Energy Efficiency Is Good For Business
Why bother improving energy efficiency? We know we should, but how do you articulate why? Of course, if there is an ROI case to be made then the analysis is easy. But really, it seems to beg a larger issue. Is there a reason beyond ROI?
Whatever the industry, managing costs is good for business, and increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy costs does just that. Given rising energy prices and a growing awareness of the importance of energy conservation, a carefully conceived energy management strategy may well be one of the most important steps a business can take to sustain and grow business.
Furthermore, research by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors suggests that companies with a clear energy management strategy have a competitive advantage. Companies that lead in energy management achieved superior stock and financial performance over “laggards.” They even achieved significant financial premiums in stock prices over competitors. This from the National Environmental Education Foundation:
Companies have been engaging in energy-efficiency strategies for years as a means to control costs. Increasingly, a body of evidence suggests that companies that take a systematic and strategic approach to energy management can enjoy a broad array of tangible and intangible benefits of interest to investors. As financial analysts and institutional investors come to understand this energy-value connection, energy management is becoming another measure by which they assess companies.
- » See also: Interview with Jamie Wimberly, CEO EcoAlign, publisher of “Green Gap Redux: Green Words Gone Wrong”
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The reality is that regardless of what business you are in and whether you currently pay directly for your energy use, rising energy demands, global climate change, and limited energy supplies are likely to impact the relationship between a businesses’ energy use and profitability—now and in the future. While improving energy efficiency may not be the answer to global warming, managing energy use (and waste) is an easy and highly effective way to control costs, minimize risk and do the right thing.
Photo by Julia Freeman-Woolpert at sxc.hu
“Given rising energy prices and a growing awareness of the importance of energy conservation, a carefully conceived energy management strategy may well be one of the most important steps a business can take to sustain and grow business.” I agree with this statement. In this new age, businesses are becoming more social and more green. With proper energy management the business is showing an interest in natural and social capital- investing in our natural resources and in people power. It makes perfect sense that those companies that have such a plan would have a higher output- most consumers would put their money into companies that were striving to become more sustainable. It may cost more in the short term, but in the long term it may actually save the business some money.
Regardless these are great steps towards regulating emissions and energy. We at the University of Vermont Global Sustainability Institute ((http://learn.uvm.edu/ig_ realize that just these small steps can have a great impact for the future.
To make it easier, a lot of utilities offer incentives to help their customers with energy efficiency. Check out Southern California Edison’s at http://www.sce.com/business