2Sustain

In the wake of rising energy prices, businesses around the country are constantly searching for ways to cut costs and improve efficiencies. In fact, researchers estimate the energy consumption management industry is now a $5.2 billion industry in the US –and it’s growing at an astonishing 40 percent per year. However, the steady introduction of new vendors, each with its own version of “energy management” software, has generated a high level confusion and propelled the need for thoughtful analysis on current offerings.

Fortunately, Groom Energy Solutions provides some needed clarification with its new report, The Enterprise Smart Grid – a Corporate Buyer’s Guide for Energy Management Software. Responses from 65 interviews with corporate energy, facility and sustainability managers and vendors offering Enterprise Smart Grid related technologies identified 11 distinct functional areas and categorized the range of vendor solutions to assist companies as they develop their own energy management strategy.

For example, Groom Energy found that: (more…)

The world’s leading chemical company, BASF, has announced new ambitious environmental, health and safety goals.

Since BASF operates in an energy-intensive industry, it makes perfect business sense for the company to mitigate its energy and raw material risks by focusing on energy efficiency and then broader sustainability goals.

For example, by 2020, BASF wants to:

• Increase its energy efficiency –defined as the amount of sales products in relation to the primary energy demand – worldwide by 35 percent, compared to the previous goal of 25 percent.
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions per ton of sales product by 40 percent compared to 2002.
• Reduce carbon emissions related to the amount and distance of transported natural gas by 10 percent compared with 2010.
• Reduce by half the current amount of drinking water in use for production compared to 2010.
• Establish sustainable water management systems at all production sites in areas of water stress.

These new ambitions mesh well with BASF’s past progress. As of last year, the company had: (more…)

Communications conglomerate AT&T, in collaboration with global sustainability consultancy Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), is continuing its march on environmentally-conscious business practices with the release of a new eco-rating system for its products.

In just a few months, consumers will find AT&T eco-ratings on simple, easy-to-read-and-understand labels included with AT&T-branded mobile devices.

As a recent Deloitte study showed, sustainability is becoming increasingly important for consumer purchasing decisions. In fact, more than half (54 percent) of surveyed shoppers said they consider sustainability to be one of their top decision-making factors.

To provide consumers with information so they can make more educated and environmental decisions, AT&T’s new eco-rating system will cover attributes such as: (more…)

A new partnership between Nike, Inc. and Netherlands-based DyeCoo Textile Systems B.V., is poised to introduce a revolutionary technology to the sportswear world.

DyeCoo has developed and built the first commercially-available waterless textile dyeing machines. Remarkably, this industry-altering technology eliminates the use of water in the textile dyeing process by using recycled carbon dioxide—supercritical fluid carbon dioxide (SCF CO2 ) to be exact—to adhere coloring to cloth. After exploring this technology for the past eight years, Nike expects to showcase the new apparel at several events later in 2012.

Here are some facts and figures on the textile industry and what changes this growing technology will bring: (more…)

Colgate-Palmolive has released its latest sustainability report, “Giving the World Reasons to Smile.” The new online report details Colgate’s long-standing commitment, achievements, accomplishments and challenges to sustainability and social responsibility.

Specifically with regard to environmental stewardship, Colgate has:

• Reduced per-ton manufacturing-related greenhouse gas emissions by 21 percent,
• Decreased water use by 44 percent, and
• Lowered wastewater loading by 31 percent

(between 2002 and 2010).

In addition, the company requests that all key suppliers measure and disclose climate change information and overall transparency. Colgate’s Supplier Code of Conduct sets the company’s expectations for suppliers in a number of critical areas, including: (more…)