Mike Arny  from the Leonardo Academy, Eric Hansel of EGM Green and others from the slot and operational side first began to work on an initial framework document in order to establish a starting point from which to launch discussions once a Committee was selected. The initial intent was to award a prize contract to the operators who took place in the standard draft process. That idea to incentivize this process quickly transformed into a system that will more widely acknowledge the achievements of "sustainable operators". EGM Founder and Committee Chair, Eric Hansel felt that "if sustainable practices are to stick in the industry, more industry and non-industry support is needed, which wouldn't come about simply through a contest". Like the green building movement, more companies strive for this and to continue improving step-by-step ."

Early on, it was also decided that ANSI (American National Standards Institute) guidelines would be followed in developing the gaming standard. Leonardo Academy is an ANSI accredited standards developer, and this project will be carried out in accordance with Leonardo Academy's ANSI approved standard development process. This project was announced through the ANSI Project Initiation Notification System on October 14, 2008 and has the ANSI standard development number BSR/ LEO 8000-200x.

It was the hope of organizers that a Committee charged to help in developing the standard would consist of diverse skills sets and backgrounds. The Committee selection was a rigorous process that began in January 2009 and ended a few months later. Within the first few meetings, the Committee immediately determined that it was necessary to tackle the standard one piece at a time, starting up-stream in value chain with the slot machine manufacturers.

Since spring of 2009, the group has made three revisions; each time paying close attention to possible challenges of implementation and the feasibility of applying such measures. It is expected that a final version will be completed by the end of the second quarter before it is released for public comment, reviewed one last time, accepted and published.

When the Standard is finalized and released to the public, it will provide:

• Guidance to manufacturers on how to increase the sustainability of the slot machines they manufacture
• A standard for independent third party verification of the sustainability achievements of slot machines
• Metrics for sustainability commerce for slot machines

¨ In procurement of slot machines, this standard can be referenced to easily define the requested level of sustainability performance

¨ In sales of slot machines, this standard can be referenced to easily define the provided level of sustainability performance

 It is expected that a reporting outline template and supplemental resources will accompany the final document.