GE employs a rigorous review and qualification process to assess which products and services should be included in the ecomagination portfolio. Ecomagination offerings must significantly and measurably improve customers':
- Operating performance or value proposition and
- Environmental performance.
The ecomagination Product Review (EPR) process not only ensures that all ecomagination offerings meet these criteria, but also that all associated marketing claims are clear, compelling and substantiated. The process is run by a core team of GE representatives from the ecomagination group, corporate legal counsel, environmental health and safety counsel and product marketing teams from the business. GreenOrder, an LRN advisory group focused on sustainability strategy, verifies the offerings’ claims.
To begin, GE businesses nominate products and services that they believe meet the ecomagination criteria. Factors guiding nomination include the product or service's impact on key environmental factors such as energy consumption and water use, along with its ability to deliver financial and operating benefits to customers. If the team agrees that the product may meet the ecomagination criteria, then the business creates a detailed EPR Report including performance data, marketing claims and detailed fact-based proofs for each claim.
GreenOrder reviews the EPR Report in detail to confirm that the stated product benefits are significant and measureable relative to the appropriate baseline. GreenOrder also helps ensure that the proofs and underlying sources are solid, that any environmental tradeoffs are considered, and that marketing claims are clear, compelling and substantiated.
Upon approval by the team, the claims are finalized and then made available for use in GE’s printed materials, in advertisements, and at www.ge.com/ecomagination. Each product is reviewed regularly to ensure that performance claims are based on the latest relevant benchmarks and reflect any significant product or market changes.
The EPR process is a core part of how GE develops and commercializes products — strengthening the product development and marketing teams' awareness of customers' environmental performance needs and marketing best practices.