Verizon Wireless reduces energy intensity 37% while network traffic grew 50%

May 22, 2013
We Have the Technology
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Tackling carbon and investment in alternative energy has helped Verizons quest for sustainability, but theres no silver bullet.

By , Guardian Professional

Verizon Communications may have had its origins in Bell System, America’s original telephone company. But today the largest mobile network in the US – with 144 million customers for its broadband, TV and wireless data services – has more in common with the tech giants of our age than the clunky rotary dial telephones, switches and copper wires that dominated telecommunications only a few decades ago.

Supply chain sustainability

Verizon’s sustainability journey began in 2009. Chief sustainability officer and vice-president of supply chain operations James Gowen had already been working on energy efficiency improvements in the company’s supply chain, with responsibility for $2.5bn in procurement.

“I did all the purchasing, I was responsible for transportation and I paid the electricity bill,” said Gowen. “I had the biggest opportunity to make a change. I was not an environmentalist by trade, but in the last three and a half years, I have gained a tremendous respect for sustainability and I’ve seen a transformation in myself.”

That year, Verizon established the industry’s first energy standards for its supply chain that required new equipment be at least 20% more energy efficient than the equipment it replaced.

Gowen said this was “low hanging fruit” but the impact on the industry was far-reaching as other telecom companies began using the new, more energy-efficient components.

Last year, Verizon went further by establishing a new supply chain goal to devote 40% of supplier spending by 2015 to firms that measure and set targets to reduce carbon emissions.

“This was not about checking off a box and making sure we did what regulators would want us to do, or what NGOs would be encouraging us to do,” said Gowen, “We wanted to do things that made sense for our business.”

Continue reading via Verizon: the telecoms giants attempts to secure a sustainable supply chain Guardian Sustainable Business Guardian Professional.

The Case for the Entrepreneur Generation

May 22, 2013
Meet the Millennials - Modern Day MacGyvers
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Let’s call the ‘Millennials’ the Entrepreneur Generation’ and learn to manage the valuable characteristics that set them apart.

By , Inc.

My neighbor Adam is a so-called Millennial. That means, according to those who follow pop culture today, that he is between the ages of 19 and 30. He’s 21. Adam will be entering his senior year of college in September at Penn State. He was born the same year that Bill Clinton was elected president. He never knew Michael Keaton as Batman and he’s never heard of Murphy Brown. He grew up watching Rugrats on Nickelodeon and Arthur on PBS. He has always had a cell phone and can’t imagine a world without the Internet. Growing up, he only had to deal with 150 Pokemon characters compared to 600 today. Adam and his friends are different than my generation. For the record, Im in a demographic called ”Generation X,” which I think sounds a lot cooler.) If you’re running a business you had better be prepared. Because over the next few years this completely new generation of people like Adam are going to be entering the workforce. In fact, they’ve already started to arrive.

Last week I read a survey from oDesk and consulting-firm Millennial Branding that polled almost 3,200 workers (2,000 of them called themselves Millennials). Turns out, 72 percent of the people who responded to the survey and who are still at “regular” jobs said they wanted to be entirely independent, and 89 percent said that they prefer to “work where they choose.” Fifty-eight percent identified themselves as “entrepreneurs.” 

Continue reading via The Case for the Entrepreneur Generation Inc.com.

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Traditional VCs Get Big Returns from Positive Social Impact Investments

May 19, 2013
Angels/Crowdfunding/VC, Capital & Financial Markets
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Can you stand to invest in ways that make the world worse? 

Mitch Kapor of Kapor Capital and a founder of several household names including Lotus and Mozilla asked this question of an audience of revered angel investors at HUB Venture’s Angel Squared event on May 13th. According to Kapor, nearly all investors have made deals that make them guilty as charged. Even most foundations – the very institutions that are established to do good with our money – “invest 95 percent of their endowments [with professional money managers] to help create problems that the remaining 5 percent [given to program officers] are trying to fix.”

It’s not easy to accept that we may in fact be contributing to behavior that has a negative effect on people and the planet. Yet by simply handing over our money to the stock market or a popular mutual fund, we join the herds to help perpetuate a system that traditionally rewards companies that yield the highest and quickest return. The fact is that many of us who strive to fight climate change and promote values like human health and ethical business are funding big oil, tobacco companies and casinos. Even so, isn’t this a small price to pay for a functioning economic system that provides us with jobs and rewards our investment risks with acceptable returns? After all, what would come of our world if we shifted the focus of our investments from profit to impact?

Tabreez Verjee of Uprising offered the Angel Squared crowd a glimpse into the potential for such a world. Hang onto your hats and turn a minute of your attention to findings from Verjee’s study assessing the performance of recent venture capital investments in companies that are creating positive social impact.

The study looked at the top 100 VCs which had altogether invested in 7,061 companies. Of those companies, 362 (or 5 percent) met criteria which qualified as Impact companies. Verjee compared the overall performance of these 5 percent with the remaining 95 percent of the sample pool. While his method for qualifying an impact company was not the most scientific (Verjee’s analysis was based on his self-dubbed “Goosebumps Factor”), the data is quite compelling…

Continues reading via Traditional VCs Get Big Returns from Positive Social Impact Investments.

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Will 3-D Printing Disrupt the Economy of the Future?

May 17, 2013
Economy & Economic Development, Jobs & Labor, We Have the Technology
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In its next generation of jet engines, General Electric Co (GE). plans to use a new, and possibly revolutionary, technology.

In each engine, 19 nozzles will shoot fuel into a combustion chamber, where it mixes with compressed air. Because the fuel must be distributed precisely, the interior of a nozzle is very sophisticated: Elaborate chambers and passageways help curtail emissions, control nitrous-oxide levels and prevent temperature surges. Previously, making each nozzle requiredwelding 20 disparate pieces together. Now, GE is employing 3-D printing to build each nozzle as a single piece, using laser sintering on a metal alloy called cobalt chromium.

The new nozzle is faster to make, five times more durable and a full pound lighter — on a two-engine plane, that saves almost 40 pounds. And it radically reduces scrap. By 2020, the company expects that 100,000 of its engine parts will be made using this process.

All around you, 3-D printing technology is making useful things in novel ways. Align Technology Inc. uses it to make clear orthodontics. Nike Inc. uses it to make soccer cleats. Bespoke Innovations makes customized (and quite stylish) prosthetics. And DUS Architects, a Dutch company, plans to print a whole house.

As the sheer variety of these examples suggests, 3-D printing is already having a demonstrable effect on the economy. Traditionally, it has been most useful in creating prototypes. But as GE and others are showing, printers will increasingly be able to produce critical parts and final products. In 2012, 28.3 percent of the $2.2 billion global 3-D printing market was tied to the production of parts for final products rather than prototypes, according to the Wohlers Report 2013. That shift could have profound implications for the economy and for public policy.

Continue reading via How 3-D Printing Could Disrupt the Economy of the Future – Bloomberg.

Adidas Group scores big with sustainability venture capital fund

May 17, 2013
Corporate Innovation/Ventures
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If you are familiar with facility management, you may know that facilities have finite annual budgets, and demand for capital predictably exceeds supply. Some projects such as lighting controls may deliver carbon and financial savings, but quantifying these savings requires time and specialized training, two equally scarce resources.Other projects, such as replacing carpets, dont deliver a return, but may still feel quite urgent to a facility manager. Without a trusted advisor to calculate and validate their economic and environmental benefits, energy-conserving lighting controls are stuck competing for the same funds as carpets.

We experienced similar issues at the Adidas Group and set up a dedicated team to look into it. After months of calculations and visits to our facilities, we established the company’s greenENERGY Fund, our creative response to this universal corporate problem.

Launched in 2012, the pilot greenENERGY Fund is an investment fund with three goals: accelerate carbon reduction in our global properties, rigorously track project performance and deliver a healthy return on capital. After six months and seven projects funded, the pilot project is showing impressive results. It is forecast to deliver 36 percent return on investment and cut carbon by 1,401 metric tons of C02 – that’s like taking 256 cars off the road each year.

This pilot is scaling up — way up — with $2 million committed to energy efficiency projects across the globe.

Continue reading via Adidas Group scores big with sustainability venture capital fund GreenBiz.com.

25 Startups in Unlikely Places Around the Globe

May 17, 2013
Entrepreneurial Places & Placemaking
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The world’s cities are all trying to emulate Silicon Valley’s example and become the next global hub. Leading cities such as London, New York, Tel Aviv, Beijing and Berlin are all creating friendly conditions for startups to thrive, but other incipient companies in more unlikely places are also prospering.

Below, we’ve rounded up 25 startups Russia to New Zealand, Lagos to the Himalayas and Krakow to Uruguay to show that innovation is not about being in the right place — it’s about doing the right thing.

1. VisibleNation — Moscow, Russia

VisibleNation is an Anglo-Russian startup that offers a social data comparison service so users can share accurate information and data. Its free service allows people to access categories such as travel, career, education, finance, health and family to make lifestyle decisions.

Continue reading via 25 Startups in Unlikely Places Around the Globe.

Boston Requires Full Disclosure of Energy Use and Emissions

May 16, 2013
Cities & Urban Development
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Emmanuel Huybrechts/Wikimedia CommonsBy BETH BUCZYNSKI

Boston officials hope that by mandating disclosure, building owners will be more likely to participate in local energy-efficiency programs.

By BETH BUCZYNSKI

For as much as we share and tweet and post details of our lives all over the internet, most of us still value our privacy. Especially when it comes to personal details of which we’re not particularly proud. For some of us, those embarrassing private details would include not-so-green practices. Thanks to a new benchmarking initiative in Boston, however, energy hogs are soon to have their secret habits aired for all the world to see.

Last week, Mayor Menino’s Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance was voted into law by the Boston City Council. The ordinance requires all large and medium buildings or groups of buildings to report annual energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as other resource consumption, to the City. Boston officials hope that by mandating disclosure, building owners will be more likely to participate in local energy-efficiency programs.

The ordinance was introduced as a component of Boston’s Climate Action Plan, which set a greenhouse gas reduction goal of 25 percent by 2020. The requirement will be phased in over five years and would ultimately apply to non-residential buildings 35,000 square feet or greater and residential buildings with 35 or more units.

“All large and medium buildings or groups of buildings will be required to report annual energy use, Energy Star rating (if applicable), water use, and greenhouse gas emissions through the Energy Star Portfolio Manager or an equivalent mechanism as approved by the Air Pollution Control Commission,” reads the project web page. All reported consumption levels will be made available online.

Buildings not demonstrating high energy performance or continual improvements or other appropriate exemption criteria will be required to conduct energy assessments or actions every five years to identify opportunities for energy efficiency investment. Although building owners won’t be forced to take action on the results of these audits, failure to comply with reporting requirements will lead to fines.

Continue reading via Boston Requires Full Disclosure of Energy Use and Emissions : Greentech Media.

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