Social Responsibility

Economic Prosperity

Environmental Stewardship

Who We Are 

Sustainability Consultants you Can Trust

LEO - The Sustainability Experts, is a nonprofit organization that helps corporations and organizations quantify their current environmental impacts and develop sustainable practices to enhance their environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and economic prosperity. We develop new tools for sustainability and strive to make sustainability practical for everyone. We support the entire sustainability cycle: plan, implement, track achievements, and repeat for continuous improvement.

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Our Mission

LEO is dedicated to advancing sustainability by leveraging innovative tools and information to motivate the competitive market. By utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability strategies, education, and implementation, we strive to make sustainability practical for everyone.


We develop integrative sustainability solutions designed to enhance the environmental stewardship, social responsibility and economic prosperity of organizations, corporations and individuals. We see a world filled with sustainable opportunities that can transform the way we live today and ensure the prosperity of future generations.

Sustainable Buildings

LEO's Green Building Program supports the development and implementation of metrics, tools and training for green buildings.

Emissions Reduction

LEO provides comprehensive emissions services that help companies and organizations understand, quantify, manage and report their emissions.

Sustainable Transportation

Our program is designed to move the transportation industry and employers toward higher performance in the areas where transportation has the greatest impacts.

Sustainable Agriculture

The objective of the sustainable agriculture standard-setting initiative is to establish a framework and metrics to determine whether an agricultural crop has been produced and handled in a sustainable manner.

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Sustainability Services

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Projects

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Emissions

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LEED Certifications

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"If we worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true really is true, then there would be little hope for advance."

-Orville Wright

Our Story

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Core Strategies

LEO's core strategies are to advance sustainability by making sustainability actions practical, create a broad understanding of sustainability actions, and engage the competitive market in driving increased sustainability and environmental improvement.


We do this by: (1) Providing consumers with information and tools that make it easy for them to make choices in their daily lives that promote sustainability, including making “green” purchasing decisions ; (2) Providing companies and organizations with information and tools that make it easy for them to make choices that promote sustainability, including making purchasing decisions that reduce the emissions associated with their supply chain, documenting their sustainability achievements, and communicating this to customers and potential customers.

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Founding

LEO is a charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was founded in 1997 by its president, Michael Arny, to advance sustainability and environmental improvement. At that time, Michael Arny was the Co-Chair of the Wisconsin State Committee, which had developed a state-wide emissions inventory and reduction cost study that covered all emissions sources in Wisconsin, including those that affect climate and human health. This study documented the need for action to reduce emissions and the tremendous practical opportunities that exist for reducing these emissions.


Having been a utility regulator for 14 years, Michael recognized the need for the competitive market to work on achieving environmental objectives in addition to legislation and regulation; hence, LEO was created. Since that time, LEO has worked on a broad range of interconnected environmental and sustainability issues, including emissions, building efficiency and emission reductions, transportation and agriculture. 

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LEED O+M CERTIFICATION

Our history demonstrates our commitment to and knowledge of sustainability, emissions reduction, and green building. Putting all of these under a single standard for emissions reporting only seems natural. Whether you want to find out the environmental and health impacts of your organization, product, event, or anything in-between, the Cleaner and Greener® standard is the most accurate, environmentally responsible framework you can choose.

Earn LEED-EB Credit

Of a Sustainable Future

Credits to Deane and Edith Arny - Donators of Valley Ridge Preserve – LEO’s

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Building a

Sustainable World

Since LEO's founding in 1997, we have successfully extended our reach to advance sustainability and improve the environment in buildings, organizations, events, transportation, and more. But the challenges we face are great and there is much more to be done. LEO is vigorously engaged in addressing these challenges to transform the way we live today and ensure the prosperity of future generations.

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We helped write the book on sustainable buildings,

now let us write the book for yours.

LEO's team of experienced sustainability professionals can help you achieve your building sustainability objectives. Whether your organization is just exploring sustainability or has an established program in place, we can provide a practical path to sustainability.

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In the News

Guest House at Johnson Foundation - Wingspread

March 8, 2023
Program : U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System : LEED for Existing Buildings: Operation & Management (LEED-EB: O&M)  LEED Certifications : Silver in 2010 (v2008), Gold in 2015 (v20009, Applying for next round of certification in 2020 (v2009) Building Type : Specialty Hotel Building Size: 38,766 Square Feet

Penn State University - Smeal College of Business Building

March 8, 2023
Program : U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) LEED Recertification Awarded : Platinum Level, September 21, 2021; Earned 80 points Version : LEED v4.1 Operations and Maintenance: Existing Buildings for initial and ongoing certifications Building Type : University Commercial Building Building Size : 224,841 ft2 Previous Certifications : LEED v4 Operations and Maintenance: Existing Buildings
prairie

LEO Launches Sustainability Project To Restore Prairie

March 12, 2019
The Valley Ridge Preserve is a 145-acre parcel located in the non-glaciated part of southwestern Wisconsin, near Richland Center. Now LEO, a company that offers sustainability services, wants to restore the prairie and make a pictorial record of the restoration project at the Preserve. And it's hoping to raise funds for the initiative through a Kickstarter project, through which anyone can lend their financial support. The restoration will take four years to be completed. The period will cover the planting, growth and flowering of the prairie. But the project needs the funding in order to sprout. "We only get the pledged funds if we reach or exceed our funding target, so we are counting on people to make pledges to support the project and receive project pledge rewards," said Michael Arny, the LEO's president. Prairies are part and parcel of American history and iconography. The term comes from the French word for meadow, since the first settlers did not have a specific word for this type of grassland. Before Europeans colonizers arrived in the 1880s, the ridges and valleys of this preserve were covered with a mix of prairie, oak savannah, sugar maple and elm woods. Now only 0.5 percent of the prairie is left. The Valley Ridge Preserve was permanently protected from development in 2003 by a conservation easement through the Driftless Area Land Conservancy. "The Valley Ridge Preserve is a very special place. Additional support beyond our goal will enable us to plant more acres of prairie and plant a greater number of species," said Leonardo Academy's Sustainability and Emissions Services Manager, Barbara McCabe. Besides their intrinsic value, conservationists in the Midwest are working to protect prairies to help save another icon that needs it in order to live: the Prairie Chicken. The majestic bird, which was ubiquitous across the American Midwest, is now threatened by loss of habitat to farmland. Efforts have been focused on the preservation of habitat for the bird, whose mating dance ritual is widely admired. There's an annual festival dedicated to the Prairie Chicken, which takes place in April in Cassoday, Kansas.
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General Questions

Have some questions about our company? Find the answers below. 

  • Why use a sustainability consultant for my project?


    LEO provides comprehensive sustainability consultant services that help companies and organizations understand, quantify, manage and report their overall sustainability, with consideration for all three components of sustainability.  The three legs of sustainability are described in various ways. Our favorites are: Environmental Stewardship, Social Responsibility, and Economic Prosperity.


    When you use a sustainability consultant for your project, we guide you through every choice, ensuring you receive the certifications you desire. A sustainability expert allows you to reach your goals while staying on budget and in compliance with guidelines from various sources. Contact us today to schedule an appointment with one of our qualified sustainability consultants!

  • What sustainability services do you offer?

    LEED®/ Green Buildings

    Enterprise /Overall Sustainability Services

    Sustainability assessments/audits

    Sustainability improvement strategies

    Sustainability achievement tracking

    Sustainability reporting & Annual Sustainability Reports

    Evaluate which sustainability reporting programs best fits your objectives

    Report preparation (Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) & others)

    Training on sustainability

    Both executive and staff training on sustainability issues.

    Emissions

    Emissions that affect climate

    Emissions that affect health

    Events

    Emissions Offsets

    Sustainable Exhibits

    Transportation

    Land Management

    Standards

    Training

    Education

  • How can we help with sustainable building certification?

    We Support the Following Building Recognition and Performance Improvement Programs:


    • EPA ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is a building performance benchmarking tool and a verification tool for earning the ENERGY STAR Label.
    • EPA WaterSense® Program is a partnership with manufacturers, retailers and distributors, and utilities to bring WaterSense labeled products to the marketplace and make it easy to purchase high-performing, water-efficient products.
    • EPA Green Lights Program helps to reduce pollutants released into the environment (mercury reduction).
    • LEED® Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council to improve the sustainable performance of buildings.
    • Cleaner and Greener® Certification is achieved based on the percent of building energy use emissions that are offset and can earn a credit point for LEED-EB O&M EAc6 or LEED-EB v2 EAc5.4.
    • Carbon Disclosure Project is a global system for companies and cities to measure, disclose, manage and share environmental information
    • Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB). Sustainability tracking for building portfolios

  • What are the goals of sustainable transportation initiatives through LEO?

    Program Goals


    • Secure grants for partners to support emission reduction projects for on and off road vehicles and equipment, construction equipment, stationary engines and alternative fuel fueling stations.
    • Create a repository of credible information on sustainable transportation.
    • Educate and raise awareness on the need for sustainable transportation through our newsletters and outreach materials for interested parties and transportation professionals and through participation at seminars and conferences.

  • How can I earn LEED points with habitat credits?


    Offsite Native Vegetation Credits can add up to 2 points for both LEED v3 and v4 rating systems, New Construction (NC) and Existing Building (EB) projects, and applies to all US states and all countries around the world. These credits protect native vegetation outside of the LEED project boundary and help provide vital habitat for native species as well as support local biodiversity.


    Native Vegetation Credit Support World-Wide

    Leonardo Academy secures native vegetation credits for those seeking to earn LEED credit and support native vegetation and species habitat in the US or internationally.


    The Valley Ridge Preserve

    Valley Ridge Preserve is a 145-acre parcel located in Richland County, Wisconsin. We are restoring the preserved lands to native woodland, oak savanna, and prairie vegetation. The Valley Ridge Preserve is a research, demonstration, and education site for sustainable land management practices. Offsite Native Vegetation Credits can be purchased to directly support the Valley Ridge Preserve.