Japan tops IDC’s ICT sustainability index says IDC

Some countries are left out from the study, I wonder why. I would love to see Malaysia, Singapore, NZ be in the list as well. Or they didn't qualify to be in the Table as their index score are rather poor? Probably they have the detail in the full report. :)


http://news.radio-electronics.co/manufacturing/japan-tops-idcs-ict-sustainability-index/

Japan tops IDC’s ICT sustainability index

The International Data Corp. has released its second annual ICT Sustainability Index, which ranks the ability of the G20 nations to reduce their CO2emissions through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The ICT Sustainability Index was first released in December 2009 to coincide with the United Nations COP15 meeting in Copenhagen. Economic challenges had a significant influence on the 2011 Index Scores, limiting the impact of ICT investments and slowing the adoption of renewable energy sources over fossil fuels.

The results of the ICT Sustainability Index show that Japan continues to lead the G20 nations with a significant margin over the United States, France, Germany, Brazil and the United Kingdom. Within the top tier of countries, the index score for the United States fell slightly, moving it into a three-way tie for the number 2 position with France and Germany, both of which maintained the same Index score as the first release. Similarly, the United Kingdom slipped to the number 3 position, tied with Brazil. China's Index Score dropped by 3 points, largely affected by increased CO2 emissions as its economy avoided the economic slowdown by meeting its energy demands via fossil fueled power stations. Russia and South Africa were the only countries among the G20 to improve its Index Score over the 2009 results.

ICT Sustainable Index

Source: IDC ICT Sustainability Index, April 2011.


"We expected the global recession to have a marked impact on the balance between ICT and economic development, and indeed it showed up, in particular with China," said Vernon Turner, senior vice president of IDC's enterprise infrastructure, consumer and telecom research. "However, IDC believes that China's significant investments in sustainability through its 12th Five Year Plan will help improve its ranking as it benefits from its renewable energy strategy combined with its intelligent economy plans," Turner said.

The 2011 ICT Sustainability Index was created using data sources that reflect energy creation, consumption, and ICT spending among the G20 nations over the past two years. Events from 2011 were not taken into account in generating this year's Index Scores. Complete Index results are summarized in "The Updated G20 ICT Sustainable Index—Japan Stays on Top."

The ICT Sustainability Index is part of IDC's holistic Green initiative designed to help decision makers understand the role of technology in addressing the challenges and opportunities amidst today's energy, environment, and sustainability requirements. Since being launched in 2008, the initiative has produced important research on data center power management and automation, the promotion of green procurement in Asia/Pacific, and document management policies in the enterprise. IDC's Industry Insights companies have also done ground-breaking research on how vertical industries from manufacturing and healthcare to retail and government can use the latest IT tools and services to support a company's overall green initiative.

PEMANDU: Sustainability Achieved via Energy Efficiency (SAVE)

Sustainability Achieved via Energy Efficiency (SAVE)

Sustainability Achieved via Energy Efficiency (SAVE)

SAVE or Sustainability Achieved via Energy Efficiency, is a programme spearheaded by the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (MEGTW), to improve energy efficiency in Malaysia through five initiatives.

The pilot initiative to stimulate sales of energy-efficient appliances by providing rebates for refrigerators, air-conditioners and chillers to qualified consumers, will be launched in July 2011.

The program will be implemented through collaboration between MEGTW and utility companies (TNB, Sarawak Electricity Bhd, Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd) with participating appliance and equipment manufacturers as well as retailers throughout Malaysia to reach the targeted groups.

Investment
RM50.2 million in 2011

GNI Impact
RM5.1 billion by 2020

from: http://etp.pemandu.gov.my/Progress_Update-@-Sustainability_Achieved_via_Energy_Efficiency_%28SAVE%29.aspx

Greenbiz: REFLECTION: Climate Corps 2010: News Corp Cleans Up with Telepresence, Lighting Retrofit


Climate Corps 2010: News Corp Cleans Up with Telepresence, Lighting Retrofit

By Jonathan Stone
Created 2010-08-23 17:12

I looked straight ahead at the roughly 80" wide projected television screen in the News Corporation's New York Polycom Telepresence Suite. As News Corp's Global Energy Initiative was traveling to Australia that week, I would be delivering my final presentation via video-conference in what must have been the most technologically advanced way possible. With South Brunswick, N.J. on the left and Sydney, Australia on the right, it was hard to believe I was in my last week as an EDF Climate Corps fellow.

What an amazing ten-week adventure it was! What seemed like a daunting amount of work in Week 1, turned out to be an enlightening, deep dive into the world of corporate energy strategy. In the end, the projects I identified would serve to reduce the annual energy costs of News Corp's printing plant in the Bronx, decrease the company's carbon footprint and help underscore the company as a leader in its commitment to corporate sustainability.

Over the course of my fellowship, I worked with the lighting and HVAC foremen at the Dow Jones Printing Plant to gauge the building's existing energy infrastructure:
  • I identified a $240,000 lighting retrofit that would pay itself back in 2.5 years and prevent approximately 620 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.
  • Through small tweaks to the plant's thermostat HVAC systems, I identified methods that would result in over $30,000 in annual energy savings and require zero upfront capital investment.
These aforementioned measures, along with smaller projects that revamped the company's printing infrastructure and fleet efficiency, would cost a total of $229,700 and result in annual energy savings of $179,500. Putting this into environmental context, these initiatives could save the company 900,000 kilowatt hours per year in energy consumption and decrease its carbon footprint by 942 metric tons.

While I have always been passionate about environmental sustainability, my summer fellowship with EDF's Climate Corps Program showed me how easy it could be for a company to "go green," especially when tangible financial gains can be realized! I feel privileged to have worked with a company that stands truly dedicated to its environmental responsibility and has such a tremendous opportunity to influence the behaviors of its employees, business partners and, perhaps its largest constituent, its audiences. I am now dedicated to pursuing a career in sustainable technology and using it to help businesses and organizations decrease energy expenses and headline themselves as leading corporate citizens in energy efficiency and carbon reduction.

Jonathan Stone is a 2010 EDF Climate Corps fellow at News Corporation - Dow Jones and a Net Impact member. He is an MBA candidate at the Stern School of Business, New York University. Further coverage of the Climate Corps program is available at GreenBiz.com/edfclimatecorps. This content originally appeared on the Environmental Defense Fund Innovation Exchange Blog and at Vault.com.

Greenbiz: REFLECTION: Climate Corps 2011: When Efficiency is Like Doing Chores


Climate Corps 2011: When Efficiency is Like Doing Chores

By Sukrit Seghal
Created 2011-07-20 04:00

"How hard can optimizing efficiency in a data center be?" I asked myself upon completing this year's EDF Climate Corps Training. "You just need to change the tube lights, rearrange a few server racks and monitor your cooling temperature," I thought.

As an EDF Climate Corps fellow at QTS this summer, I initially wondered, "Do they really need someone like me to seek out energy savings? Surely large corporations like QTS aren't blind to such inefficiencies around them." As my fellowship has progressed, I've realized this stuff is not so cut and dry.

Fixing Things ... Can Take a While

My first few weeks at QTS have been nothing short of remarkable. Arriving as an outsider last month, I already feel as though I'm a member of the team. And I have the QTS swag to prove it: ball-cap, mini-football, coffee cup -- they were free, and I'm a student. Enough said. One of my colleagues recently pointed out that I now use "us," "we" and "our" when referring to QTS.

This experience, though, has strangely reminded me of growing up and the never-ending issue of household chores. There were chores to be done and usually something for my dad to "fix," but he had an undeniable (and almost admirable) way of putting off these household handyman duties time and time again. It was not that he lacked the ability to fix things, but these chores just were not at the top of his agenda.

It all came back to me as I engaged with my new colleagues, who are some of the sharpest minds I've encountered in my professional career. Most of the energy efficiency opportunities I was initially exploring had already been examined at some point in time. But given their demanding work schedules, a comprehensive review of energy efficiency had not yet been done. This too often leaves good ideas unimplemented or underused because they're not at the top of anyone's agenda.

To optimize my short time here, I realize I should tap into the extensive research of my colleagues and understand some of the unique variations from facility to facility. By involving department specialists in my interactions, being willing to shoulder responsibility, and driving initiatives on behalf of busy colleagues, I can act as the catalyst that they need.

While everyone at QTS understands my stay is short, sometimes urgent tasks and hectic schedules keep my colleagues busy. Thus, my initial project plan for my fellowship has drastically changed over the course of my time here.

Nonetheless, I've taken this change of plans as an opportunity to talk to more people. QTS is a close-knit community. You can always find more than one person with knowledge on a given resource or topic.

By utilizing the community within QTS, I was able to explore new initiatives while getting ahead on some of my original projects.

Am I Having an Impact at QTS?

How can I define my impact on QTS? Truth is, the initiatives now underway here would have been possible without me. But that is not to say I'm not making a tangible difference. I'm serving as the impetus that is driving the adoption of initiatives that have been considered but not implemented. And I'm helping to make the implementation quicker and more seamless.

Serving as the catalyst to put these current initiatives into motion clears the path for QTS to nimbly and swiftly implement the next round of initiatives to mitigate inefficiencies. Working on the implementation of efficiency initiatives that will become standard for QTS now and in the future, gives me confidence that the work of QTS and EDF Climate Corps is time well spent.

Greenbiz: How Can Your Company Manage Carbon Regulations and Continue to Grow?

How Can Your Company Manage Carbon Regulations and Continue to Grow?

By Mark C. Coleman
Created 2011-07-23 06:00

[Editor's note: This article was co-written by Jim Holway, director of the Western Lands and Communities Program, and Dennis Minano, the former chief environmental officer at General Motors]

The topics of greenhouse gases (GHG), climate change and environmentally responsible growth occupy the media and political agendas and inject uncertainty into regional economies and businesses on just what to do. Some states and leading companies have taken preemptive steps on these issues, yet others find themselves stymied without a clear vision of the future.

The fog of uncertainty around carbon and climate continues, and will remain unclear, as the 112th Congress continues and we move into another election cycle. What is clear is the need to create strategic and actionable business plans with meaningful public-private partnerships that will produce outcomes that will be good for business, society and our quality of life.

Corporations can establish growth strategies that yield business results and social and environmental benefits using the following core business strategies and tools:
1. Risk Management. Discussions on future growth and carbon in the context of sustainability are really about risk management. How do businesses reduce exposure, mitigate their impact and adapt to changing societal needs, government policies, and natural resource constraints?
2. Transitional Business Tactics. As businesses manage their risk relative to carbon in the form of GHG controls and policy initiatives, they need to also consider transitional business tactics. Businesses must concurrently define what they will do today, with an eye toward transitioning their products and processes to meet shareholder expectations for sustained growth.
3. Strategic Placement. Businesses will also need strategic placement for their products and brands, as well as a supportive supply chain -- all of which needs to be bounded by a persuasive value proposition for their customers. To stay relevant, this requires a business strategy that addresses projections of energy costs and requirements for carbon reductions, yet maintains customer loyalty by providing products and services that address their evolving needs. Strategic placement relies on product innovation, and the ability to work with stakeholders through meaningful partnerships.
This suite of strategies and tools will enable states, regional economies and businesses to recognize the contours of the climate debate and to collaboratively focus on actionable goals and to monitor progress. When coupled with meaningful public-private partnerships, these strategies will result in greater business success and advancing community and global sustainability.

Corporate Strategy & Action

The ability for corporations, governments and society to address sustainability and its associated issues requires active engaged leadership which can put a classic business strategy into place, including a vision, strategy, investment, and action. For example, the top macro-economic concerns of business currently include: consumer expectations, government policies, price pressures, credit markets and interest rates and the federal deficit.

The figure below presents how these and other strategic business value-drivers can intersect to magnify innovation and enhanced competitiveness. Carbon and climate intersect each of these concerns. As consumer demand shifts, companies need to respond with more innovative and eco-relevant product options.

figure 1

Risk Management, Government Action and Carbon Controls

When it comes, government action regarding climate will directly impact business operations and success. Specifically, the "Endangerment Finding" by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that six GHGs, including carbon, pose a threat to human health. The finding opens the door to additional EPA regulations that will impact a company's ability to compete and interstate-regional economies.
Further, recent EPA guidance to the states on how to incorporate CO2 control measures in the environmental permitting process is a new business factor and potentially another step in the march toward a genuine CO2 regulatory scheme.

As companies find ways to respond to shifting consumer demands and new governmental policies -- with an eye on long-term profits, they will need to balance natural resource consumption with demand for what they produce. There are already many companies moving in the direction of eco-relevant products and operations.
For example, General Electric is manufacturing more fuel-efficient locomotives; CSX is integrating renewable energy into future plans for its land holdings; and Aerojet, a firm that focuses on rocket propulsion, has deployed solar energy to better control long-term electricity costs.

These companies have selected eco-relevant products because it makes economic and environmental sense. Further, the leadership of these businesses has begun to position themselves (and their products) competitively, as they see how the regulatory and policy landscape is changing.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued new guidance for public companies on what must be disclosed regarding the "materiality" of their impact on climate. The SEC outlined four areas that might trigger requirements for companies to disclose their vulnerability to sustainability concerns:
1) impact of legislation and regulation
2) impact of International Accords
3) indirect consequences of regulation or business trends
4) physical impacts of climate change
While this SEC guidance is focused on climate, it also addresses greater transparency and the material impact that either climate change policies or actual physical changes in our climate patterns may have on the financial performance of public companies. Climate change and carbon emissions will be closely tied to regulation, the availability and cost of raw materials, and emerging business trends.

This warrants special attention by business leadership -- especially as corporations plan their long-term corporate growth strategies. Companies such as Dow Chemical, Boeing, CSX, Home Depot and Walmart are choosing to proactively manage energy and energy supplies (including reliability and quality), to reduce carbon exposure and reduce operational costs.

The availability of capital from credit markets is another area that will be affected by climate and carbon emissions. In the past five years, public companies have been increasingly subjected to new sustainability measures and ratings, referred to as their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance.
Rating agencies, non-profit organizations and social investment funds such as Innovest, Calvert, Domini, IRRC, TIAA-CREF and KLD Analytics have been actively screening companies on everything from environmental disclosures to carbon and climate responsiveness.

It seems clear that companies with strong leadership and governance structures will be best positioned to succeed in the future marketplace by quickly assessing, analyzing, and responding to their exposure to carbon. Companies with these strengths also demonstrate an advanced capability to respond to shifting consumer demand, changes in government policies and price pressures in general.

Effective business leaders, recognize that the SEC and EPA actions on climate change as well as ongoing capital market actions need to consider:
• How emerging sustainability issues including carbon emissions, and the cost and availability of natural resources, water and energy could impact their business?
• How to disclose carbon releases related to their products, and how can they begin aligning their business on sustainability and climate issues?
• How significant is the green movement to business performance and profitability.
In sum, business leaders need to provide a clear vision for their companies and communities in the face of significant uncertainties. The figure below summarizes how many leading companies work toward aligning corporate strategy with internal-and-external facing sustainability requirements. A disciplined approach to financial management with a defined corporate strategy allows the assets of the company to better assess and address their place toward sustainability goals.

figure 2

The Dilemma: Can Sustainability and Carbon Control Co-Exist?

On one hand, there are changes that require action: SEC disclosure, shifting customer demand, emerging regulatory and financial controls. Yet, on the other, there are multiple uncertainties and challenges for determining appropriate actions including: measuring the effects on shareholder value, remaining a profitable business, documenting the effects on financial performance and standardizing decision-making frameworks on how carbon can be valued, monetized, off-set, and financially accounted for.
It is well established that corporate risk is a function of multiple variables including the marketplace, emerging issues, shifts in consumer preferences and demand, ability to access capital, and ability to retain top talent. Working through this dilemma requires understanding critical issues, managing corporate reputation and applying proactive and flexible leadership and business strategies.

Traditional elements of corporate strategy, including financial planning, innovation, advancement of technology, workforce training and retention of top talent will remain the primary "playing cards" by which many companies will keep their heads above the carbon debate, and remain focused on business growth and sustainability.

Corporations, governments and other institutions help society achieve resiliency through an open market for products and ideas, and through innovations that result in responsible growth and a respect for the limitations apparent in both the social and the natural world.

Leading by Example: Learning from Others

Companies are not standing still. The following examples show how some companies have gained competitive advantages by proactively and strategically addressing climate and carbon challenges:

• Product Innovation Intel has developed more efficient processors which can be used to reduce energy and water demand, decrease operating costs, and enhance performance of data-centers.
• Technological Advancement Suncor Energy acquired PetroCanada in 2009 and has deployed wind energy at its oil sands operations and is actively exploring carbon storage technologies and initiatives.
• Workforce Training, Leadership & Retention IBM committed to spend $60 million over three years as it initiated an employee based program named "Global Citizen's Portfolio." The goal of the IBM program is to enable IBM employees to enhance "their skills and expertise, in order to become global leaders, professionals and citizens."
• Global Reach and Impact through Collaboration Dow Chemical Company (and Gazprom Marketing and Trading Limited) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2009 to develop and implement GHG reduction projects on a global basis.
• Increased Competitiveness It is not just the Fortune 500 companies taking action. In some instances, smaller suppliers have remained competitive in the past 18months during the global recession by (1) better managing business risk; (2) repositioning themselves strategically, and (3) conducting transitional planning.

For example, New York- based HARBEC Plastics, a leading manufacturer of high-tolerance machined components and quality injection-molded parts has reduced its energy consumption through efficiency measures while also incorporating on-site renewable and distributed power generation to shield itself from energy price volatility.

These examples demonstrate that small and large corporations are able to gain a competitive advantage by incorporating challenges like the climate debate into their core business strategy.
With product, technological and human resource advancements being made in transportation, energy, building materials and systems, defense and agriculture, the outcome in the next decade will be more resilient companies that have a renewed license to grow and achieve larger profits with a more adaptable workforce and more efficient use of natural resources.

The Convergence of Sustainability, Innovation & Partnerships

There is both art and science in crafting corporate policies and innovation toward carbon concerns. Similar to producing a fine wine, climate realists are fusing old and new approaches as they seek the recipe for the right climate mitigation and adaptation strategy -- a recipe that includes efficiency, conservation, resilience, and innovation. For the scientist, the most cost-effective options for carbon reductions are achieved through conservation, efficiency, and substitution of resources.

However, the job is too big for any individual company or government entity to take on unto itself. The challenges facing the U.S. and global economy are diverse and complex, including: energy security, sustainable utilization of natural resources, retention of a viable manufacturing base, creating and retaining an educated workforce, addressing social needs on healthcare, social security and housing. In many ways, all of these challenges also ring true in the carbon debate.

First, at a regional, national and global scale, achieving the necessary vision, strategy, investment and action will require collaboration and some level of political consensus; Second, a strategic and multi-stakeholder focus on innovation and meaningful partnerships has proven to be a successful path forward; Third, business leaders have an essential role in helping their communities address carbon issues and policies.

Innovation University: Taking Action on Societal Needs

In the past three years, American colleges and universities have begun to transform themselves on how knowledge and innovation related to climate and sustainability is generated, retained and disseminated. More than any time in history, there is a growing awareness that we may be consuming natural resources at rates that outpace the ability of natural systems to refresh them.

American colleges and universities are now using their intellectual capacity and buying power to demonstrate how to we can grow our economy and our quality of life while reducing per-capita consumption of natural resources.

For example, since it was founded in 2006, more than 620 college and university presidents have signed on with the "American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), agreeing to reduce GHG emission within a reasonable time frame.

The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, NY, is one of many leading colleges and universities where the notion of sustainability is gaining ground. RIT President Bill Destler has signed the ACUPCC, and, RIT has launched the Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS)—an interdisciplinary academic and research institution that offers a PhD in Sustainability with emphasis on sustainable production.

In addition, in 2009, RIT launched a "Clean Energy Incubator" in partnership with the university's business incubator, Venture Creations, their Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies (CIMS) and resources from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The public-private "Clean Energy Incubator" seeks to accelerate the development of early-stage clean and renewable energy technologies and enterprises.

The RIT incubator is now working with dozens of clean and renewable energy entrepreneurs and established firms on developing business plans, assessing market opportunities, testing and validating technology, creating product prototypes and deploying technology. Our universities will likely be the place for the ultimate fusion of competing perspectives -- how new technology is being vetted and business potential is being evaluated simultaneously in opening up opportunities for research, student innovation and education and commercialization.

Forging Meaningful Partnerships to Address Growth and Sustainability

The Western U.S.is an idyllic and dramatic backdrop for discussions on climate change and sustainability. Everything seems bigger in the West, the rivers, the landscapes, the mountains, the fortunes and perhaps, the challenges of responsibly managing growth and change.

Going forward, the pursuit and sustainment of broad-based and meaningful public-private partnerships will be necessary for addressing the west's sustainable development challenges and goals.

A leading example is the Sonoran Institute, a nonprofit organization advancing new partnership based approaches to these challenges. Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, the Institute's work is focused on engaging business, government, civic and academic leaders to address some of the most pressing challenges and changes impacting the natural environment and communities of the InterMountain West.

Key challenges include: urban and rural population growth, management of public lands and iconic natural landscapes, increasing energy infrastructure and use as well as a largely untapped potential for renewable energy generation, drought and climate change, shifts in laws and policy, and the rapidly changing state and metropolitan economies.

Taking a community-based approach toward its mission, the Institute emphasizes collaboration, civil dialogue, sound information, local knowledge, practical solutions and big-picture thinking.

The Sonoran Institute and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy established the Western Lands and Communities (WLC) Joint Venture in 2003 to pursue projects focused on shaping growth, sustaining cities, protecting resources, and empowering communities in the Intermountain West. Current WLC initiatives include; land use planning for climate change, developing community visioning and planning tools, research on development entitlements, and other factors shaping urban form and management of state owned trust lands.

The WLC is collaborating with a diverse group of public and private entities to create a vision and plan for the development of a new sustainable desert community called Superstition Vistas. Superstition Vistas is a proposed desert community of up to 1 million people on 275 square miles of Arizona State Trust Land on the edge of the Phoenix, AZ metropolitan area. Work on Superstition Vistas is leading to new concepts for: developing low carbon and low water using communities, creating incentives to spur high-end economic development and investment in infrastructure to guide smart growth, shaping growth throughout the emerging urban mega-region, and motivating reform efforts necessary to maximize the revenue from development on State Trust Land to benefit public education.

Responding in like to the call for businesses to take on leadership roles related to climate and sustainability, there is also much that local government and community officials can do to aid mitigation and adaption for climate change. The West has been shaped by dramatic fluctuations in its water and energy resources, land use patterns, economy, and a climate known for its extremes.

In the decades ahead, the hydrology of the region will likely become even drier, leading to drought, heat waves, diminished mountain snowpack, earlier snowmelt, catastrophic wildfires, and disruptions to natural processes and wildlife habitat. Faced with the challenge of both adapting to these impacts, and contributing to mitigation through the reduction of GHG emissions, planners in western communities will need to identify politically acceptable actions for their communities.

Establishing meaningful partnerships is a key element for success, as the Sonoran Institute and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy have found. By leveraging the capabilities, resources and assets of one another toward shared goals, partners can find strength in numbers to address complex, regional sustainable development challenges.

Promise for the Future

Given the harsh dialogue and continued concern about the health of the global economy, it's easy to be discouraged by the uncertainty. But, U. S. business and civic leaders must be resilient. As climate has changed over scores of centuries and no matter what our effect has been on climate change, it will be the resiliency, innovation and the capability of our businesses and other organizations to deal with the ambiguity that will serve as guides for the solutions discovered. It is what we do well albeit with bruises along the way.

Sustainability requires that we all recognize the linkages that exist between our environment, economy and society and across different regions and different sectors of our economy and society. Business and civic leaders can identify and support pragmatic leaders who recognize the inevitability of the challenges we all face. We must demand that these leaders work across party divides, span disciplinary perspectives, and link economic interests to reach consensus and invest in our future.

As we look beyond the global recession, it is important to remember that there is no substitute for thoughtful leaders and people who are empowered and united with purpose and resolve.
By actively employing risk management, business tactics and strategic placement strategies, corporations, universities, governments and civic organizations can begin to focus anew on the nuts-and-bolts relationship between carbon, growth and sustainability. Innovation using new technology and how people can collaborate and establish meaningful partnerships are effective and vitally important tools for addressing complex challenges associated with future business growth and prosperity.

Greenbiz: Climate Corps 2011: Social Networking's Role in the Energy Revolution

Climate Corps 2011: Social Networking's Role in the Energy Revolution

By Esra Kucukciftci
Created 2011-07-26 15:32

Creating an energy intelligence vision for Facebook, a company that quickly and completely changed the world's vision for communications, is no small task.

Facebook continues to transform the ways we receive and use information every day. And we, Facebook's three EDF Climate Corps fellows, are spending this summer developing new ways for the company to receive and use its energy information going forward.

To understand Facebook, we must first understand the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) space. In the past decade, ICT has revolutionized the business landscape by improving productivity and cost effectiveness of many industries. And ICT is once again transforming businesses -- this time in energy systems.

Portable and networked, ICT will continue to dominate both economical and societal change enabled by enhanced electronic data processing and artificial intelligence. In The Futurist (May-June 2008), Cetron and Davies argue that "all the technical knowledge we work with today will represent only 1 percent of the knowledge that will be available in 2050."

The Megatrends That are Shaping ICT's Role in the Energy Revolution
As the global demand for all energy sources is estimated to grow by 57 percent over the next 25 years, we are in the midst of witnessing revolutionary megatrends in the world's energy supply and demand.
Energy security and long-term energy costs are likely to become the next great challenge and opportunity for today's businesses. ICT leaders are now increasingly acknowledging the application of computing intelligence as critical to solving an array of demanding societal problems in the fields of energy, public, and utility services.

The IT industry is increasingly extending its reach into the energy and building management systems ecosystem too. According to an article on GreenBiz.com, "300 million smart meters for energy, water and gas [are] expected to be in use globally within a few years."

Many ICT leaders such as IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, and SAP are among the most recent companies to ride the wave to transform energy efficiency technologies into enterprise networked energy management systems (EMS). The ICT industry rightly sees the considerable growth potential in using smart technologies to transform our built environment.

The Business Sector is Realizing that 'Efficiency is Profitable'

The business sector is boarding the efficiency train too. EDF's Climate Corps program is in its fourth year of helping businesses lead change towards an energy conscious economy.

Companies have long viewed their energy efficiency spend as an additional expense. However, life-cycle and return-on-investment-based decision tools such as EDF Climate Corps' Financial Analysis Tool are making it possible for people like Climate Corps fellows to build a business case for cost-effective, efficient operations and valuable energy investments.

Here at Facebook, the idea that efficiency is profitable is old news. Immersed in Facebook's high-speed culture, the three of us Climate Corps fellows feel fortunate that the path to efficiency has long been paved by Facebook employees before us.

The recent launch of the Open Compute Project in Spring 2011 further established Facebook's efficiency mindset. And in case we forget, the bright green signs surrounding our workspace remind us that "Efficiency is Profitable."

Social networks can play a leading role in pointing social norms toward energy efficiency. Today's internet and socially connected world is giving sustainability thought leaders and energy efficiency advocates access to audiences they could have never reached by traditional means.

Both residential and commercial sectors lack coordination and direction, and Facebook's reach could just be the tipping point it might take for society to adopt energy and sustainability best practices en masse.

Sustainability and energy efficiency are no longer novel concepts. The window of opportunity to leverage energy efficiency for positive growth and lead the change is getting smaller, which makes it such an exciting time for social networks to play an important role in pointing social norms towards energy efficiency.

Data does not necessarily make us smarter, but our collective action based on data certainly makes us stronger. Facebook has proved that "social" makes things happen. Since social networks lead the societal change that transforms information into intelligence, I think we can all log on and be leaders in making this energy intelligence vision come true.

Greenbiz: 5 Tips For Selecting A Sustainable Telco Partner


5 Tips For Selecting A Sustainable Telco Partner

By David Metcalfe
Created 2011-07-26 04:45

Senior IT decision makers, regardless of the industry they work in, are well aware that technology plays, and will continue to play, a leading role in greening their businesses. Yet despite this widespread acknowledgement, some areas of technology are either slow to participate in the sustainability game or are not making their voices heard in what is becoming a crowded market.

Telecommunications is one such sector. Recent Verdantix research finds that key decision makers, such as Chief Technology Officers and Heads of Telecoms, are often unaware of what sustainable offerings telecoms providers have, nor do they realize the benefits of such offerings. This suggests that telecoms marketers have some PR homework to do, to ensure that the sustainability benefits of their service lines are communicated to target audiences.

In our research on Europe's sustainable telecoms market, we took a close look at how telco technology is greening businesses. The telecoms sector has a host of sustainable solutions: video or web conferencing; cloud computing; online collaboration; and teleworking capabilities -- to name just a few. These products offer businesses tangible benefits, including lower carbon emissions and reduced travel costs, yet these benefits are unknown by many potential buyers.

At Verdantix, we analyzed the sustainability capabilities and market momentum of 18 European telecoms operators -- this is the third sector analysis in three years -- and using research from 2009 as a benchmark, our Green Quadrant Sustainable Telecoms Europe 2011 identifies a change in how operators approach sustainability.

Over the past year, leading players such as Orange and Swisscom have upped their game; integrating sustainability benefits such as carbon cutting and energy efficiency into standard telecoms offerings. We expect their competitors will be quick to follow this approach in 2012.

Another trend that has emerged over the past year is a sense of cohesion within the sector: What were once ad hoc offerings and standalone sustainability products are now industry-standard services. But as buyers' comments testify, this alignment has still yet to trickle down to external marketing campaigns in many cases.
From a customer panel formed of 15 buyers of sustainable telecoms services, representing five countries and 10 industries with combined annual revenues of $249 billion, we found that only five of these buyers describe telecoms services providers as "very important" or "important" for their sustainability initiatives.

Yes, potential buyers keep sustainability in the forefront of their mind when selecting a telecoms provider -- benefits such as cost reduction and reduced emissions can be felt across every industry -- but that does not mean that buyers are aware of the full range of sustainable telecoms solutions available.

Why else would six of the 15 buyers claim to have only a "neutral" view on the importance of telecoms operators in contributing to their business's sustainability goals?

Taking both telecoms' sustainability offerings, and buyers' comments and concerns, we have identified five best practice recommendations to help firms minimize business risk when selecting a sustainable telecoms provider. These guidelines are particularly relevant given the market for sustainable telecoms services will expand in 2012. Verdantix recommends that potential buyers: 
1) Ask for names. What are telecoms already doing? A list of existing clients gives proof, or otherwise, of how individual offerings deliver financial and sustainable benefits. Risk-averse buyers should ask for named examples.
2) Spot the difference. Does a telco have a sustainability offering with a difference? Buyers should put suppliers on the spot, and ask what added value their offering provides when compared to their competitors.
3) Question sustainability success. Is there evidence that a telco's solution brings measurable financial and sustainability benefits? Choose your questions carefully, asking, for example, what the average Power Usage Effectiveness is of the telecom's data centres, or what efficiency targets are in place.
4) Look for top-down commitment. If sustainability is integrated into a telecoms' organizational structure, that's a good sign. Telcos with a Chief Sustainability Officer are well placed to drive a customer-centric sustainability strategy forwards.
5) Identify innovation. Is the operator willing to move beyond traditional areas of strength, to push sustainability within the business? Buyers should enquire about plans, such as partnerships, to facilitate innovation. 
Five telecoms operators emerged as European sustainability leaders in our research: AT&T, BT, Orange (France Télécom), Swisscom and Telefónica. These telcos take a holistic approach to sustainability, integrating it across their product and service lines, leading it internally and commercializing its benefits externally. Other smaller operators may be a better fit for certain buyers.

As the sustainable telecoms market expands and telcos increase their services these five best practice guidelines will help simplify the selection process and ensure buyers find a supplier that is the best match for their sustainable telecoms needs.

Verdantix clients can visit our website to access the full report, "Green Quadrant Sustainable Telecoms Europe 2011."

Greenbiz: How to Set Green Goals by Learning from Industry Leaders


How to Set Green Goals by Learning from Industry Leaders

By Leslie Guevarra
Created 2011-07-26 04:45

What's the difference between a good green goal and a great one? Are more goals better than a few -- or are they simply more? And how do your company's goals stack up against others in your industry?
A series of reports from consulting firm Green Research is designed to help businesses answer those questions and craft strong environmental sustainability goals by comparing those set by some of the biggest global firms.

Green Research releases the first batch of reports today in a series called "Benchmarking Sustainability Goals." Available for fees ranging from $250 to $300, the reports offer qualitative and quantitative analysis of sustainability goals set by 32 major firms in four industries: six computer makers, eight banks, eight food processing companies and 10 telecom firms.

"We created this tool as a resource for business strategists, planners and corporate industry sustainability experts," said David Schatsky, principal and founder of Green Research. "There are lots of sources of information about performance of companies, but we haven't seen anything when it comes to assessing the intentions, the goals, of companies."

That assessment, however, isn't a rank-and-spank comparison of the aspirations of global firms. Green Research's reports are "designed to provide high-level insights and a quantitative and qualitative feel (for goals set by companies) at a glance," according to Schatsky.

The material is also intended to help firms be more competitive, whether they view the companies studied as model businesses or rivals. Several key points emerged as the consulting firm consulted its research: It was clear that companies are highly interested in knowing what are considered the "right goals" for their industry, especially given the widely different practices that exist on how to set them, Schatsky said. There also is great interest in knowing what the competition is doing. "It's the competitive factor," he said, "now companies can look at what others are doing."

The reports assess firms' publicly declared environmental sustainability goals based on three key questions:
• How do the goals of major firms within an industry compare?
• What issues are receiving the greatest attention?
• Which companies are setting the most quantitative, forward-looking goals?
Among computer makers, for example, Green Research took a look at goals set by Acer, Dell, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Lenovo. Researchers found that goals largely fell into three broad areas, operations, products and packaging, and recycling.

Overall, researchers concluded:
"Computer makers have each adopted an average of 14 public sustainability goals. But not all goals are created equal. Quantitative, forward-looking goals carry the most weight ... Across the sector, product and packaging goals outnumber operational goals."
In addition to presenting findings in short narratives and charts, the reports list the environmental sustainability goals for each company studied. "You can read at a glance the maturity of a company based on the types of goals (it has) and their distribution across the company," Schatsky said. "The broader the array of issues and the more sophisticated their tracking, the greater the relative level of maturity."

"Companies differ significantly in terms of rigor of their goals," he added, and using the reports, readers can see which firms have set goals that are specific, measurable and time bound.
But if the basis for the reports are goals that the companies themselves declared, why should sustainability professional consider buying Green Research's tools?

For one thing, said Schatsky, businesses aren't always consistent in their public statements about goals. Targets listed on one company resource may be different in another and may even be inconsistent on different pages of a company website. Green Research sifted through apparent contradictions and when necessary went to companies to obtain clarity.

Another reason, and perhaps the most compelling, is the time it takes to review and analyze corporate goals for multiple companies in several industries.

"What we've done is not rocket science," Schatsky said, "but we think it adds a lot of value. It's high-quality information that can save an organization hours and hours of trying to pull together this sort of information themselves."

Beyond Behaviour Change Research Group's Use of Practice Theories

This is taken from the Beyond Behaviour Change Research Group @ Centre for Design, RMIT.

They are using practice theories** to inform and explain their research.

** (Bourdieu 1977; Giddens 1984; Reckwitz 2002a, 2002b; Schatzki 2002; Shove & Pantzar 2005, 2007; Warde 2005).

 

http://www.rmit.edu.au/cfd/beyondbehaviour

 

Aim

The Beyond BC research group encompasses a range of projects and initiatives which aim to:

  1. Explore the practical and real world implications and applications of social practice theory and other related theories of socio-technical change.
  2. Engage with government agencies and departments, other academic institutions and research centres, NGOs, related resource sectors (energy, water, transport), and community groups who are delivering or developing behaviour change or demand management programs and policies.
  3. Make the key concepts of practice theory accessible and usable for the above-mentioned organisations and institutions.
  4. Seek and strengthen opportunities to pursue collaborative research opportunities with academic and external partners on applying practice theory in new or existing policies and programs.
  5. Contribute to the academic community on the empirical and real world applications of practice theory through publications, presentations and related material.
  6. Draw on practice theory to inform the design of our built world (from products, architecture and urban planning).

6 Rules to Follow When Shopping for Energy Management Software

Source: http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2011/07/21/6-rules-follow-when-shopping-energy-m...

6 Rules to Follow When Shopping for Energy Management Software

"The energy of the mind is the essence of life." -- Aristotle

As the demand for energy management software (EMS) grows, the market is rising to meet it. This booming new arena is being supplied by large global companies and small, medium and start-up companies alike, all of whom are involved in some elements of building automation and IT. And new companies are entering the market on a regular basis.

This growing and rapidly changing market -- as well as the complexity inherent in buying and implementing an EMS project -- means that companies facing this process can find it quite perplexing.

The procurement process for EMS in new construction would typically use a design-bid delivery method where requirements are specified and the qualified bidder with the lowest bid is awarded the job. It's a process that may work well when the procurement is for hardware or equipment and materials where very specific requirements have been identified or calculated.

However, as more software applications are deployed in buildings such as energy management, integration platforms and other software monitoring and managing sub-systems, and these applications need to be configured, customized, have special dashboards developed, or require integration into business systems, the procurement of the software through a "low" bid process can become very complicated.

Existing buildings may use what is likely a better process to procure an EMS, which is, issuing a request for information (RFI) to the marketplace followed by a request for proposal (RFP), then making an award to a contractor based on price as well as other factors.

Regardless of the process you'll want to present clear software specifications to potential contractors including the quantification of as many variables as possible. What follows are some "do's and don'ts" in pulling together software specifications in order to truly reflect the client's needs and environment, and clearly convey the information to the potential contractors.

1. Define What The Software Is Supposed To Do

Some software for specific applications may be "out of the box" or "one size fits all" applications, while other software, especially enterprise-level products and those involving system integration will take some customizing.

In addition to integration and energy management software applications, clients may need applications such as fault detection and diagnostics, predictive analytics, alarm management, trending, automated demand response scenarios and document management. Clients may benefit by obtaining additional information and education regarding the marketplace to get a sense of what's available and doable, however they should realize their requirements are not marketing wish lists.

This "programming" exercise needs to include various groups within the client's organization such as facility management, facility engineers, IT, the design team and possibly business executives. The result of this effort should delineate what the software has to do, clearly and concisely identifying the functionality that the client wants in the software.

This piece of the procurement project is critical: Vagueness in stating your functional requirements will not only drive up the price, as bidders assume more risk but more importantly will probably result in a less than successful software implementation.

A study by the Standish Group found about half of IT projects were "challenged;" that is, over budget, over schedule and with less functionality. Why were they challenged? Incomplete requirements and specifications, lack of user input, and changing requirements and specifications all of which are related to simply not doing it right in the first place.

2. Identify the Required Dashboards or User Interfaces

This is really an exercise in identifying who in the organization needs or can use the building data or energy information generated by the software.

For energy management, this could mean everyone from the facility engineer to the business executive to the general public; each group will need varying information displayed in different ways. Many vendors will have standard dashboards or at least the dashboards created for their last client; this may be a starting point in deciding on what you require.

Make a list of all the dashboards required, including those for each individual piece of equipment, summary dashboards, drill-down dashboards, those for particular spaces or zones and special dashboards. The dashboards are what many clients see as the project deliverables.

3. Identify the Integration or External Interfaces Required

If the software is focused on energy management you'll need to connect into the building management system (BMS), a power management system and metering for electric, natural gas, steam and water. You may need network controllers, additional software or even an upgrade to the latest software for a BMS to access its database.

Beyond that, however, you'll probably need data from external systems such as weather data, energy budgets and costs from the organization's financial software, utility rate structures, occupancy data and schedules -- all of which require some external interface.

The bidder must know how to interface into all these systems, which party is responsible for additional hardware or software related to interfacing systems, and the format of the data.

4. Provide a Basis for a Bidder to Estimate Costs

This is where a "hard" bid is different than a RFP. If the award of a contract is solely based on price, you want to make sure that as much information as possible is quantified so the bids reflect similar efforts and deliverables.

You'll want to identify the number of data points, the number of dashboards, the number of applications, the hardware requirements, the availability of control drawings, what's to be supplied by the client's IT department, the IT department's standards for hardware and software, the specifics of the energy control systems, other sub-systems to be integrated, the responsibilities and required coordination of contractors for the sub-systems and the project schedule.

The number of data points is fundamental to pricing many software applications because each point needs to be configured in the software. This is a task to quantify the requirements of the programming document as much as possible.

5. Identify the Required Performance of the Software

There are several performance indicators you'll want to identify:

• User response time. This is the top concern for most users; the dashboards may look great but if it takes a while to respond users are impatient and unhappy. Response time may be affected by whether the software is a remote, hosted solution or on site.

• Throughput on the system. The issues here are network bandwidth, latency, transmission overhead, and the performance of the network. It's not uncommon for a decent size building to have tens of thousands of data points or for a campus or enterprise to have hundreds of thousands of data points. Depending on the polling interval and the method of obtaining data, acquisition of the data from a site could be affected by inadequate network throughput

• Scalability of the system. Most enterprise-wide deployments start on a small scale such as a pilot project and upon acceptance of the results are ramped up to a campus or all buildings in the real estate portfolio. You need to know how both the hardware and software scale, with special attention to the scaling of the database.

• Reliability. This deals with redundancy, recovery time of software functions, resource utilization, backups of hardware and software, data loss and connectivity. If you are using a hosted solution on an enterprise basis and lose connectivity to a building, what happens to the building's data?

6. Identify The Testing, Acceptance and Handoff Process

Much of what happens during the close-out and handoff of the software implementation is simply related to good project management. Here are a few suggestions: 

a) Establish a review and approval process for customized dashboards as to not get caught in an endless loop of revisions and reviews.
b) If the installers are different than the manufacturer of the software, get the manufacturer's representative to manage startup of the completed system.
c) Address the warranty period including emergency and non-emergency services, vendor response times and software upgrades and changes.
d) Have the contractor provide initial formal training and refresher training during the warranty period.
e) Require that the vendor prepare a user manual specific to your configuration.
f) Obtain all hard and soft copy documentation related to the installation, including record submittals. 

In a growing and rapidly changing marketplace for energy management and integration software, it's important to take a methodical approach in the procurement and deployment of an EMS and focus not so much on the marketplace but rather your unique requirements and building operations.