Green Options

Why bother improving energy efficiency? We know we should, but how do you articulate why? Of course, if there is an ROI case to be made then the analysis is easy. But really, it seems to beg a larger issue. Is there a reason beyond ROI?

Whatever the industry, managing costs is good for business, and increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy costs does just that. Given rising energy prices and a growing awareness of the importance of energy conservation, a carefully conceived energy management strategy may well be one of the most important steps a business can take to sustain and grow business.

Furthermore, research by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors suggests that companies with a clear energy management strategy have a competitive advantage. Companies that lead in energy management achieved superior stock and financial performance over “laggards.” They even achieved significant financial premiums in stock prices over competitors. This from the National Environmental Education Foundation:

Companies have been engaging in energy-efficiency strategies for years as a means to control costs. Increasingly, a body of evidence suggests that companies that take a systematic and strategic approach to energy management can enjoy a broad array of tangible and intangible benefits of interest to investors. As financial analysts and institutional investors come to understand this energy-value connection, energy management is becoming another measure by which they assess companies.

Frank Dixon is the founder of Global Systems Change and the former Managing Director of Research for Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, which is the largest corporate sustainability research company in the world. His perspective on corporate thought and sustainability is that flaws in our economic and political systems make it impossible for any company to become sustainable. In fact, Mr. Dixon managed to shake my belief in many of the fundamental “sacred cows” I learned in business school

In nearly every post I describe the reasons business should go green. I tell you about social responsibility, about the fact that potential employees find sustainability attractive and the assurance that you may save some money in the long run. What if I told you that going green could give you a significant edge over other businesses in the same sector? Well, its true. Recently, the Carbon Beta Equity Performance Study came to the conclusion that there

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