GreenBiz.com has released the fifth annual edition of its State of Green 
Business report, one of the most comprehensive discussions and measurement of the environmental impacts of the emerging green economy. In addition to documenting corporate progress in improving their environmental performance, the report tracks larger trends that will affect corporate America in 2012.
This free, downloadable report measures 20 aspects of environmental performance, from carbon emissions to paper use and recycling, includes essays from industry experts.
There’s good and bad news in this year’s report; the good news is that companies continue to dedicate time, money and staff to setting and meeting ambitious environmental goals.
The bad news is that their research shows declining momentum on some of the indicators. Among the downgraded topics include investments in clean technology innovations, overall energy intensity, certifications of LEED buildings, and paper use and recycling.
How does your business rate? How can you implement ideas presented in this report to benefit from the efficiencies outlined?
The shining sun and the coastal breezes refreshed the 28th Annual NAESCO Conference in San Diego, CA earlier this month. Exhibitors displayed energy-efficient innovations, presenters touted streamlined procurement protocols and economically viable projects. Yet a cloudy outlook was conveyed through stories of government gridlock and a maze of policy obstacles that inevitably attaches to energy initiatives large and small.
opportunities to spend a day learning about industry trends and network with like-minded professionals? 10? 20? Even more? One stood out for me, the 
some other catchy alliterative phrase, corporations around the world are embracing the concept of the 
years-long shift to electronic health records (EHRs). Their findings: the project has eliminated 1,000 tons of paper waste, 68 tons of x-ray film (and the chemicals to process it) and saves patients millions of gallons of gasoline from avoided medical visits. From these findings, the authors extrapolate that, if EHRs were to be implemented nationwide following Kaiser’s example, the net reduction in CO2 emissions from healthcare would be 1.7 million metric tons. The article also points out that Kaiser, to its credit, also details the negative impacts of the switch: Over 87,000 megawatt-hours of energy is needed to power the computers and data centers that make the EHR system work. And those computers add up to an additional 250 tons of e-waste generated by switching to EHRs. Find the complete article at 