It was with particular interest that I took in a Board of Trade presentation on the state of British Columbia's green economy. After all, Vancouver is vying for the Greenest City In The World title. Green business is a big deal out here.

The presentation, by Paul Shorthouse of the Globe Foundation, was a convincing and positive one. There was plenty of evidence we were moving in the right direction.

But my fellow Board members were less than resounding in their endorsement. Time after time, the presentation got bogged down in debate.

The biggest bone of contention turned out to be language. There was no shared perception of what 'Green Economy' even meant -- or should mean.

I spoke with Shorthouse after his presentation. Turns out our reaction wasn't unique. Green is a loaded word. Tie it to "economy," and you have the makings of a perfect storm.

There's the specter that green business sacrifices return on the altar of values. Even if you get past this, you're stuck with the conundrum of how to weight green inputs and outputs. As Shorthouse said, "Is it green infrastructure if it creates lower emissions, but requires high resource use for construction? Is it green energy if it means burning waste for power?"

Green has become a political hornet's nest in our province. Even bike lanes are a powder keg. And this is the left coast we're talking about.

Shorthouse believes it comes down to green by choice vs. green by necessity. "We haven't seen enough shock to force us to fast-track change. Vancouver isn't faced with nuclear reactors melting down after a tsunami. Instead, we're trying to push forward without a stick, and only a very distant carrot. People don't like that."

The Brand Is Broken

As a creative director with a passion for green innovation, I've seen brand after brand, company after company, institution after institution, struggle with the thorniness of 'green.'

I believe it all comes down to how to brand sustainability -- if you brand it at all.

From my own experience, I believe the brand of sustainability is broken. If we're to build a green future, it won't be by waving the green flag.

So what if, instead of talking about Vancouver's green economy, we just spoke of our innovation economy?

As Ram Nidumolu, CK Prahalad and MR Rangaswami pointed out in their Harvard Business Review article, "Why Sustainability Is Now The Key Driver Of Innovation," the "key to progress, particularly in times of economic crisis, is innovation." And winning in an economy of dwindling resources and punitive environmental regulation means creating green innovation.

Green innovation is already rampant in business. Eco-efficiency, supply chain transparency, green IT -- all lead to products, services and business models that can thrive in our new world.

Take away the green moniker and the innovations remain. In fact, progressive companies like Nike seldom trot out the G word -- they prefer to brand themselves performance and technology innovators.