The U.S. commercial sector (offices, institutions, stores, entertainment venues, etc.) is responsible for 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas output annually. Add to that the 1.6 billion tons coming from the industrial sector and another 900 million tons generated by commuters and trucking and American businesses are responsible for 3.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide and other hothouse gases -- over half the energy related emissions annually.
Every company in America, then, can make a significant contribution to the war on global warming by cutting energy use. Here are some tried and true ways of doing that:
- Develop a company policy for telecommuting - commuting with a second family car can cost employees over $5,000 a year
- Retrofit all lighting with compact fluorescents and other high-tech offerings - 20% of all commercial electricity goes to lighting
- Buy Energy Star equipment (new standards will be out in 2009) - buying cheap can sometimes mean high energy costs
- Maintain heating and cooling equipment properly - building engineers will tell you that no one gives them a decent budget for maintenance procedures
- Contribute to employee public transportation expenses - get your local transit authority to help you calculate the benefits to the climate
- Hire an energy efficiency consulting firm or an Energy Service Company (ESCO) - experts can guide you to savings well beyond their fees - don't try to re-invent the wheel
- Create strategic alliances with vendor partners committed to energy efficiency - vendors investing in reduced energy and transportation costs, zero waste packaging, and strategic planning are partners who will be there for the long-haul
- Set recycling goals approaching Zero Waste - through recycling, composting and waste reduction planning, most businesses can now get serious about eliminating waste altogether
- Buy recycled-content products, supplies and materials - recycled content materials and supplies use half the energy of non-recycled.
- Track your energy use intelligently and communicate this regularly company-wide - if you don't measure it, you aren't managing it
Remember, energy savings and other conservation measures like recycling should always mean reduced costs. If your bottom line matters to you, fighting global warming should be a no-brainer.
David Biddle is a freelance writer and an environmental consultant. He writes about a diverse set of topics including: the cultural implications of global warming; recycling and solid waste policy; and energy efficiency and renewable power sources.
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