Category: Green/Clean Technology

This is the time of year when many organizations issue their CSR reports. One of the most significant trends we see is the shift to on-line only sustainability reporting. Some leaders, like HP and BP, have gone so far as to place a “sustainability” navigation tab on their home page instead of burying it under the “about us” tab. In addition, many companies are beginning to integrate on-line stakeholder engagement into their reporting sites although many are hampered by issues of compliance and corporate culture.

Why are organizations starting to move from static to dynamic, easy to navigate reporting? There are several reasons:

1) It saves time and resources – companies can allocate internal resources to update content and information more efficiently throughout the year versus the typical annual process which consists of a mad dash to get data, information and a report ready. By the time the report is generated, it often already is out of date.

2) It saves money - organizations can update the report regularly with new messaging and data using a template based on their brand — they don’t have to pay for a whole new look every year as they do with an annual report

3) It makes life easier – when a stakeholder calls requesting information, it’s much easier for investor relations to send them an email with the link to the site containing the exact information they need. This makes for happy stakeholders.

On-line stakeholder engagement is also a new trend. We are now seeing an integration of this type of stakeholder engagement with the CSR report. On-line engagement becomes another channel for feedback and helps to build an on-line stakeholder community. It doesn’t mean that in-person stakeholder engagement goes away. If developed well it provides a quick and easy source of feedback regarding the report and information provided. It can also be a place for sharing best practices and open dialogue.

What do both of these on-line channels mean to stakeholders?

1) Quick and easy access to information – no matter who the stakeholder (investor, customer, employee) they can find what they are looking for easily. If the on-line report is developed well, the stakeholder should be able to find the desired information in 2-3 clicks. And maybe they won’t need to call investor relations!

2) It shows a level of commitment on the part of the company. Having sustainability on the home page communicates to stakeholders that sustainability is an integral part of the organization’s strategy.

3) It provides a broader group of stakeholders an opportunity to voice their opinions outside of those selected by the firm for in-person meetings and focus groups.

Taking the CSR report on-line and creating on-line stakeholder engagement positions organizations as leaders in sustainability. SolutionSet provides the consulting, technology and design services that can build these channels for your organization.

For more information contact: greenbiz[at]solutionset[dot]com

Sustainability has become an important topic for most major companies. Thousands of businesses around the globe currently track and publicly report their carbon footprint.  Initially, pressure from customers, employees and shareholders was a major driver for companies to monitor and report their energy and environmental performance. However, many companies now see sustainability projects as offering the highest ROI of any initiatives they undertake.

IT operations in large organizations typically consume a great deal of energy. Electricity can account for up to 15 to 20% of the data center operating costs. The latest statistics show that data center electricity consumption will double every 5 years. Data centers account for 2% of electricity consumption countrywide and this is growing. More than 30% of servers in the U.S. operate at less than 2% capacity and this is only one of the inefficiencies contributing to wasted electricity.

SolutionSet helps our clients meet the challenges and opportunities of optimizing energy consumption in IT operations:

Assessment and Definition:  we review your IT operation processes and current sustainability activities and recommend strategies and programs to bridge gaps and build upon opportunities.

Planning and Design: working with your internal teams we develop a plan focusing on the areas of greatest impact and ROI that may include:

• Underutilized server and other infrastructure resources
• Suboptimal hardware and applications requiring more hardware than necessary
• Overcooling and hotspots
• Expensive and non-renewable energy sources

Program Development and Implementation: based on these plans, we help you:

• Minimize underutilized server resources through virtualization (cloud computing) technologies
• Optimize servers and application to require less servers and consume less electricity
• Use alternative energy technologies such as photovoltaics, heat pumps, and evaporative cooling
• Use thermal profiling to identify hot spots and overcooling in data centers
• Implement energy usage reporting systems and applications–knowing how much you use is half the battle
• Develop applications to monitor energy usage not only in data centers but across the organization

Monitoring, Reporting and Refinement: We create dashboards that enable you to coordinate IT information from all over your organization, all over the world, then we flow the information into reports consistent with the reporting standards of the countries you serve.

Stakeholder Engagement: Where appropriate, we can develop online communities that enable you to share best practices with other IT operations professionals within your organization or with other companies. When approached correctly, IT sustainability projects can be extremely positive to your bottom line while contributing to your corporate responsibility objectives. Your relationships with employees, customers, partners and investors are enhanced through your commitment to sustainability.

By Amanda North, Pavel Pragin

Last week the Securities and Exchange Commission ruled for the first time that public companies must alert investors of any serious risks that their businesses may face due to global warming. Environmental issues have been among the threats that the SEC has required companies to disclose, but this is the first time that global warming specifically has been called out. This is just the latest indicator that “green” is becoming a standard and necessary consideration in business practice. Business leaders across industries proactively are analyzing the impact of their activities, developing strategies aimed at improving efficiency, engaging their employees in the process and reporting the results to their various constituencies.

Digital technology is a key enabler for businesses in their quest for sustainability. Digital dashboards aggregate enterprise data and compare it to standards set by leaders in their industry and, increasingly, by regulatory authorities. Business information systems analyze the information and focus decision makers on optimizing consumption of resources like water, paper and power. Online communities encourage employees to participate in making their areas more efficient and share tips. Social networking media technologies enable companies to share their results with broad constituencies and invite discussion. New C level positions are being created to oversee this process. In addition to the societal benefits they are generating through investment in sustainability projects, these executives report very positive impacts to their bottom line.

Digital technologies and services are powerful tools for companies exploring sustainability and engaging in these practices. In the area of paper consumption alone digital communications can reduce or eliminate paper by helping companies migrate to online investor and corporate responsibility reports, using electronic forms, creating online communities to support customers, partners and developers, and shifting to “eCirculars” and web-based information instead of printed materials distributed by the US Mail.

Businesses who pursue digitally based sustainability strategies succeed in achieving the dual goals of: “adopting business strategies and activities that meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders today while protecting, sustaining and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future.” (World Commission on Environment and Development)

See the New York Times editorial 01.31.10 about the SEC ruling.