There’s value beyond morale when permitting casual work attire. Just ask Japan.

The Super Cool Biz campaign (an effort to reduce energy usage), from the Japanese Ministry of the Environment (MOE), helped the country avoid widespread brownouts and blackouts last summer. The challenge was especially severe as the nation dealt with diminished nuclear energy output following the March 2011 earthquake/tsunami/nuclear crisis.

Super Cool Biz builds on the MOE’s Cool Biz campaign for the reduction of energy usage (originally launched in 2005). The campaign includes recommendations to set air conditioners to 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit), encouraging employees to take more summer vacation than usual and wear super-cool attire (including, at times, Hawaiian shirts and sandals).

As far as many are concerned, that’s green to an extreme. Next up, we need to apply these lessons to the meeting and event industry—but innovate, as we always do.

Image (CC) Peter E. Lee – Donald Duck at Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawaii