Energy
Sustaining momentum
Get the rundown on sustainability before your resources run out.
By Jessica Tremayne
Smart Business Philadelphia | February 2009
Page 1 of 3
Sustainability isn’t about saving the planet. It’s about saving your business.
Conducting business in a sustainable
manner means you can spend less and
increase revenue.
While sustainability does help the planet,
the incentive of reducing your business costs
by half is a strong reason to pay attention.
The buzz is that traditional energy and other
resources will be in tight supply in the future,
resulting in volatile prices. By investing in
sustainable efforts now, you can help ensure
your business’s long-term success.
“Companies that aren’t investing in sustainability run the risk of being behind the
curve,” says Shelley Keller, vice president
of strategic initiatives, Exelon, provider of
energy services with the largest nuclear
operator in the U.S. “The price of fuel has
changed the economics of the situation.
Sustainability is more of a good business
move based on irrefutable scientific evidence than anything else.”
Americans compose 5 percent of the
world’s population, yet contribute almost 25
percent of the greenhouse gas pollution,
which scientists believe causes global
warming. If everyone used and wasted energy and other resources this way, we’d need
four planet earths to keep up with the
demand. Consumers are finally taking
notice of this egregious waste and are looking to buy from sustainable businesses,
while more and more businesses are looking to obtain products from other businesses using sustainable practices. This is a time
when your business can not only streamline
production but also increase revenue by
drawing in new customers.
“Barack Obama was so specific about
forming an energy plan, we’ll be seeing
things change soon,” says T. Boone
Pickens, founder and chairman of BP
Capital Management. “This means businesses have to get going on where they’ll
be standing when this comes in to play.”
There’s a host of reasons businesses don’t
operate sustainably.
“One is the complexity of the procedure — they look at the expense and say
that’s more than we want to spend —
although any cost will eventually be
recouped,” Keller says.
All of the readers polled by Smart
Business say being green is an important part of their corporate philosophy,
yet 72 percent report they’re not willing
to invest in greener practices. Experts
say spending money on green initiatives
isn’t paying for an image; it’s a direct
investment in a more economic way of
running your business.
