There are relatively few people who can inspire others with the passion of their ideas, without drawing attention to themselves. Even fewer who can make a lasting contribution that forges strong links between doing well and doing good. When Mike Butters passed away on April 13, Canada lost a tireless advocate for global sustainability and responsible business, and a man who put high principles into practical actions.
I first became acquainted with Mike in the late 1990s when the provincial government opened an opportunity for renewable energy by saying that non-emitting power generators could be recognized with marketable emission reduction certificates. It fell to Mike to devise key parts of the standard method, which would reassure buyers and sellers of such certificates that the emissions were genuine, valid and believable. Mike’s interest in the subject went way beyond selling a consulting service to a client. He wanted to ensure that the broader social objective was met – establishment of an easily accessible means of ensuring, for generators large and small, that environmental benefits were properly recognized and valued. In fact, the objective was achieved – in that a standard method was created, which allowed a range of future renewable energy producers to verify and market emission reduction credits.
Often working quietly in an inconspicuous fashion, colleagues and friends say that Mike’s contributions were enormous. For example he played a key role in developing an investment roadmap for Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) and in supporting the production of SDTC’s “SD Business Cases” over the years. Clean Air Canada and the Pilot Emission Reduction Trading (PERT) organization, groups that played key roles in formulating systems for recognizing environmental value, both owe a great deal of their success to the work Mike did behind the scenes. Most recently, Mike had been working with Pollution Probe and helping it better position itself for the future.
Vicky Sharpe, SDTC’s President and CEO, worked closely with Mike for many years. One of his key contributions during that period was his work in the development of a comprehensive analytical tool, the SDTC’s “business case model.” The model is used continually by SDTC to prioritize investment proposals and align internal processes, as a means of ensuring the organization is continually focusing on relevant needs in the market. “His skills in understanding the importance of the market in technology-oriented decisions and his strategic views on this were critical in building the model,” she says. “Since that time Mike was involved in applying the model to many key sectors, the reports of which are on the SDTC website. This is a huge contribution to industry and Canadians to understand where to focus work and resources.” Ms. Sharpe also stresses Mike’s contributions in the early days of SDTC before it became the success it is today. “Mike assisted me directly in crafting key messages to promote the concept of cleantech, the role of SDTC and the importance of technology as an enabler for Canadians to take action against environmental degradation in a manner that strengthened the economy. … Mike showed his enduring commitment, enthusiasm and passion for developing new ideas to help Canada come to grips with how it monitors and decreases its emissions.”
In effect Mike was one of the people who brought the concept of life cycle costing to a higher level in Canada. It was not just a matter of economics to him, but of ensuring that all the benefits and effects of a proposed course of action could be systematically understood, and appropriate decisions enabled. “Being able to integrate all the values behind an initiative was one of his contributions,” is how Joan Woodrow, his wife, colleague and best friend, put it. He enriched the concept of life cycle costing, brought more factors into play, and “allowed initiatives to be looked at in a more holistic way.”
People who knew Mike describe an infectious sense of excitement that grew around him and his colleagues. “Getting the right people in the room was just heaven for him,” Joan says, and associates can remember many times walking by a room where he and others were meeting and sensing a high-energy buzz that would be spinning off of the group, sometimes going on for days at a time. “He was never content to let an idea lie,” she says: “it could always be improved, including his own ideas. He was trying to build the kind of atmosphere where anything is possible.”
Rick Whittaker, one of Mike’s long-time colleagues at SDTC, says that “What Mike developed for us was the foundational piece of the SDTC investment process.” He devised a piece of software that collects opinions, assumptions, and a wide range of other data points for assessing an application. The tool doesn’t just allow SDTC to prioritize investment proposals, it also guides policy by helping to produce non-technical recommendations. It is a system by which the organization can assess and manage the alignment of its ongoing work by rationally considering the perspective of a range of stakeholders including its funders, universities, government and others.
The sustainable development business case model includes a process called STAR (Sustainable Technology Asset Roadmap). Managing to be both objective and comprehensive as it considers widely disparate factors, the business case model has been key input to their prioritization and decision making since 2003. The system allows SDTC staff to evaluate proposals, getting at key questions and drivers, while constantly adapting to recognize changing conditions in the policy and social context. Key parts of the business case model include:
PEST (policy, economic, social, and technical considerations)
SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)
SPIN (situation, problem, implication, need).
Mr. Whittaker notes that, being one of the primary developers of the process, Mike made it possible for SDTC to ensure they are hitting relevant needs in the market and are likely to succeed. “It’s a reality check of data and a parallel stakeholder engagement processes – helps us to ensure we’re in alignment with stakeholder expectations. … It allows us to stay relevant.”
Mike spoke several times at APPrO events (then known as IPPSO). He was a panelist in a 2001 forum titled “Ensuring environmental performance” representing Clean Air Canada Inc. and PERT. In 2003 he spoke on “Emission Reduction Credits for NOx” on behalf of his own consulting company, MBC Consulting. He also played a leading role in several committees and working groups associated with APPrO.
For Mike, the desire to better the environment wasn’t just a matter of seeking policy change, but of making sure the market had the tools to move environmentally positive initiatives forward. “He wanted to make sure that changes were rooted in real achievable elements,” Joan says.
Simon Heath, Senior Director of Communications & Business Development for Pollution Probe, said, “The first time I met Mike was at a Quest (Quality Urban Energy Systems for Tomorrow) meeting in Guelph. It was one of his first official days with Pollution Probe and Mike jumped into the middle of the fray with both feet. When he started talking, I didn’t understand a word he was saying. Incomprehensible to me. I think at one point he actually said, “It’s all about the ‘gozintas’ and the ‘gozoutas’.” It was clear in that meeting that he was unbelievably passionate about building a sustainable future for us to live in. And by the looks in the eyes of the people around the table, it was clear he knew what he was talking about. Really knew.
“Over the past few months I’ve come to understand many of the things that Mike was saying in that first meeting and have thoroughly enjoyed working with him. He had an extremely rare combination of high-level visionary thinking, boundless energy and personal passion, and a detailed analytical approach to problem-solving. Many of us are lucky to have one of those traits. Mike was off the charts on all three.”
The night before Mike died, in one of the many conversations he and his wife treasured, he shared with her how much he was enjoying working at Pollution Probe, and with Bob Oliver, its Executive Director. He had a sense of how the organization could do much more, how it could be transformed. Joan says, “A lot of his experiences had prepared him to take the notion of integrating and aligning forces in the market place to produce something that could deliver sustainable results. He felt he was poised to help shape the conditions to let that happen at Pollution Probe.”
Mike stood for sustainability in the widest sense of the term. Although most analysts are content to work with interactions between the economy and the environment, part of Mike’s uniqueness was to constantly see community and social development as the third leg of sustainability. He wanted to ensure that solutions were developed in a way that’s mindful of lifestyle issues, community impacts, employment and social issues. He did what few others had done before: systematically married business tools with environmental analysis, while maintaining a sensitivity to a wide range of social development issues.
Mike Butters found joy in transforming great visions into long-term real-world processes. He made a big difference in society, but managed to do so in a modest way. His contributions to Canada and to the planet will be remembered not just for what was accomplished directly, but for the inspiration he instilled in others.
Mike passed away on April 13 in the garden at Cressy, in Prince Edward County, next to the water that he loved. He was 54 years old and will be remembered fondly by family, friends, and colleagues.
— Jake Brooks