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Web-Based Sustainability Reporting from GreenBox

August 14, 2013 Add Comment Edit

A new startup is striving to simplify sustainability reporting making it easy and accessible to everyone. A company by the name of GreenBox is commercializing its web-based sustainability reporting software following a pilot program with real estate asset management firms.

"Sustainability is a standard business practice. The documents and reports supporting your sustainability program should be as well. GreenBox helps you create essential documents the right way with unique step-by-step wizards make creating industry-compliant reports and documents easy and affordable. Embrace sustainability without the headache!"

Sustainability reporting gives companies an edge through cost savings, risk reduction and reputation enhancement.

Sustainability, including reporting, is a huge and growing industry. According to Verdantix, US spending on sustainability will grow from $34.6 billion in 2012 to $43.6 billion in 2017.

GreenBox is working with the Early Adopters Program to secure pilot participants. Up until now it is primarily large companies with significant assets that were able to afford sustainability reporting.

Sustainability reporting can be frustrating, particularly for smaller firms. GreenBox is making sustainability metrics and policies easy and inexpensive. As stated in their website "the new era of sustainability is here."

GreenBox has produced a software that makes it possible for every company to engage in sustainability reporting regardless of size, resources or level of expertise.

With the help of automatic data import technology and a step-by-step process companies can create industry compliant documents including sustainability policies, GHG inventory management plans and benchmark performance using analytics. Companies can use the software's training/engagement tools to turn disclosure into action. Companies report to the GRESB and the Carbon Disclosure Project.

The company’s Air Drop program also offers human advisers to help firms implement sustainability programs.

GreenBox has a goal of raising $1 million in investment capital before year-end. Investors see the need and the value and they are responding by providing more than $600,000 in seed capital to date.

The new product is scheduled for release in January 2014.

For more information click here.

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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New Water Quality Runoff Tool from the USDA

May 22, 2013 Add Comment Edit

A new online tool gives farmers and ranchers a better understanding of the quality of water flowing off their fields and into waterways. The new tool is called the Water Quality Index for Agricultural Runoff (WQIag) and was developed by scientists at USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Rather than just assess one dimension of water quality his tool offers a complete picture. It is currently being tested, but NRCS engineers say they hope to eventually offer the WQIag as a free smartphone app.

To get results a number of variables about a given field (eg slope, soil characteristics, nutrient and pest management, tillage practices and conservation practices) are entered into the tool. The WQIag then calculates these variables into a single rating on a 10-point scale, with 0 being very poor and 10 being excellent.

By adjusting some of the input variables farmers and ranchers can assess the impacts that these efforts will have an overall water quality.

To access the USDA's water quality tool click here.

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Video - Advanced Energy Legislation (AEL) Tracker

May 11, 2013 Add Comment Edit

Created by Colorado State University's energy policy center, Center for the New Energy Economy, the Advanced Energy Legislation TRACKER database contains information for clean energy legislation across all 50 states for free to any user. The TRACKER database provides current legislative language, recent actions, bill sponsor information, and policy trend analyses.

For more information about the Advanced Energy Legislation Tracker click here.

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Event - Global Conference on Sustainability and Reporting

March 03, 2013 Add Comment Edit

On May 22-24, 2013, in Amsterdam, Join over 1500 leaders and practitioners from business, finance, accountancy, consultancy, civil society, government, labor and academia in discussing the key challenges and opportunities on the path to a more sustainable future. Billed as the sustainability leadership event of 2013, this conference is focused on the themes of integration and innovation.

Integration

The successful company of tomorrow will have an integrated strategy to achieve financial results and create lasting value for itself, its stakeholders and society.

Integrated thinking will enable companies to factor sustainability into their operations, business models, and measures of success. Integrated reporting aims to bridge the gap between financial and non-financial performance. And collaboration between organizations and stakeholders, across sectors and regions, will mean that shared values and best practices can accelerate change towards a sustainable global economy.

By integrating the learning from the Conference, participants will also be inspired to act and interact: leading to a new call for action, and supporting a new mandate for GRI.

Innovation

Achieving a sustainable global economy is an innovation challenge. Organizations and companies worldwide need to be innovative in the way they are managed and do business. Stakeholder engagement, organizational responsibilities, value creation, community engagement: in these and other areas, many leaders are already showing the way.

Conference participants will be invited to explore today’s key sustainability challenges, offer solutions, and co-design the future.

Innovation also underpins the continuous improvement of GRI’s Sustainability Reporting Framework. The Conference will see the launch of the new G4 Guidelines, providing organizations and companies with a new resource for measuring sustainability, improving transparency, and defining responsibility.

Growth and prosperity depend on our ability to meet today’s most pressing sustainability challenges. Climate change, resource scarcity, financial corruption, human rights abuses: these interlinked challenges need joined-up, collaborative solutions.

Leading organizations are showing the way with greater transparency and more responsible practices. Sustainability reporting adds value: Around the world, thousands of organizations now report their economic, environmental, social and governance performance.

More than ever, we need a robust reporting framework that enables companies to account for their impacts; communicate how they will create value; and give investors, governments and consumers the information they need to make better decisions.

With a theme of Information – Integration – Innovation, the 2013 Global Conference on Sustainability and Reporting will unite over 1500 delegates from business, finance, accountancy, consultancy, civil society, government, labor and academia. These sustainability leaders will connect, share knowledge, and collaborate – to accelerate the transition to a sustainable global economy.

For more information click here.

Noesis Energy 101 Webinar Series

March 01, 2013 Add Comment Edit

Noesis Energy designed the Energy 101 series for both energy novices and energy professionals. This is a complimentary webinar where industry experts discuss popular energy management topics and walk through real-life scenarios with a live demonstration of the no-cost Noesis tools. Below are our most popular webinars of the series. Register today!

Calculating Savings (M&V) for Efficiency Projects

March 7, 2013 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST

Learn how to measure your facility's energy performance and the results of projects aimed at reducing energy consumption using IPMVP Option C Whole Building measurement and verification (M&V). To register for this webinar click here.

Energy Star for Buildings

March 14, 2013 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST

This webinar will provide an overview of Energy Star building ratings and Portfolio Manager, and will demonstrate how to use Noesis (an Energy Star partner) for additional analysis, reporting and efficiency project tracking of your facilities in Energy Star Portfolio Manager.

To register for this webinar click here.

Calculating Weather-Normalized Baselines

March 21, 2013 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM EST

Learn about key energy management concepts and get an in-depth look into baseline modeling using the complimentary Noesis energy management website. Watch a demonstration of how to calculate and use weather-normalized energy baselines for analysis.

To register for this webinar click here.

Facility Manager Tips & Tricks for Energy Savings

March 28, 2013 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST

Join us for a discussion on the most popular and effective no-cost/low-cost best practices to reduce energy spend for facility managers and energy professionals. Learn how these simple tips and tricks can result in cost savings with little to no capital investment.

To register for this webinar click here.

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White Paper - Energy & Markets Data Book Q1 2013

February 25, 2013 Add Comment Edit

Environmental Leader has released the latest edition of its quarterly data book, which supplies busy executives and research teams with a collection of charts presenting environmental, sustainability and energy-related data on a quarterly basis.

Data topics include energy use, renewable energy growth, supply & prices, smart grid, projections, costs and the role of the consumer. Our goal is to make the job of gathering essential information and metrics a bit easier for corporate decision-makers.

To download your complimentary white paper click here.

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The Logistics, Carbon, and Business Data Book: Fall 2012 Sustainability Trends (Whitepaper)

December 07, 2012 Add Comment Edit

This Whitepaper was prepared by UPS, it contains more than 60 charts collected from research, government and corporate outlets such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the American Wind Energy Association, Ernst & Young, ExxonMobil and the European Environment Agency.

To download the Whitepaper click here.

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A Private Sector Approach to Clean Technology from the CTTA

October 10, 2012 Add Comment Edit

The Clean Technology Trade Alliance (CTTA) is a non-profit trade organization whose founding premise is based on the concept that supporting and improving the environment for future generations can only be accomplished through private sector action. Although they strive to support the environment and strengthen the economy, the CTTA sees efficiency as the driving force of business rather than environmental concerns.

The CTTA bridges the gap between buyers and sellers of clean technology worldwide. Their mission is to drive the expansion of global clean technology by connecting buyers with sustainable solutions. This global community is dedicated to operating through innovative, productive and environmentally responsible methods and practices. Core processes revolve around sales and marketing services and clean tech cluster development. Through these processes, CTTA helps create a more sustainable, growing economy.

The CTTA's approach is in line with those who questions the morass of green marketing, profiteering and investment that creates companies focused on continuing R&D grants and subsidized businesses.

The Clean Technology Trade Alliance (CTTA) was designed to help overcome these issues and make finding and adopting sustainable solutions easier and more of a business function than a research project. The result of what CTTA does is to make the connection between sound business practices and environmental stewardship by providing the efficient, clean solutions that allow businesses to reduce costs and raise profits. It can even create market opportunities such as the sale of a waste stream for raw materials to another industry. CTTA creates Synergies.

CTTA aggressively recruits both companies providing clean, efficient solutions and the companies, projects, developers, organizations and agencies that need them. They vet both opportunities and solutions and then connect them.

All CTTA members go through a five step process prior to becoming a full member. We start with a general search for the solution needed and expand through a rigorous initial company validation and a brief discovery interview. The company is then turned over to a Clean Technology Evangelist and invited to participate in an extensive interview process covering topics such as business planning, customer development, supply chain management, philosophy and business management. This culminates with a scoring process that allows only the best businesses to move into the invitation for membership process. The CTTA works with proven performers who have high ethical values and provide the cleanest, most efficient solutions.

The CTTA mission is being accomplished through:

Identifying and verifying clean technology solution providers for business and government
Making commercialization of products simple with a trained sales force, member organizations receive an almost immediate competitive advantage in distribution lines for both established and unseasoned products.
Developing synergies that create new technologies, open new markets and discover new efficiencies
Research teams that find, develop and introduce new opportunities to member companies.

At the core of CTTA's mission:

Identifying and facilitating partnerships between businesses that increase profit opportunities
Opening markets for new technologies Developing new uses for existing technologies
Providing the basis for smoother transitions to sustainable business practices

The CTTA believes that endemic global use of clean technology can be achieved by creating an ecology within which clean tech businesses can thrive and grow.

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Sprout Educational Program (Video)

September 29, 2012 Add Comment Edit

Kid Wind Challenge (Video)

September 29, 2012 Add Comment Edit

Kid Wind Education Company (Video)

September 29, 2012 Add Comment Edit

Educators strive to bring experiential learning for future life skills into the classroom. Less time sitting at a desk and more time with stimulating hands-on experimentation. New curricula and learning standards are incorporation new disciplines in math, physics, and social sciences of wind power. Kid Wind, a St. Paul based education company, manufactures wind turbine models for classroom learning and teacher lesson plans for in depth study.The University of Minnesota is launching a new curriculum of study focusing on wind turbine implementation and installation for future sites across the nation.

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May 15, 2012 Add Comment Edit

The Natural Step Framework

April 27, 2012 Add Comment Edit

The Natural Step (TNS)Framework it is a comprehensive model for planning in complex systems. It is openly published and free for all to use. The TNS Framework is based on systems thinking; recognizing that what happens in one part of a system affects every other part. This scientifically rigorous Framework gives organisations the tools to perform a gap analysis using the lens of sustainability, and then work toward closing the gap. Furthermore, The Natural Step Framework complements other sustainability tools and methodologies, such as life cycle analysis or environmental management systems, by providing the context and strategic vision that makes them more effective.

The TNS Framework gives an organisation the tools to look at the whole picture, understand the rules of the game, define success, and move towards it together. It does this by developing a common language and understanding in order to facilitate cooperation. This allows for more effective communications and consensus building to realize a vision.

The TNS Framework uses an upstream approach that anticipates and avoids problems before they occur, rather than reacting to their downstream effects.

The Natural Step Framework has helped hundreds of different organisations around the world integrate sustainable development into their strategic planning and create long lasting transformative change. It is constantly being used, tested, refined and developed.

As the journey toward sustainability is complex, the TNS Framework has created three distinct learning paths. Pick the path that best suits your needs based on your awareness and experience with sustainability and The Natural Step Framework.

For those who are unfamiliar with The Natural Step Framework here is a quick overview.
For those who are somewhat familiar with the Natural Step Framework here is a complete (and quick) perspective to the approach.
For those who already know and understand The Natural Step Framework and would like to go deeper or get an in depth refresher go to deep learning.

To participate in an TNS eLearning visit the learning programmes page here . To learn more about applying the Framework click here. To contact the Natural Step Framework click here.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

The Guru's Guide to Implementing and Maintaining an Environmental Compliance System

April 25, 2012 Add Comment Edit

Businesses need to address numerous and more often than not, complex environmental regulatory compliance obligations in order to operate. Savvy organizations take a proactive approach to this matter, implementing centralized and automated Environmental Enterprise Resource Planning (EERP) Systems.

However, having the best technology is not sufficient to guarantee a successful environmental compliance operation. From the early stages of implementation and integration to user adoption and training, there's a lot to take into consideration when setting up an Environmental ERP system, whether large or small.

Read this new white paper and take a closer look at the Guru's Guide to Implementing and Maintaining an Environmental Compliance System.

You will learn more about:

5 critical implementation phases to set up your project for success
Developing a multi-level training program
Maintaining a system with different user capabilities

To download the white paper click here.

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