Corporations Have Lots of Help to Go Green

January 27, 2009

by Charles Waltner

As Nobel Prize recipient Al Gore explained in his movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," small changes can add up to big reductions in environmental impact. This is as true for individuals as for major corporations. The only difference, experts point out, is that corporations control the use of massive resources. By changing their habits, they can make a much bigger difference than any individual.

Most business leaders now recognize that they need to take new measures to reduce their companies' effects on the environment. The only problem is that they aren't sure how to start. Fortunately, there's plenty of help available.

Cisco, for its part, has worked with various leading governmental agencies and environmental groups such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Clinton Global Initiative, and the Environmental Defense Fund to assess its environmental impact, set up aggressive energy and pollution reduction targets, and establish ways to measure its progress.

Cisco has also signed on to the EPA's Green Power Partnership program, which assists companies in purchasing "green" power to spur demand for non-polluting energy sources, such as wind, solar, or low-impact hydroelectric.

Both the EPA and the Environmental Defense Fund offer this assistance for free to major corporations committed to changing their environmental practices.

Elizabeth Sturcken, a managing director with the Environmental Defense Fund, advises corporations to start their green efforts by conducting an energy audit to gather all data on where, how, and how much they use energy and generate greenhouse gases. Once they have established clear baselines and other metrics, she says, companies should then look for a few "easy wins" to build momentum for their resource conservation initiatives, such as simply changing out light bulbs or upgrading their environmental building controls.

Sturcken says her organization's Climate Corps program is designed to help with these tasks. Started last year with Cisco and five other companies, the program matches MBA students with corporations to assist in identifying ways to reduce their environmental impact. For example, the program helped Cisco discover it could save $24 million over five years by installing more sophisticated power controls in its labs.

This year Sturcken says her group wants to recruit 20 to 30 major corporations to the program, targeting big businesses headquartered in Boston, North Carolina, Texas, and Los Angeles. It is especially interested in companies with lots of office buildings, one of the main sources of energy usage. "We are looking for the biggest fish," Sturcken says.

For smaller businesses, the Environmental Defense Fund has recently launched the Innovation Exchange, a first-of-its-kind online resource that allows businesses to quickly identify and share ways to improve their environmental performance and reduce costs. The EPA also offers some support services for smaller businesses.

Beyond such programs, Sturcken says businesses should follow the "Four Cs" of corporate environmental stewardship: conserve energy, convert to lower carbon energy, choose quality offsets, and call for action.

Other experts emphasize that any such environmental programs must be part of a strategic and comprehensive commitment, starting with decisive executive leadership. "No company can really be green unless its efforts are linked to the organization's business operations," says Rick Hutley, vice president of the global innovations practice in Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group.

Hutley says corporations can carry out a "pincer movement" of efforts, combining both simple things like turning off lights with broader initiatives such as creating a leadership vision and making a major commitment to fundamental change. By doing so, companies set themselves up to "save to invest," he says.

Neal Elliott, associate director of research for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, says making such a bold commitment to change is perhaps most important of all. "Once they dive in, companies are finding lots and lots of hidden opportunities," Elliott says. "What they once thought impossible is suddenly well within reach."

Charles Waltner is a freelance writer in Piedmont, Calif