Climate of fear: scientists face death threats

Climate of fear: scientists face death threats


04 Jun, 2011 12:00 AM

Australia's leading climate change scientists are being targeted by a vicious, unrelenting email campaign that has resulted in police investigations of death threats.

The Australian National University has confirmed it moved several high-profile climate scientists, economists and policy researchers into more secure buildings, following explicit threats to their personal safety.

Scientists at universities in NSW and Queensland have told of being moved to high security buildings, where their names do not appear on staff directory lists or on their office door.

''If you want to find me, it's impossible unless you make an appointment, sign in with some form of photo identification, and are personally escorted to my door,'' one scientist said.

''That's directly as a result of threats made against me.''

More than 30 researchers across Australia ranging from ecologists and environmental policy experts to meteorologists and atmospheric physicists told The Canberra Times they are receiving a stream of abusive emails threatening violence, sexual assault, public smear campaigns and attacks on family members.

Among the scientists being targeted is Australian National University climate institute director Professor Will Steffen.

Others include University of NSW climate change research co-director Professor Andy Pitman and University of Melbourne meteorology professor and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead author Professor David Karoly.

Many scientists spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they feared the email attacks would escalate if they were identified.

Several scientists have installed upgraded home security systems and switched to unlisted phone numbers after receiving threats that their homes and cars would be damaged.

One scientist said he was advised by police to install a ''panic button'' security alarm in his university office after receiving death threats. Others have removed all contact numbers from their work websites, and deleted social media sites after these were defaced with abusive comments and obscene photographs. One researcher told of receiving threats of sexual assault and violence against her children after her photograph appeared in a newspaper article promoting a community tree-planting day as a local action to mitigate climate change.

Australia's new chief scientist, former ANU vice-chancellor Professor Ian Chubb has condemned these email threats as ''an outrageous attack'' on open and public debate.

''These hurtful attacks are intended to intimidate scientists, to scare them off and stop them from participating in public discussions on climate change. They are the antithesis of democratic debate,'' Professor Chubb said.

Federal Climate Change Minster Greg Combet said harassment of scientists or other researchers was unacceptable.

''There is nothing wrong with having a genuine debate but there is no place for harassment or bullying. People whipping up anxiety over a carbon price should temper their language and engage in rational debate rather than irrational scare mongering,'' Mr Combet said.

Australian Greens deputy leader Christine Milne said the emails were ''an orchestrated, extremist anti-science campaign attempting to threaten and intimidate people into silence.''

Outspoken climate science critic, Queensland Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce also condemned the attacks as malicious and counter-productive.

''No one deserves that kind of behaviour,'' Senator Joyce said.

University of NSW senior psychology lecturer Jason Mazanov said the emails were indicative of a ''closed room'' mentality where people have lost all sense of what is normal.

''They send a threatening email with no thought of the social cost or consequences,'' he said.

The AFP have advised that if an individual receives death threats and/or violently abusive emails, they should contact their state or territory police.


From: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/climate-of-fear-scientists-face-death-threats/2185089.aspx

Climate change sceptics endangered: study

03 June 2011 | 10:55

outback_australia_2802_B_getty_1702420238

Ninety per cent of respondents said human activity was a factor in climate change. (Getty)


Climate change sceptics are an endangered species in Australia, a national survey shows.

The survey of almost 3100 Australians found 74 per cent believe the world's climate is changing.

When asked a different question about the causes of climate change, which removed the reference to personal beliefs, 90 per cent of respondents said human activity was a factor.

Just five per cent said climate change was entirely caused by natural processes.

Overall, less six per cent of respondents could reasonably be classified as true climate change sceptics, the study by Griffith University researchers found.

"It's clear that people want the government to do something about climate change and they also feel they have a personal responsibility to act," environmental and social psychologist Professor Joseph Reser told AAP.

The survey was carried out in June and July last year, with the results released on Friday.

Prof Reser said the survey was one of the few in-depth studies that really drilled down into public perceptions and understandings about climate change.

He said the survey questions were framed in several ways, to really get to the bottom of what people believed and understood.

The intention of asking many questions, framed in different ways, was to limit skewed outcomes and really understand the Australian mind-set on climate change.

CONSISTENT WITH COMPARABLE NATIONS

Prof Reser said the survey results were consistent with public perceptions in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world.

But Australian respondents viewed climate change as more immediate and closer to home.

"Our findings suggest that Australians feel the threat to their local region and nation more intensely and that's not surprising given the nature, intensity, and dramatic impacts of natural disaster events in the past few years," he said.

"With nonstop media images, sound bites, warning messages, and popularised science accounts of planetary threat, psychological impacts are not surprising.

"However, we have neglected how the threat and physical environmental consequences of climate change are impacting on the human landscape."

The survey was commissioned by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility and funded by the federal government's Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency's Climate Change Adaptation Research Grants program.

From: http://www.sbs.com.au/news//article/1551291/Climate-change-sceptics-endangered-study

++ on the comments side of this article, there are more people whom I sense are skeptics questioning the findings of this survey rather than the opposite. so i wonder whether the views of 3,100 people surveyed really signify the voice of the 22.6mil of Australian? 

Saving on energy costs

YOUR electricity bill may soon cramp your style but don't fret, it is easier than you think to reduce your energy costs.

The bonus point is that by saving energy, we can also help save the environment excessive use of energy is damaging much of our Mother Nature and depleting her natural sources.

As Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tuin Razak said earlier this week, now is our chance to start doing our bit for the environment by reducing our energy consumption. Even if your current monthly electricity usage is low, there is no reason not to save energy.

There is no place like home to start cutting down on our energy consumption. What many may not realise is that there are many energy gobblers in the home, with the air-conditioner the biggest culprit, followed by the water heater and other appliances like the washing machine, tumble dryer and refrigerator.

We should start with them if we want to reduce power usage at home.

When the time comes, buy energy-efficient appliances and devices. There are now so many in the market that you will be spoilt for choice. Although they will initially cost a little more, the savings in electricity will cover that many times over.

Lighting

* It is perhaps the easiest to save electricity here. Simply replace all your light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights (CFL) and you would save 70% from your daily energy usage.

* CFL may be more expensive than ordinary bulbs but they are worth the investment as they last over 10 times longer and use up to four times less energy.

* Turn off the lights every time you leave a room.

* During the day, use as much natural lighting as you can by drawing open the blinds or curtains.

* You can even install a skylight to get more light in!

* To save on electricity use for outside security lighting at night, install a motion sensor to automatically shut off the lights after a set period.

Ironing

* Iron only the clothes you really need to iron. Don't bother ironing underwear or handkerchiefs.

* Try to buy clothes made from “iron-free” or “wrinkle-free” materials.

* Hang your clothes quickly after washing; don't let them sit in the dryer.

* Do all of your ironing in one session.

* Switch off the iron if you need to go somewhere in the middle of your ironing.

Air conditioner

* Set the air-conditioner at the highest temperatures that you are comfortable with to preserve as much power as you can.

* Get a timer and set it to turn off about the time when you leave for the day and to turn back on when you get home.

* Ensure all doors and windows are closed when the AC is on.

* Do not block the air vent and condensor.

* Install shades, awning and drapes to keep your room and house cool.

* Better still, use ceiling fans instead of airconditioning to keep cool.

Fridge and Freezer

* Put your fridge somewhere away from direct sunlight, the cooker and oven.

* Vacuum clean the condenser coils at the back or underneath your fridge/ freezer regularly because accumulated dust reduces their efficiency by up to 25%, adding the cost to your electricity bill.

* Defrost your fridge and freezer regularly. An iced-up freezer will make the freezer work harder, therefore using more energy than needed.

* Don't put warm or hot food into the fridge. It will use more energy to cool the food down.

* Keep liquids covered when putting them in the fridge. Evaporation of uncovered liquids will make the fridge use more electricity.

* Defrost frozen food in the fridge; this helps to cool it.

Washer and dryer

* Only use the machine when there is a full load.

* Set the water temperature low before you start washing. The washing machine uses the biggest chunk of energy between 85% and 90% - just to heat up the water for the washes.

* Hang your clothes out to dry rather than use the tumble dryer when the weather is favourable.

Other electrical devices

* Do not leave your electrical devices on standby when not using them. This is actually a waste of energy. Appliances left on standby use up to 85% of the energy they would use if fully switched on.

* Always unplug and switch off the main power when not using your electrical devices.

Cooker and microwave

* When cooking, always use the correct size pan or pot so no extra energy is used to heat the excess.

* Cook many items at the same time when your electric cooker or oven is hot.

* To reheat food or to cook small portions, use a microwave. Although a microwave uses a lot of power, it does so over a very short time and so saves energy overall.

Sources: Fomca; The Renewable Energy website; Electricity Guide, UK; Greenpeace; and www.e2singapore.gov.sg/ energy-saving-tips.html

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/6/5/nation/8841834&sec=nation

The role of the connected home on smart metering

http://www.connectedhometechnology.com/article/role-connected-home-smart-metering

Designed for green; used for green; outcomes for green!


The role of the connected home on smart metering

Paul Skelton | 10 November 2009
 

The possibilities raised by smart metering haven’t gone unnoticed by home automation manufacturers.

Control4, for one, has secured an additional $20 million in equity financing to accelerate the development of energy management systems and home energy displays for its emerging smart metering initiatives.

For home automation systems, smart metering and in-home displays include network management systems, enhanced electric meter capabilities and home area network (HAN) devices as key technologies required for the smart grid.

HAN devices such as energy management systems and displays allow customers to view real-time information on power use, enabling the active participation of energy-conscious consumers.

Control4 chief executive Will West says innovative home automation and energy management solutions provide new energy monitoring and control capabilities.

“The funding will help us maximise this new market opportunity by advancing Control4’s ability to control and integrate with other devices in any residence or business connected to a smart grid.

“With this financing, we can increase our resources to deliver products desired by home-owners, businesses and utility companies.”

The company’s energy management solutions, combined with two-way communication smart meters, will engage customers in a dialogue about reducing electricity consumption – continuously and at critical peak times.

Using ZigBee, WiFi and Ethernet standards, Control4 solutions give customers useful, real-time information on energy consumption. They can control and automate thermostats, lights, spa or pool, sprinklers, and more, to manage power use.

The Control4 in-home system can also provide event-based alerts so users can remotely make changes, thereby reducing utility bills.

Smart metering has also caught the attention of high-end control system manufacturer AMX, which was the first member of member of the home automation industry to become a member of the Green Building Council of Australia.

Over the past several months AMX Australia has been working with EDMI, a designer and manufacturer of electronic energy metering systems, to develop a user interface/display for their smart meters. Theoretically, other smart meters could be used, as long as they have a serial port available for connection to an AMX NetLinx control system, though EDMI is the first to have a specific NetLinx module written for it.

The Atlas range of EDMI smart meters is designed for single phase and three phase sub-metering installations. These meters would typically be installed down-stream of the main distribution board utility meter, and could be installed wherever individual circuit or supply metering is required within a building.

AMX Australia has developed a display page which can reside on an AMX NetLinx controller and be displayed on any AMX touch screen. By interfacing the EDMI Mk7A single phase electronic revenue energy meter with a NetLinx controller via RS232, the AMX touch screen can display in real time a host of energy and related data, including:


• total power usage;
• current power consumption;
• current draw;
• power quality;
• residual current detection;
• meter power status;
• energy target status;
• estimated energy cost; and,
carbon footprint.

Green Week @ TM


Shaping awareness and instilling the needs to institutionalise green practices in the green telecommunication field for eco-sustainability!

As a result, it is expected that green practices will emerge as an organisational culture and become a lifestyle.

We are the change agents .. starting from within! 

(download)

How She Leads: Leilani Latimer of Sabre Holdings

A very inspiring interview with a remarkable woman. A couple of key takeaways too as highlighted in bold.


How She Leads: Leilani Latimer of Sabre Holdings

Published May 09, 2011
inShA

This is the inaugural post for How She Leads, a column created by Maya Albanese for GreenBiz.com to spotlight women leaders in sustainability.

Through her column, Albanese will explore the career paths of women who have moved into influential roles in sustainable development. She’ll ask participants to share how they acquired their roles and discuss the opportunities and challenges they face. Her goal for How She Leads is to inspire and encourage more women to attain executive positions in sustainable business.

Albanese's first interview is with Leilani Latimer, the director of Sustainability Initiatives at Sabre Holdings, a board member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, and a member and former co-chair of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee for the National Business Travel Association.

Latimer’s experiences illustrate what it’s like to be a high-level sustainability professional in a global company. She provides her insights on the past, present and future of this relatively new discipline.

Sabre Holding's mission is to connect people with the world's greatest travel possibilities. Sabre merchandises and retails travel products and offers distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry. The company's businesses include Sabre Travel Network, Airline Solutions and Hospitality Solutions, as well as Travelocity.

Maya Albanese: How exactly did you rise to this role? Did you create the position or were you hired into an existing role?

Leilani Latimer
Leilani Latimer
Leilani Latimer: I have been working for Sabre for 20 years. Before leading Sustainability Initiatives, I was leading Global Marketing Strategy and Planning, where I was bringing together people across functions and cultures to move toward a common framework. Because of this, and my ability to work across cultures and organizations, my boss at the time recommended me for the sustainability position. At the time, we had a series of different sustainability initiatives at Sabre, but no one was really bringing everything together across the enterprise to streamline and create a cohesive and strategic direction. At about the same time, I decided to start looking at green MBA programs, and in 2008, I completed the Presidio School of Management's Executive MBA program, which I would recommend.

MA: Was there a specific incident in your life that led you to be passionate about working in sustainability?  (disposition? life history?)

LL: I grew up in Southern California in the 1970s where water conservation is a crucial issue, and the proximity of the beach and the beauty of nature were both parts of my daily life.

MA: In light of your success in this role, what advice would you give other young professionals aspiring to be sustainability leaders?

LL: Focus on what you know how to do well. The opportunity to drive sustainable development comes when you are in an organization, already contributing your expertise. Hunter Lovins' philosophy is that "to make change happen, you have to be in the system and know how to change the system." For example, I know a woman who had worked in financial real estate planning and who wanted to make a career change to sustainability. My recommendation to her was to find the ROI (return on investment) around projects related to sustainable real estate development. The opportunity to move into sustainability is there in every role in the company.

MA: This field is relatively new and each company is integrating it differently into its organizational structure. Do you work in a department dedicated to sustainability? Do you have staff or a team?

LL: I report to the office of the CEO where we manage sustainability, and then we also have a Corporate Responsibility Department where community and philanthropic engagement are managed, but we work very closely together. We have a Sustainability Advisory Council and point people across all departments of the company, who work with me to coordinate the sustainable business plan every year. There are also 16 global eco teams made up of passionate volunteers. I encourage the leaders to include this role as part of their career development so that when they are reviewed on their annual performance, this role can be seen as something that establishes their leadership above and beyond their day job.

MA: So you are managing a significant amount of people without actually having any direct reports? I imagine there are lots of answers to this next question: What are your biggest challenges in this role?

LL: Getting people to understand that sustainability will help them meet their business objectives rather than this is "just another thing I have to do on top of all my other work." One of the most important parts of my job is inspiring people to integrate sustainability into their jobs. In order to make the connection I like to stress the importance of internal and external public health that connects them personally to the issue of environmental responsibility. I ask them questions like: "How many people here have children with respiratory problems? How many people like being outdoors and hunting and fishing? How many like animals?" Anyone who answers yes to any of these questions has a natural link to improving the environment.

MA: How would you highlight the importance of women specifically in the acceleration of sustainability as a profession?

LL: Market data shows that women make most consumer purchases and that women are greener consumers than men. The caretaker consumer role is something that all companies should be paying attention to.

MA: Top-down support is crucial to the success of new initiatives in large enterprises. Are you seeing an increase in interest from the C-suite level?  Which high-level stakeholders are the most engaged in these efforts?

LL: I believe there is interest in the C-suite, but that real change will take place when Wall Street really begins including sustainability issues in its ratings of companies. It would be great to see companies being required to report on the SRI, the sustainability index of the Dow Jones. Only a few major companies are participating voluntarily right now. When SRI influences the value of stocks, then investors and companies will care more about sustainability. 

MA: Where do you see the future of this discipline going in the next 20 years?

LL: The hope is that there will be no need for sustainability directors in the future, because every function within the company has sustainability integrated into it.  There may always be a need for an ambassador to bring stakeholders together.

MA: What do you see as the “next big thing” in sustainability?

LL: Integrative reporting. There’s been a whole world of metrics related to bulky CSR reports. The separate CSR report should go away and become completely integrated into the main business report. We need to find that happy place where the silo-ed functions that work toward wellness are integrated. This holistic incorporation is the next generation of sustainability -- that happy place.

Leilani Latimer was a speaker at the GreenBiz Group's 2011 State of Green Business Forum in San Francisco. A summary of her presentation is available at GreenBiz.com.


Read more: http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2011/05/09/how-she-leads-leilani-latimer-sabre-holdings#ixzz1LyClcR5o

How Leading Firms Make their Sustainability Reports Stand Out

From the goldmine source: GreenBiz website.

How Leading Firms Make their Sustainability Reports Stand Out

Published May 03, 2011

It's springtime and most sustainability teams are in the midst of finishing or have just finished their corporate sustainability reports, Carbon Disclosure Project submittals and other external surveys. This now-annual spring ritual provides sustainability leaders the opportunity to re-secure management commitment to sustainability definitions, goals, and projects and to further strengthen their CSR reports with detailed environmental and operational data.

Many CSR reports are heavy on the platitudes and light on specific data. Like traditional annual reports, CSR reports backed with strong data are more credible.

The increase in public reporting of environmental sustainability data, especially among large companies, is the last ten years remains stunning. The majority of Fortune 500 companies now issue a CSR report, GRI-based reports are at a all-time high, and the number of companies reporting to the CDP has increased tenfold in seven years (from 350 in 2003 to 3,050 last year).

In fact, companies that don't publish basic sustainability information and an organizational carbon footprint information are justifiability viewed as laggards.

Despite ClimateGate, the recession, lack of carbon regulation and flattening consumer interest in sustainability, it is unlikely there will be any abatement in reporting trends. Notwithstanding the variance in reporting breadth, quality, and data veracity, sustainability reporting is here to stay, driven in part by the need to maintain a positive company brand image, requests from top customers, and a corporate desire to be responsible.

Like the company's annual report, the yearly update of the public CSR offers an opportunity to review sustainability goals and secure re-commitment from senior management and employees toward achievement of these goals. Public goals and progress reporting drive organizational focus in ways that internal goals often cannot.

When reading traditional annual reports, financial analysis quickly skim pass the glossy pictures, platitudes, CEO letter and other marketing fluff and head straight to the financial numbers and footnotes.

Savvy CSR report readers do the same. The value is in the numbers.

In addition to providing detailed environmental data, leading companies are adding real substance to their CSR reports by combining financial and non-financial environmental. This combination is a natural for companies who truly aim to deliver to shareholders strong financial return in a sustainable way.

American Electric Power is one company that now combines its CSR report with its annual report. Another, Novo Nordisk, is aligning the process of controlling the reporting of non-financial environmental data with that of financial data according to Sarbanes-Oxley.

Other companies go still further and have moved from yearly reporting of sustainability metrics to quarterly reporting. Quarterly reporting really ups the imperative of good data gathering systems and management commitment and it strongly cements the link between the sustainability team and operational teams in the company.

Line managers are used to accounting for and executing plans on a quarterly basis. The tracking and reporting of sustainability metrics demonstrate to the organization that, say, quarterly GHG emissions is an important operational metric similar to common measures like shipments, orders, or returns. Sales, operational and financial teams are very familiar with "closing the quarter" for data collection and reporting. Driving toward quarterly reporting of sustainability data ensures better data quality, more time to react when projects are below expected results, and avoids the year-end data crunching rush.

When sustainability is genuinely an important company imperative, the associated business processes needs to be tracked and managed quarterly like all other critical business processes (sales, quality, customer satisfaction, profitability, retention, etc.).

One of the true leaders in quarterly reporting [PDF] of sustainability data has been Timberland.

Yearly or quarterly goals for environmental aspects of operations or products are particularly impactful and impressive. These include energy reduction (either energy intensity targets or absolute reduction goals), more environmentally-friendly product ingredients and product packaging, a more sustainable supply chain, facility improvements, and reduced use of landfills and water.

The public reporting of environmental data tied to operations is not easy but materially enhances the credibility of CSR reports. Sustainably leaders need to continue to drive their organizations toward this end.

How IT Tools Are Reshaping the Future of Facilities Management

The convergence of IT Departments and Facilities Departments => Through Green IT/IS 


Based on my observation and my data, yes, it is true that at the moment, Facility Management Division of an organisation and the company's IT Division are working in silo. Opportunities are abound for these two divisions to converge and work closely together especially for the common good: eco-sustainability initiatives of the firms, enabled by IT/IS or greening of the firms by IT/IS.

It is great to discover this article by Chip Pieper discussing on this important issue.

++

How IT Tools Are Reshaping the Future of Facilities Management

Published May 10, 2011

The facilities and IT departments of an enterprise have historically been separate, and, much to the detriment of energy efficiency efforts, siloed divisions of a company. But a number of factors -- including economics, sustainability objectives and technological innovation -- have made facilities the last frontier in the enterprise, and the convergence of IT and facilities promises both rapid growth for the major players as well as significant improvements in the corporate carbon footprint.

Because facilities organizations haven't traditionally needed to work with the IT group for solutions, the two departments have evolved their solution sets very differently. Facility pundits will question the IT industry's ability to understand their business, but this convergence has been years in the making, as traditional building automation systems (BAS) have been incorporating IP connectivity and integration through protocols like BACnet.

The IT industry now has the means to extend their reach into the facility ecosystem, and the biggest players -- Cisco, IBM, SAP and Accenture among them -- rightly see the considerable growth potential the convergence offers to their bottom lines, and have begun to place big bets on transforming the facilities industry into an enterprise network and application strategy.

It's important to note that the building automation solutions that control the assets that manage millions of facilities around the world haven't innovated their technology platforms at the same rate as the IT industry. As a matter of fact, the average IT pundit would be shocked at how antiquated this technology really is compared to the rest of the enterprise.

The IT industry has moved aggressively into the facility-management space as a natural outgrowth of its enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, and bringing with it sustainability, energy efficiency and reporting tools. LEED certification serves as an example of how a company-wide process has become dependent on involving both IT and facilities to achieve certification status. Furthermore, thanks to the aforementioned IP-enabled/open protocol BAS platforms, IT is typically required for implementing all facility-wide solutions that leverage their network infrastructure.

With the removal of technology barriers and enhanced economic incentives, the door is now open for the IT industry to help shape the future of facility management. "Convergence" will dominate innovation and solution adoption moving forward throughout this market segment.

How the Big Players are Betting on Convergence

Cisco. In recent years, Cisco has invested significant resources to grow its customer's reliance on their products, notably with its "Connected Energy" business, which includes Smart Grid, Home Energy Controller and of course their acquisition of the Mediator set of building-automation solutions. The company has not only worked to maximize their dominant hold on the backbone of the IP-based businesses in the world, but to now target the development of extensive "energy-centric" hardware and software solutions that extend the customer's investment in their IT-specific network into the facilities business. Even though Cisco is not the top dog in the facilities-management space, they nonetheless have the ability to open many C-Suite doors on their converged offerings as a result of their install base and years of expertise.


IBM. Extending strategic customer investments in enterprise-wide software solutions is a theme that IBM has thoroughly embraced. Through a number of recent acquisitions -- Informix, Maximo, Lombardi, SPSS, Tririga and others -- as well as through its own internal software development capabilities, IBM has been integrating and broadening the value of these solutions, providing a clear indication of where they want to take their Smarter Buildings initiative: into the enterprise.

IBM is in a unique position to substantially improve how business decision makers do their jobs. It's all about the data: Analytics inspires innovation, and enterprise-wide analytics is transformational. And IBM wants to own the business intelligence space, period.

On top of smart acquisitions, IBM has made smart partnerships in this space. Recognizing what it lacks in facilities experience and alignment, IBM teamed with Johnson Controls, the BAS services/solutions leader in the facility market, to supplement this gap nicely. The two companies have gone to market with a cohesive "Smart Building Solution" offering, which although initially focused on the government and educational sectors, substantially distances itself from such competitors as Schneider, Siemens, Honeywell and United Technologies, who have no such message -- yet. The power to provide end-to-end solutions that extend from the facility business all the way to the C-Suite are unique to the market and are a strong sign of things to come.

SAP. The soup-to-nuts solution offering is a mandate that strongly resonates with SAP as well. Through its ERP efforts, SAP not only understands the need to transform facility data through its Energy Management Module but more importantly, move the results from SAP BusinessObjects right into their Financial Module for "seamless" decision making.

Another interesting capability that will certainly be integrated into the Converged Architecture is Business Process Management. SAP's NetWeaver BPM platform can automate the workflow processes that impact the effective management of facility portfolios. One of the biggest constraints influencing managing facilities in numbers is gaining transparency into performance, maintenance, equipment, energy, labor and other expenditures attributed to the facilities business, and then normalizing this data for continuous process improvement opportunities.

With BPM, an organization has the ability to transform and automate not only processes surrounding the facility business, but look for ways to remove bottlenecks, improve work-order management, collaboration and communication with internal and external resources and integrate disparate systems into one enterprise-wide converged solution. I suspect we'll see the likes of Accenture maximizing on this approach as well by providing integrated sustainable offerings that sit on top a BPM platform and leverage the likes of SAP, IBM, Cisco and others to create a true "Smart Buildings Solution."

In addition to the holistic solutions these companies are all creating, the convergence will also bring to market subscription-based options rather than purchase-only tools. With the advent of many of these software-as-a-service solutions, less intrusive alternatives to hardware-dependent solutions can be fully realized throughout the portfolio.

Convergence and Building Optimization

At the core of convergence is building optimization. To have real systemic transformation throughout the enterprise, open architecture, standards and systems will have to be adopted to maximize this opportunity for innovation. Once a building is variably controlled with all of the IT-related barriers removed and embedded systems are in place, building optimization can be realized as the next frontier.

Having the ability to manage the facility business through a single cloud-based interface that integrates into all disparate systems will give operators and business owners the ability to manage policies at the portfolio level and realize maximum returns on their "converged" investments. As the industry consolidates -- continuing on IBM's recent purchase of Tririga, Schneider's acquisition of Summit Energy, among others -- the pace of innovation and adoption will accelerate, making "convergence" a common word in our everyday language to describe how our businesses operate.

Going green saves, but proving it's tough

by Valerie Helmbreck, Finance Tech News

20 April 2011

Seems like going green is going mainstream. That’s the word from a new study that finds organizations have started to realize the bottom line benefits that go along with energy conservation.

Organizations are making a concerted effort to buy information technology (IT) products that are power consumption friendly and easy to dispose of, according to new research released this week by CompTIA, the non-profit association for the IT industry.

More than three-quarters of organizations surveyed for CompTIA’s Second Annual Green IT and Insights study said they factor green into their IT purchase considerations for products such as desktop and laptop computers, printers, monitors, servers, data storage and other networking equipment.

“In particular they’re concerned with factors like power consumption, with two-thirds of companies rating this as a major factor in their IT purchase decisions,” said Seth Robinson, director, information technology analysis, CompTIA.

Other highly rated green factors impacting purchase decisions include a product’s power management capabilities (63%) and ease of disposal/recycling (58%).

In addition to buying energy-efficient IT products, more companies are encouraging green behaviors:

  • 73% encourage nightly computer shutdowns, and
  • 68% encourage users to use their computers’ energy savings and sleep mode settings

Though many companies are encouraging green behaviors, far fewer are monitoring results. Just 16% of respondents in the CompTIA study said they use software to monitor and measure energy consumption or similar environmental issues. However, 48% said they have plans to start using the software.

“Systems administrators can use these software programs to monitor power usage by device over time, allowing policies to be set that reduce energy without disrupting business,” said Robinson, adding that even more comprehensive programs to monitor and control lighting, HVAC and other building facilities are available as well.

The adoption of new software tools for energy monitoring and reduction has the potential to further expand the roles and responsibilities of internal IT staff and external IT contractors and solution providers, Robinson noted.

“Areas such as lighting and HVAC are typically not a part of the IT infrastructure, but as companies use software to monitor and control their use, IT personnel will be utilized for running the software and connecting the network components,” he said. “For organizations to optimize their costs savings and return on investment in green solutions, energy consumption must be a joint effort among IT, operations and finance.”

Cost savings top the list of drivers for implementing green initiatives, with 71% of organizations in the CompTIA survey identifying it as a significant driver. Reduced energy consumption (70%) was a close second.

Dollars and cents issues also top the list of challenges organization face in implementing green IT practices. The CompTIA survey reveals that 83% of organizations cite implementation costs as their top IT challenge. Nearly three-quarters (72%) say that difficulty proving the return on investment of green initiatives hurts their efforts to implement such programs.

http://www.financetechnews.com/going-green-saves-but-proving-its-tough/