Category: Webinars

Sustainable development is a vast and all-encompassing idea, and corporate sustainability is nearly so. No corporate sustainability leader can hope to make their company “sustainable” in the next year—or even the next five. So as we think ahead to our sustainability initiatives for 2012, how can we set meaningful goals that will lead to measurable good?

As a fairly new corporate sustainability leader, I find that answering this question can easily become overwhelming. So, I use a three-part approach to help develop and further my company’s sustainability strategy.

1. 1.       Tracking “facilities, flights and fuel”
2. 2.       Engaging, educating and empowering your employees
3. 3.       Greening your core products and services

Read the complete article at Environmental Leader

By Environmental Leader

Aluminum fabricator Alcoa has launched a new series of wide base that wheels are the lightest 14″ aluminum wheels on the market.

The new 58 lbs wheels are engineered for high performance through Alcoa’s proprietary LvL ONE wheel manufacturing process of light weighting.

By switching from single steel 22.5″ x 8.25″ wheels to Alcoa 14″ wide base wheels, the weight of an 18-wheeler can be reduced by nearly 1,400 lbs. cutting annual fuel costs, Alcoa says.

In other haulage news, Cox Transportation Services, a Virginia-based freight transportation firm, has equipped its fleet with Solus Split Skirts. Solus says the skirts can cut fuel consumption by 5 percent.

Cox is currently evaluating the Solus Wheel Cavity Cover for fleet-wide adoption. The Cover delivers additional fuel savings of 1.3 percent, Solus says.

Environmental Leader’s recent Insights report covers sustainable ground freight. It lists installing wide or low-rolling resistance tires and making aerodynamic improvements as good strategies for improving a truck’s efficiency.

Editor’s Note: This article, originally published on November 15, 2011, was updated today with a response from Kimberly-Clark Professional.

It’s a question that bedevils facility managers. What’s the most environmentally conscious and cost effective way for people to dry their hands in company and public restrooms?

Paper towels made from recycled content?  Electric hand dryers? Cotton towels that need to be laundered?

Dyson, the maker of the cold air-driven hand dryers, contends its Airblade is the best option when it comes to energy efficiency and commissioned a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to look into the matter.

Read the complete article at GreenBiz.com

Hilton Worldwide and its ten associated hotel brands released the results of its sustainability measurement system, LightStay.  Since the implementation of the program, Hilton Worldwide has saved over $74 million in utility costs resulting in a 6.6 percent reduction in energy use, a 7.8 percent reduction in carbon output, a 19 percent reduction in waste output, and a 3.8 percent reduction in water use.  Hilton is the first multi-brand hospitality company to create and implement its sustainability measures as brand standards.

To continue with its long-term sustainability goals, all Hilton properties are required to implement the program by December. Over the next three years, Hilton Worldwide will continue to invest in improved building performance.  The proposed projects include the installation of energy-efficient chillers, boilers, motors, building automation systems, water reclamation systems, high-efficient windows, and white roofs.  Via the implementation of LightStay, Hilton committed to reduce energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and waste output by 20 percent and reduce water consumption by 10 percent by 2014.

In cooperation with the new projects, the Hilton New York will install an on-site cogeneration system that will offset 54 percent its electrical needs and 33 percent of its thermal needs.  Due to these actions, Hilton Worldwide recently earned ISO 14001 certification for environmental management systems.  This is one of the largest volume certifications of commercial buildings with 3,750 properties in 85 countries.

Learn more about LightStay here

Over the past decade, hotel companies have implemented programs to reduce the waste generated and the energy used in their daily operations. Many have been successful in saving both resources and money as well as attracting environmentally conscious guests; however, the industry as a whole has yet to make sustainability an integral part of its strategic plans. The Two Tomorrows sustainability agency’s latest survey, the Tomorrow’s Value Rating (TVR) from 2009, indicates that the world’s ten largest hotel companies “are only just beginning to address the wide range of social and environmental challenges facing the sector.” Climate Counts, which scores corporations on the climate impact of their business, found similar results when researching six major hotel firms. “The world’s largest hotel chains may be seeking practical ways to address a range of broad environmental impacts in their operations . . . however, few appear to be aligning such actions as part of a larger and more comprehensive carbon management strategy. An average sector score of 19 out of a possible 100 suggests the sector has much work ahead.” Now that the low hanging fruit that has enabled hotels to claim they are going green has been picked, it is time for hotel companies to evolve their sustainability programs in order to address the new phase of challenges and opportunities they currently face.

Read the complete article at Environmental Leader

Hello,

The National Sustainable Lodging Network has now reached over 275 members.  As many of you begin to explore the site, you may have questions about how to use some of the features so that you can contribute content, share information, and make connections with your peers.  We’ve tried to anticipate these questions by providing brief instructions on How to Use the Site and developing other materials, such as User Guide and Video Tutorial.

We have also recently implemented a Help Desk Group for users to post specific comments or questions about how the Network functions.  The content of this Group is open to everyone, but you must become a member in order to post a question.  Our hope is that this Group will serve as a resource where users can quickly find answers to their questions about using the Network.

Thanks,

Sustainable Lodging Admin

Maybe your company has an environmental compliance team, maybe only a sustainability team or maybe both. But did you ever think about the similarities between the way in which you approach complying with an environmental regulation and the way in which you would approach a standard business project or to be specific a voluntary sustainability project?

Many companies have, and they are benefiting from gains in environmental data quality and operational efficiency while avoiding duplicate team efforts.

Hear two experts make the case for an integrated approach to environmental compliance and sustainability efforts: Andrea Gardner, Senior Technologist, Sustainability at CH2MHill and Nigel Nugent, VP of Worldwide Sales at Enviance, moderated by Joel Makeover, Executive Director at the Greenbiz Group.

Download our newest on demand webinar and learn more about:

• Similarities between environmental compliance and sustainability projects
• How to demonstrate ROI for both types of projects
• Benefits of integrating environmental risk and corporate financial reporting

Watch Webinar Now!

Join RPN for a free kickoff-webinar that will demonstrate how purchasing decisions can lead to greener buildings.  The webinar will highlight practical strategies for evaluating the sustainability attributes, performance and cost of environmentally preferable building maintenance products.

REGISTER TODAY! 

Webinar attendees in EPA Regions 1, 4, 7, and 9 FREE technical assistance to help advance be likely to yield measurable environmental results in reducing energy, water, or pollutants. If your project is chosen, RPN’s staff supplies, facilitate cooperative contracting opportunities for green building products or services, or undertake another initiative designed to dramatically boost the use of green building maintenance products.

To stay-up-to-date on RPN’s green building workshops, please visit www.responsiblepurchasing.org/