Sustainability initiatives have become a “must have” business imperative for companies, despite budget and return on investment (ROI) challenges, according to a new study from Aberdeen Research.
Aberdeen Group has benchmarked over 200 enterprises involved in sustainability initiatives for its ROI of Sustainability survey. The research company says that top performers excel at matching potentially hard-to-grasp concepts like environmental and social stewardship to actionable and measurable improvements to their bottom lines.
However, 46 percent of companies surveyed report that budget challenges remain an impediment to sustainability initiatives and 42 percent still find it difficult to demonstrate quantified business value and return on investment (ROI) in order to make a business case for sustainability.
Similarly, nearly 55 percent of respondents to a recent Panel Intelligence Quarter Sustainability Tracking study observe no financial criteria (i.e. ROI, payback period) when evaluating sustainability projects for their respective organizations.
Aberdeen used six key performance criteria to distinguish best-in-class companies, with top performers achieving between 6 percent to 10 percent reduction in a variety of costs while also making strides in retaining customers.
A key finding reveals that best-in-class companies reduced their energy costs by 6 percent, compared to an industry average of a 4 percent increase. These companies also reduced their carbon footprint by 9 percent and paper costs by 10 percent. They also cut both facility and transportation/logistics costs by 7 percent.
Other key findings show that top performers experienced a 16 percent increase in customer retention rates while driving sustainability-related costs down by an average of almost 8 percent across the board. Best-in-class companies are also 52 percent more likely to incorporate sustainability metrics into value chain performance management KPIs, and to use sustainability to guide major portions of their corporate strategy. In addition, 74 percent of these companies have an organization-wide sustainability policy compared to 58 percent for all others.
Clean Technology, Conservation
Andrew Winston, the co-author of the best-seller Green to Gold states that the green movement may be at risk of slowing down, especially within the business community. Many business people hold on to an outdated view of green: the misconception that environmental practices always cost a lot of money. So logically, in this economy they’re asking, “Is this really the time for green? Can we really afford it now?”
At same time, most of the global discussion about getting the economy on track focuses on the macro picture — large stimulus packages at the national and industry level. But how can the economy as a whole get on its feet if individual companies don’t as well?
I believe that these two questions — can we still go green and how do we revive the economy — are heavily intertwined. In this time of austerity, sustainability is perhaps even more relevant and will provide a path out of this mess. One of the core pillars of going green is doing more with less — saving physical and financial resources. So while the instinct may be to pull back from green initiatives in hard times, that would be shortsighted and a huge mistake.
Not only should companies not put their green efforts on hold, they should accelerate them in targeted ways to save money quickly and prepare for the future. Those who navigate these tricky waters the best will emerge from the downturn in better shape than their competitors.
More at Harvard Business Blog.
Energy, Environment, Green
Reducing energy-related operating expenses tops the list of motivations for pursuing greener IT operations. See the survey result below from Forrester Research.
Conservation, Economics, Energy, IT
IT
The person who submitted this photograph to BBC had something to say. According to him, employees of WAPDA are trying to convert the moisture in Transformer’s oil into vapors by lightening up some coal fire under it.
Via ATP
Electricity
humour
I wrote about this new venture with promising technology. Here’s a picture of a demonstration plant which can process 25 tons of waste a day using technology developed by the startup InEnTec. (Credit: InEnTec)
Companies using similar technologies have failed in the past so lets hope that this time the effectiveness and economic feasibility is there.
Clean Technology, Electricity, Green, Innovation
