The Brewers Association (BA) sustainability subcommittee has recently added two new members—Christian Ettinger of Hopworks Urban Brewery and Kris Spaulding of Brewery Vivant.

Christian Ettinger is the brewmaster and founder of Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) in Portland, Oregon. Ettinger strives to produce world-class beer as sustainably as possible with the two main focuses being construction and operations. As buildings use 70 percent of the nation’s energy resources, HUB has designed long-term, resource conserving solutions into its facilities. The company’s operational sourcing strategy is local, organic and very creative. Every HUB department is pushed to find a responsible solution to all challenges. What isn’t mitigated is mopped up with carbon and water credits and a robust compost and recycling program that diverts more than 90 percent of waste from landfill.

In 2012, Christian and Hopworks earned the State of Oregon’s Grand Champion Award for Sustainability. In addition, the company received the BEST Award from the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability and has been recognized three times as one of the 100 Best Green Places to Work by Oregon Business magazine.

“I am thrilled for the opportunity to contribute to the national awareness of sustainable opportunities in the brewing industry. As a hands-on operator of a small organic brewery, I know how intimidating ‘going green’ can be and I look forward to knocking down these barriers collectively,” said Ettinger.

Brewery Vivant is a purposely small craft brewery in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As co-owner with her husband Jason, Kris Spaulding leads Vivant’s sustainability efforts and manages all aspects of human resources. She was the driving force in the pursuit of Vivant’s LEED and B Corporation certification. Kris has always been passionate for environmental and social issues. She is a firm believer in triple bottom line thinking and includes employee attraction & retention and safety within Vivant’s focus on sustainability. She has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Michigan in Natural Resources and Environment and a Master’s of Business Administration from Grand Valley State University.

“I’m excited to be on the BA sustainability committee and look forward to helping advance the conversation and knowledge around sustainability in our industry,” said Spaulding. “Most craft brewers are naturally committed to a better way of doing business but don’t always know how they can make the difference in their community and their businesses. I love that the BA recognizes this value and has a group actively working towards helping brewers create an industry that is forward thinking and sustainable.”

The BA Sustainability subcommittee works to improve supply surety by conserving resources. By further development of the Brewers Association Sustainability Manuals, this group is working to sustain breweries and their communities into the future. Members of the BA sustainability subcommittee are Margaret Bishop, Cheri Chastain (Co-Chair), Christian Ettinger, Ian Hughes, Saul Kliorys, Peter Kruger, Eric Larkin, Walker Modic, Marcus Powers, Kris Spaulding, John Stier, Katie Wallace (Co-Chair) and Brewers Association staff members Paul Gatza, Kari Harrington, Chuck Skypeck, and Chris Swersey.