2Sustain

Last week, The Home Depot announced new targets for lowering energy use in U.S. stores and reducing GHG emissions in its domestic supply chain.

Since 2004, The Home Depot has reduced its U.S. stores’ energy per square foot consumption by 16 percent, and now –after a series of rather straightforward operational programs including the upgrading of store HVAC systems, aligning of stocking hours more closely with store operating hours, use of CFL bulbs and a switch to T5 lighting –the company’s U.S. store energy usage stands at 21 kWh per square foot.

Remarkably, The Home Depot estimates that over the past six years it has saved 2.6 billion kWh of energy —which is enough energy to power 203,000 homes for one year.

But, the company doesn’t want to stop there. The Home Depot believes it can reach 20 kWh per square foot of energy usage by 2015. How? According to a press release, the stores will continue to gain operational and energy efficiencies through: (more…)

Proving itself (once again) to be a sustainability leader in its sector, U.S.-based global consumer electronics retailer Best Buy has joined Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP), a coalition of major consumer companies advocating for strong U.S. climate and energy policy.

Best Buy joins other retail giants such as Nike, Starbucks and Levi Strauss & Co., who are already BICEP members. BICEP is coordinated by Ceres, a leading coalition of investors, environmental and public interest organizations working with companies to address sustainability challenges such as climate change.

“At Best Buy we’re committed to building sustainable business practices and helping our customers realize ways to live more sustainable lives,” says Laura Bishop, Best Buy’s Senior Director of Government Relations. “ We are honored to join BICEP in their efforts to advance legislation addressing climate change and promoting a clean energy economy.” (more…)

More than half (54 percent) of companies responding to a recent survey by Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium say they are pursuing or have pursued green certification for their business facilities. Most (46 percent) think green certification will lead to lower maintenance requirements. Others cite reasons such as increasing credibility (38 percent), maximizing return on investment (33 percent), using guidance and advice from rating companies (21 percent), and coordinating management practices (13 percent).

These results are included in Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium’s recently released “Facility Sustainability Survey Report,” which concludes that companies are growing increasingly focused on green initiatives at their facility locations.

For instance, data from the report shows that: (more…)

Yesterday, Office Depot announced that it will pursue Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Commercial Interiors (CI) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for all new Office Depot retail stores, beginning in June 2010.

LEED CI is the recognized system for certifying high-performance green interiors that ultimately are:

• healthy, productive places to work,

• less costly to operate and maintain, and

• less damaging to the environment.

The long list of features of all new Office Depot LEED CI certified stores includes: (more…)

The World Economic Forum’s Logistics & Transport Industry Group, supported by Accenture, has taken a significant environmental step by agreeing to standard guidelines for calculating consignment-level carbon emissions from logistics and shipping operations.

These new guidelines for consignment-level emissions reporting will enable logistics and transport companies to:

• Assess the carbon intensity of their operations

• Define carbon reduction strategies leading to energy efficiency gains and cost reductions

• Provide their customers with information on the carbon associated with shipping their products

• Enable product lifecycle emissions assessments and product carbon labeling

And, ultimately, that will drive carbon efficiency in the freight and logistics sector –which in turn, will have a significant impact on global supply chains.

According to Jonathan Wright, senior executive in Accenture’s Supply Chain Management practice, the new carbon measurement and reporting approach will enable the logistics industry to better meet customer demands. (more…)