How Sustainability Triples Your Tech Bottom Line

February 2025  — Sustainability isn’t only about protecting the environment—it’s about creating new value. At ISE in February 2025, the AVIXA Sustainability Advisory Group explored how integrating sustainability into business strategy can triple the benefits: for people, for the planet, and for profit. The panel discussion, moderated by Kelly Bousman of AVI-SPL, brought together leaders from across the AV industry to share how sustainability is transforming how companies grow and innovate.

AVI-SPL: Redefining Sustainability as a Growth Mindset

AVI-SPL emphasized that sustainability is fundamentally a growth model. It’s about building businesses that thrive—companies that are not just resilient but positioned for accelerated success. Research from Deloitte, Morgan Stanley, and McKinsey consistently shows that sustainable companies outperform their peers in revenue growth, investor attraction, employee engagement, and market positioning.

The conversation centered on the Triple Bottom Line – a framework introduced by sustainability expert John Elkington in 1994 to encourage businesses to measure success not just in financial terms, but also by their impact on people and the planet. The discussion reinforced that the real power of sustainability is in its multiplier effect. When companies embed sustainability into their operations, they unlock efficiencies, strengthen customer relationships, deepen employee engagement, and drive long-term profitability.

Sustainability in Action: Industry Leaders Share Their Strategies

Sustainability isn’t a one-size-fits-all journey. Throughout the discussion, four AVIXA member companies—TAD, Barco, Shure, and Legrand—shared how they’re applying sustainability principles in ways that make business sense while advancing environmental and social impact.

TAD: Design Thinking for Sustainable Growth

Jon Reeves of TAD emphasized that achieving sustainability and the Triple Bottom Line requires design thinking—applying a structured approach to problem-solving that integrates people, planet, and profit into decision-making.

TAD’s approach begins with key questions: What benefits do we gain from the technology we already have? What are the gaps and what should we consider for the future? The replies determine where technology intervention is needed by mapping ideal experience goals and identifying key user personas—employees, visitors, and real estate managers. From there, the process aligns technology investments with ESG goals. Companies can drive environmental progress by extending product lifecycles, optimizing installations, and prioritizing governance while improving user experiences.

Barco: The Business Case for Eco-Design

Thomas Serbruyns of Barco illustrated how sustainable design can meet environmental goals and strengthen business performance. Recognizing that product impact is their biggest sustainability lever, Barco developed an eco-design strategy, including a proprietary eco-scoring model to evaluate energy efficiency, materials, packaging, and end-of-life considerations.

Barco embedded this model into their product development, ensuring that sustainability is assessed alongside cost and performance. The result? More energy-efficient optical components, reduced use of hazardous materials, and more intelligent resource allocation. For customers, this translates into lower energy bills and reduced material costs. And as raw material prices rise, Barco’s commitment to recycled materials keeps production costs in check—highlighting how sustainability is a business advantage, not a trade-off.

Shure: Packaging Innovation for Impact

Althea Ricketts of Shure talked about how Shure has long prioritized sustainability across its operations, with a people-first philosophy dating back 100 years to its founder. Shure’s most recent sustainability focus areas have been packaging and material innovation.

When redesigning packaging for one of its most popular microphones, Shure achieved a 30% reduction in its packaging footprint, significantly decreasing material use and shipping emissions. Shure has also committed to transitioning to 100% recycled and/or renewable packaging materials by 2030, and they’re ahead of schedule. These efforts reduce waste and lower costs, giving us a clear example of how sustainability and profitability go hand in hand.

Legrand: Circular Economy Leadership

Kathryn Gaskell showed how Legrand embraces the circular economy by designing products for longevity and reuse. A standout example is their projection screen refurbishment initiative—replacing only the screen surface rather than the entire unit. This simple shift extends product lifespan, saves customers money, and reduces carbon emissions from manufacturing and transport.

Transparency is another core pillar of Legrand’s sustainability strategy. By publishing Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Health Product Declarations (HPDs), and Declare Labels, Legrand provides customers with the information they need to make sustainable purchasing decisions. Their leadership in product transparency is helping to set a new standard for accountability across the industry.

Collaboration: The Key to Industry-Wide Sustainability

The panelists agreed—no company can achieve sustainability in isolation. The AV industry thrives on connectivity, and sustainability must be approached the same way. AVIXA is the common ground that connects us all, providing a forum for pre-competitive collaboration where companies can share best practices, align on industry standards, and accelerate collective impact.

By working together, companies can identify opportunities across the value chain, leverage shared data and insights, and scale solutions that drive efficiency and innovation. As the panelists emphasized, sustainability is cooperative, not competitive—and the businesses that collaborate will lead the way in shaping a more resilient, profitable future for the AV industry.

Conclusion: The Future is Sustainable—and Profitable

Sustainability is more than an environmental commitment—it’s a strategic growth driver. Companies that align their business models with people, planet, and profit don’t just mitigate risk; they unlock new opportunities, strengthen customer and investor relationships, and position themselves for long-term success.

As this panel discussion demonstrated, sustainable AV businesses don’t just survive—they thrive. By working together, we can ensure that our industry leads the way in innovation, impact, and profitability for years to come.

Join the Movement

The AVIXA Sustainability Advisory Group is calling on all industry stakeholders to take part in shaping a more sustainable future. Whether your focus is product design, systems integration, operations, or user experience, you can drive meaningful change.

Interested in joining the conversation? Contact group co-chairs Thomas Serbruyns, VP of Strategic Initiatives at Barco NV, or Kelly Bousman, SVP of ESG and Sustainability at AVI-SPL to get involved.