Warehouse Project Reduces Energy Consumption and Costs

A GE warehouse re-lighting project reduces lighting costs by 29%. In this short video you can see the warehouse, the project manager and employee comments.

Green Technologies

The “green investment” world is not insulated from our struggling economy. This article in the National Green News cites reports from both sides of the coin regarding investment in green technologies. It’s worth a read and can be found here.

EQC unanimously adopted DEQ's proposed rules regarding greenhouse gas registration and reporting.

On October 23, 2008 the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission approved new administrative rules requiring greenhouse gas emitters to begin monitoring and reporting their emissions. This action is taken in conjunction with Oregon's broader efforts to address climate change, as an individual state, but also as part of the Western Climate Initiative group. The rules require greenhouse gas sources that emit more than 2,500 metric tons annually to begin monitoring emissions on January 1, 2009 and to submit the first report in early 2010.

The EQC news relase can be found here.

We have also prepared a DirtAlert^® summarizing the new rule, which can be found on our website by clicking here.

Green Challenges for Manufacturing

In a guest column authored by Bruce Anderson, IBM’s Global General Manager for the Electronics Industry, in the Environmental Leader (10/12/08), Anderson discusses how the manufacturing industry is dealing with green requirements:

“Manufacturing, for instance, has myriad opportunities for carbon reduction. These include manufacturing strategy, supplier relationship management, production/materials development and planning, product/component manufacturing, assembling and packaging of products, plant inventory management and transportation– each with numerous dimensions on which to attack the carbon footprint.”

He responds to many business owners’ concern that going green will erode the bottom line:

“Some people, conditioned to think of “profitable green” as an oxymoron, might wonder if this is a pipe dream. * * * We estimate that, over the last eight years, the annual savings from our focus on pollution prevention and design has exceeded our environmental expenses by an average of two to one. Plainly put, for every dollar we spent to protect the environment, we saved two — a “green” dividend.”

Anderson’s article identifies several actions manufacturers can implement to address environmental concerns. You can find it here:

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/10/12/the-evolving-green-challenge-for-manufacturing/

Cut Energy Use with Free Online Tool

An article in the Environmental Leader (10/22/08), “the executive’s daily green briefing,” at http://www.environmentalleader.com/ tells us about new software, free to businesses with fewer than 250 employees, that helps companies to identify key environmental impacts and learn how to make practical changes to improve energy efficiency and green credentials. The tool allows companies to discover sustainable business practices that in many cases provide financial benefits. Take a look at the article at http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/10/22/bt-offers-free-online-tool-to-help-small-business-cut-energy-use/.