What does a sustainability specialist do?
Sustainability specialists are professionals who are responsible for designing and executing programs on energy and resource conservation that will reduce the impact of an organization on the environment. These specialists must determine how the organization can operate in an environmentally responsible way by combining their business expertise and environmental factors. They are required to seek business solutions that will not have any adverse effect in the future by prioritizing renewable energy sources. Sustainability specialists must also help the management to make effective decisions through reports and cost-benefit analysis of proposals.
Sustainability specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real sustainability specialist resumes:
- Achieve executive buy-in and trained/ supervise a team of 5 HVAC and plumbing technicians to conduct commissioning.
- Accomplish aircraft paint refinishing procedures in accordance with OSHA state, federal and military specification.
- Collect and report GHG, energy and water data.
- Research the carbon neutrality of biomass in order to more accurately assess Middlebury's GHG emissions.
- Power plant calibrations on RTD's, thermocouples, transmitters, sensors, actuators, pressure switches & control components.
- Grant SharePoint permissions as requested to new site administrators.
- Collect, maintain and report sustainability, climate and energy data.
- Demonstrate excellent manual and finger dexterity at a rapid continuous rate.
- Conduct required training, facilitate root-cause analysis activities and monitor OSHA programs.
- Utilize SharePoint to create management reporting framework to track and measure projects for quality review and compliance regulations.
- Isolate source of and resolve issues with HVAC systems performance including testing and replacement of inoperable/ inefficient components and controls.
- Develop policy and procedures, train business leaders and EHS auditors, conduct big acquisition/integration assessments and critical incident investigations and audits
- Collaborate with CSR colleagues on strategy for global community charitable investments and sponsorships.
- Design a PowerPoint training presentation on internal controls specific to the organization through coordination with other state agency training programs.
Sustainability specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Sustainability Specialists are proficient in HVAC, Renewable Energy, and Logistics. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Listening skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Sustainability Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- HVAC, 10%
Isolated source of and resolved issues with HVAC systems performance including testing and replacement of inoperable/ inefficient components and controls.
- Renewable Energy, 8%
Developed renewable energy policy using organic waste and compostable packaging as feedstock to manufacture methane for energy.
- Logistics, 7%
Participate in quarterly critical item review meetings pertaining to logistics support of assigned workloads and review/revise material determinations and decisions.
- CAD, 6%
Assisted with the updating and completion of CAD drawings.
- Cycle Management, 6%
Maintain historical cost data in specific items to support FLCM (Facility Life Cycle Management).
- Provide Management, 6%
Provide management data input to MAJCOM data calls.
Common skills that a sustainability specialist uses to do their job include "hvac," "renewable energy," and "logistics." You can find details on the most important sustainability specialist responsibilities below.
Customer-service skills. One of the key soft skills for a sustainability specialist to have is customer-service skills. You can see how this relates to what sustainability specialists do because "computer support specialists must be patient and sympathetic." Additionally, a sustainability specialist resume shows how sustainability specialists use customer-service skills: "maintained operating cost as low as possible while insuring customer satisfaction.trained employees on each waste stream. "
Listening skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling sustainability specialist duties is listening skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "support workers must be able to understand the problems that their customers are describing and know when to ask questions to clarify the situation." According to a sustainability specialist resume, here's how sustainability specialists can utilize listening skills in their job responsibilities: "communicated with payroll processors, time administrators, supervisors, hr, etc. "
Problem-solving skills. sustainability specialists are also known for problem-solving skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to sustainability specialist responsibilities, because "support workers must identify both simple and complex computer problems, analyze them, and solve them." A sustainability specialist resume example shows how problem-solving skills is used in the workplace: "served as project leader in implementation of the iwss (integrated waste streams solutions) program of 6 hospital accounts. "
Speaking skills. For certain sustainability specialist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "speaking skills." The day-to-day duties of a sustainability specialist rely on this skill, as "support workers must describe the solutions to computer problems in a way that a nontechnical person can understand." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what sustainability specialists do: "represented multiple customer accounts in taking calls for overage, shortage, and damaged freight on tractor-trailer shipments. "
Writing skills. Another crucial skill for a sustainability specialist to carry out their responsibilities is "writing skills." A big part of what sustainability specialists relies on this skill, since "strong writing skills are useful for preparing instructions and email responses for employees and customers, as well as for real-time web chat interactions." How this skill relates to sustainability specialist duties can be seen in an example from a sustainability specialist resume snippet: "gain extensive experience in document collection and underwriting for fannie mae and freddie mac loans. "
The three companies that hire the most sustainability specialists are:
- Burns & McDonnell22 sustainability specialists jobs
- Gensler7 sustainability specialists jobs
- Americorps6 sustainability specialists jobs
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Compare different sustainability specialists
Sustainability specialist vs. Champion of sustainable design
A director of sustainability is responsible for maintaining the safety and security of the environment of the company's premises, including the efficiency of processes and the production impact on society. Directors of sustainability ensure that the business operates under strict adherence to regulatory requirements and environmental conservation. They also handle the profitability of materials used in the production, choosing the resources that promote sustainability and benefits to the environment. A director of sustainability facilitates and plans training and programs for the employees to educate them about sustainability factors and improve productivity goals.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, sustainability specialist responsibilities require skills like "sketch," "renewable energy," "fire protection," and "logistics." Meanwhile a typical champion of sustainable design has skills in areas such as "cycle analysis," "building design," "design phase," and "water conservation." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, champions of sustainable design reach similar levels of education than sustainability specialists. Champions of sustainable design are 4.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 4.8% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Sustainability specialist vs. Chief specialist, leed chief
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, sustainability specialist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "sketch," "hvac," "renewable energy," and "fire protection." Meanwhile, a chief specialist, leed chief has duties that require skills in areas such as "financial statements," "law enforcement," "healthcare," and "development projects." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, chief specialists, leed chief achieve higher levels of education than sustainability specialists. They're 12.4% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 4.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Sustainability specialist vs. Sustainable design consultant
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a sustainability specialist is likely to be skilled in "sketch," "renewable energy," "fire protection," and "logistics," while a typical sustainable design consultant is skilled in "sustainable design," "revit," "energy analysis," and "ae."
Most sustainable design consultants achieve a higher degree level compared to sustainability specialists. For example, they're 9.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Sustainability specialist vs. Director of sustainability
Types of sustainability specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
