carbon accounting softwareWhile other industries are sputtering along or even tanking, as a result of the global recession, the emerging Enterprise Carbon Accounting (ECA) software market is experience a phase of phenomenal growth. The number as providers has almost doubled, venture capital money is flowing freely and Groom Energy predicts that ECA software purchases will increase 600 percent by 2011

Jennifer Kaplan takes a look at how small businesses can have a big impact on the economy and why it is to their advantage to go green.

Sustainable Life Media,the people who bring you the Sustainable Brands conference each year, launched their first online Sustainable Brands Boot Camp on Friday. The 13-week series, taught by sustainable business/brand thought leaders, is for those interested in a training program designed to bring professionals up to speed with the latest in sustainable business practices, metrics, product design and market drivers.

If you’re like most small-medium sized business owners, you own and independently operate a business with less than 100 employees, have revenues of less than $500,000 annually, and are not market dominant. You may be wondering if the new, ‘greener’ technologies can work for your company. Can your business enjoy the same benefits as your larger counter-parts by investing in ‘green’ technologies such as virtualization? The global economic downturn means that it is more important than ever to ensure that every penny counts and that your business is run efficiently and cost effectively. This post will (hopefully) help you to identify whether your company can benefit from implementing virtualization technology while reducing your environmental impact.

Yalmaz Siddiqui, Office Depot’s Director of Environmental Strategy, shares his glass-half-full view of environmental policy, calls for a new definition of “green” and talks about the legacy he’d like to leave. Siddiqui joined Office Depot in 2006. He’s since developed programs that improve the environmental standards of Office Depot’s supply chain, its internal operations and the consumer market.

Interns can be great hiring resources because they can help you recruit new interns through word of mouth. They can help your organization decrease recruitment costs and enable you to add personnel during periods when workload has increased, but you do not want to add another full-time employee. In the past I have obtained four great interns that way. Two ended up working for me and one of the others did several freelance assignments for my years later.

This, the fourth article in our series on green (sustainable) buildings focuses on the twin subjects of energy efficiency and water efficiency two fundamental areas of importance for green buildings. These are important not only because they reduce usage of and promote reuse of these precious resources, but because in so doing to minimize the building environmental impact. A well designed green building, can not only reduce its own environmental impact, but can improve a surrounding environment.

For new projects where the building site is not already decided, an important green consideration is the selection of a location for the building that fits into the existing urban fabric, especially the existing mass transit network of the city. Prospective sites should also be selected based on how easily they can integrate into the existing electric, gas, water, and sewage utilities. Fitting into a city’s existing infrastructure so that a project has the smallest impact on the existing energy, water, sewage and road systems is the first point at which the green decision making process comes into play. In addition to siting a green building should be oriented and landscaped to make the most of its site ant to integrate into the urban fabric so that it organically fits into it and enhances its surroundings. Orientation and landscaping can have major impacts on a buildings water and energy efficiency as well as on its environmental impact.

Many green buildings also seek to promote a green aesthetic and ambiance in their design and in how they are sited within the urban fabric they will exist within. Often these other additional design considerations flow from and are achieved in a synergistic manner by the structure’s other central design goals of reducing energy impact, water impact and providing a healthy inner space for its occupants. Sustainable buildings often promote a more livable environment and ambiance within and around them; enriching both the inner and the outer spaces.