Answering the Climate Call July 26, 2009 Posted by: johnsoncontrols 11:55 PM
By Michael T. Loth, Johnson Controls
Like a cell phone that gets a little louder with each successive ring, the climate message to businesses worldwide gets a little more urgent every day: “Pick up the phone; it might be important!” Lately, the calls have come from the global investment community.
In the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) divulged recently that it is considering requiring publically-owned companies to let their stockholders know just how much risk they could face as a result of their greenhouse gas emissions. Climate Wire says the SEC is meeting privately with groups representing investors’ interests in an effort to figure out just how much companies should have to disclose – if, in fact, the SEC ultimately decides to impose new requirements.
On the global front, a new report from the United Nations concludes that financial advisors and asset managers for institutional investors could find themselves getting sued for negligence if they don’t advise their clients about any environmental and social concerns related to the companies they tout.
Coming on top of the cap-and-trade scheme contained in climate legislation currently before the U.S. Congress – and coupled with growing public concern – the voice mail to companies is pretty clear: if you’re not already measuring your carbon emissions, you’re probably going to be required to do so in the not very distant future.
Fortunately, many organizations have already picked up the phone. A new study by GTM Research finds that roughly 3,000 organizations worldwide are calculating their carbon emissions. Many of them are using what is called “Enterprise Carbon Accounting” software to accomplish the task, and the report finds that Johnson Controls is one of the global leaders in the category.
The reason is our recently-released and enhanced Energy and Emissions Management System. This remarkable software helps global organizations develop a clearer picture of energy trends and their greenhouse gas emission. It gives them the ability to measure, manage and forecast energy costs, energy usage, energy efficiency initiatives, fleet emissions and energy waste.
A greenhouse gas inventory module automates carbon accounting by consolidating all sources of emissions, baseline adjustments and any impacts of carbon trading. The result is a comprehensive, transparent and verifiable inventory of an organization’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The web-based system is user friendly and truly global – supporting international data entry and generating reports in four languages, using numerous currencies and units of measure.
Best of all, it already has a great track record, currently:
Managing $1 billion in annual energy spending
Monitoring 63 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from 5,000 buildings in 88 countries
Capturing more than 8,000 energy and cost saving initiatives in the last eight years – nearly half for global giants such as Pfizer, Wyeth, Dell and Xerox
Simply put, this system incorporates one of the most advanced management software programs on the market to help organizations answer the ever-increasing calls to meet emerging greenhouse gas emission reporting standards.
Telling the Whole Story – For Once! July 19, 2009 Posted by: johnsoncontrols 10:46 PM
By Darryll Fortune, Johnson Controls
At number 58 on the Fortune U.S. 500 list, and 198 on the global list, and with 140,000 employees in 1,300 locations around the world, Johnson Controls tends to make the news a lot.
As director of public relations for our Building Efficiency business, I’ve noticed that most of the “ink” we get in newspapers and magazines, on television, radio and online is usually pretty focused. It’s typically about one narrow issue or event – a Johnson Controls executive testifying on Capitol Hill, a new initiative like the Empire State Building project, the Energy Efficiency Indicator that we release every year – those kinds of topics.
It’s rare that a reporter covers the breadth and scope of our entire business – Automotive Experience, Power Solutions and Building Efficiency. Although we are in three news-rich industries where energy efficiency has never been more important – in our homes, cars and offices – it’s still tough to tell the complete story. Last week was the exception.
The Nightly Business Report on PBS aired a lengthy segment about us on July 13th. Reporter Diane Eastabrook – Chicago Bureau Chief – paid a visit to our suburban Milwaukee offices to take a tour of our soon-to-be LEED Platinum corporate headquarters. She interviewed Chairman and CEO Steve Roell about a range of topics, learned more about our rich history and bright future, and, most importantly, put together a story about the many ways in which we’re contributing to a more comfortable, safe and sustainable world.
Ringing the BELL for Energy Leaders July 12, 2009 Posted by: johnsoncontrols 10:51 PM
By Sandra Buettner, Johnson Controls
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
When John Quincy Adams – America’s sixth President – expressed that thought, steam locomotives and horse-drawn streetcars were among our major modes of transportation. Many of our homes and businesses were still lit by whale oil lamps. And “energy efficiency” was a concept that would mean very little to anyone for another 150 years.
Today, however, Adams’ words perfectly describe the kind of person (or persons) Johnson Controls hopes to honor again this year with a Building Efficiency Lifetime Leadership – or BELL – award.
Presented annually during our Green Tie Affair at the Greenbuild Conference, the BELL award recognizes outstanding and long-term individual leadership in pursuing, promoting and implementing energy efficiency and/or renewable energy initiatives. Award recipients are selected for their contributions to:
Energy efficiency in buildings
Energy policy development and/or advocacy
Energy efficiency product development and/or deployment
Renewable energy initiatives
Leadership in energy efficiency communications
Last year’s winner was Paul von Paumgartten, longtime director of energy and environmental affairs here at Johnson Controls. For many, many years, Paul has been a tireless advocate for creating the tools, developing the standards and crafting the strategies to convince more and more organizations to integrate sustainability into their operations. Paul was a founding member of the USGBC and helped in the development of the first LEED rating system. He was a most deserving recipient of the first BELL award.
We’ll present the BELL again on November 11th at our Green Tie Affair at Greenbuild 2009 in Phoenix. Nominations are open to anyone, but the deadline is fast-approaching: August 31, 2009.
You can review and download the nomination form and criteria here. Nominations can be e-mailed or faxed to me at the e-mail address or fax number on the nomination form.
Recipients are selected by a Johnson Controls Awards Committee, made up of well-known leaders in energy efficiency and renewable energy from both inside and outside the company.
Another famous person – the late Peter Drucker, a well-known management expert and author – said, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”
It will be a privilege to again this year present BELL awards to people whose commitment and contributions to energy efficiency and renewable energy epitomize both the letter and spirit of those words.
Going Green July 05, 2009 Posted by: johnsoncontrols 10:05 PM
By Michael Hall, Manager of Global Travel, Johnson Controls
As the global leader in helping organizations maximize their energy efficiency and sustainability, we feel a special obligation to walk the talk here at Johnson Controls. As manager of global travel for the company, that translates into making sure our corporate travel is as green as it can be. It’s a challenging job – with 140,000 employees at 1,300 locations in 125 countries it goes without saying that our employees travel a lot. But by using a little common sense – and with some help from our travel partners – we’re definitely making a difference.
For example, in some European cities, we’ve reduced our use of rental cars, encouraging employees to use public transit alternatives. In other cities, we’re asking our people to look at public transit options and only rent a car when absolutely necessary. When employees do rent a car, we’ve negotiated an agreement with our vendor to reduce the number of unsolicited upgrades they give us, and we’ve shifted our policies to encourage employees to rent smaller vehicles that use less gas and emit fewer pollutants.
Also in Europe, we’ve shifted from air travel to rail between some destinations. On one of our heavier travel routes, between Paris and Strasbourg, France, we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 90% by choosing the train instead of a plane.
Obviously, airlines remain our main mode of long-distance travel, but we’re making progress here as well. The last time we solicited bids from airlines, we specifically asked them what they were doing – and what they planned to do – to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. We’re not penalizing airlines based on their responses, but we are trying to send a clear signal that they need to green their fleets to remain competitive. Happily, some – though not all – airlines are responding.
We’re putting technology to work wherever we can to lower the carbon footprint of our travel. I’ve been encouraging project teams that may be separated by many time zones to use video conferencing when it makes sense, instead of meeting in person. It takes some getting used to – particularly for groups that are accustomed to working face-to-face – but it’s catching on.
We’re asking our meeting planners to think local when they order food for events. That means when we’re hosting a luncheon in Atlanta it’s unlikely that Alaskan king crab legs will be on the menu. Food that travels fewer miles from the producer to our tables burns a lot less fuel.
And as often as possible, we book rooms in hotels that we know are greener than their competitors’. For example, we regularly check employees into the Holiday Inn Express in Brown Deer, a suburb of Milwaukee, home to our corporate offices and Building Efficiency business unit headquarters. This hotel is one of only a few with a feature that I really like: when you unlock the door to your room with your key card, the lights go on automatically. When you leave, they go off. Research shows that travelers aren’t always as conscious of turning off lights on the road as they are at home, so this feature saves energy despite the bad habits of some road warriors.
One thing that would make my job easier is a better way to measure our progress. If I want to increase the diversity of my suppliers, I can do that by doing more business with companies that are certified as minority- or women-owned businesses. But with travel, it’s not that easy. Various states in the U.S. and some countries have green travel certifications, but there’s virtually no consistency between them. Many function as little more than a marketing tool.
We definitely need a set of clear and uniform standards if we’re going to be able to say with any degree of certainty that we’re successfully greening our travel. In the meantime, we’ll keep working hard to do our part.
