grossman, the group's president, the numerous activities under way so far this semester are "good ways to test theory for those also interested in moving into green business."

Chmielewski, who's the GBC Vice President/Strategy, says that his job last summer with Deloitte Consulting reinforced his belief that in the business community, sustainability "is not only a legitimate topic, but a critical one, and that profitability and attention to the environment can go hand-in-hand."

Hence the highly practical GBC agenda, ranging from a light bulb exchange to a recycling bin audit to a speakers series to the greening of CBS conferences. Grossman says the GBC's organizational model is "more decentralized," working with teams, each of which has a discreet effort.

With the recycling bin audit, for example, a seven-person team checked the CBS building for bins in public areas, then approached Facilities for additional bins and for proper labels on all bins. This was followed up by a marketing campaign, as Grossman says, "using all our theory from our classes."

Based on their perspectives, the GBC is now drawing up recommendations for the new SBC building on the Manhattanville Campus, urging that the building seek LEED Platinum certification - the highest sustainability standard possible for a new building. The United States Green Building Council describes the LEED system as "the nationally accepted benchmark for design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings." In this framework, Grossman says, GBC members are discussing green features for building users and people in the community.

The speakers series is part of GBC's educational mission. Grossman and Chmielewski are quick to point out that even students who don't plan to become directly involved in green business want some sustainability education. To date, speakers have included Steve Sturm, Group Vice President of Americas Strategic Research, Planning, Corporate Communication, Toyota North America, who talked about his company's sustainability efforts; and Carter Bales, author of the McKinsey Climate report.

Among other educational events each month are alumni round tables and speakers forums co-sponsored with other clubs.  

Nate McMurry, CBS '10, is the club's Assistant Vice President for Careers. The career emphasis, he says, is part of the effort to "build an infrastructure so students learn about opportunities in green business, including reaching out to companies interested in green business and making ourselves more attractive to green business."

McMurry is also part of the team focused on greening Columbia. Among their projects to date: developing standards for corporate events, including recycling, using biodegradable and recycled items, using 100 percent recycled business cards, and paying better attention to climate control. The group has already purchased reusable mugs for happy hours.

On October 24, the GBC tackled its conference greening goal at CBS's seventh annual Social Enterprise Conference, where Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman and CEO of General Electric was the keynote speaker.

Grossman says that she and the greening team "met with the major organizers to outline how they should think about their roles in respect to greening. The logistics manager did a great job of thinking ahead so responsible choices could be exercised."

Conference greening included use of compostable service items such as utensils and cups; water stations rather than bottled water; recycled paper, plastic and glass; and gift bags containing only useful and environmentally responsible items.

Chmielewski says that when he came to CBS a year ago, he was concerned about being one of only a handful interested in sustainability. But, he says, he's found "a network of extraordinarily passionate individual using business to make a change for the better."

GBC gives students an exposure to ideas from speakers representing pre-eminent brands - people students want to work for, he says. These conversations and the information they provide, Chmielewski says, make students better candidates - and three to five years down the road, immune from having to acknowledge today's equivalent of "I don't know how to use the Internet."