Enviance Blog

Environmental March Madness Tournament: Does Your School’s Program Have What It Takes?

If you think your alma mater has a great environmental studies program, we want to hear from you!

Enviance has teamed with Environmental Leader to host a March Madness tournament to identify the best undergraduate program for environmental studies and sustainability across the country.

In order to participate, department heads must share their program’s marketing materials and fill out a submission form for background/information on their school’s environmental programs by February 20, 2012. If selected by our panel of industry experts, your university could make our “Sustainable 16” list.

After being selected for the “Sustainable 16”, students and faculty will have until March 9, 2012 to submit short video testimonials, and/or a short 300-word essay, explaining why their school’s program deserves to be crowned the top in the nation.

The 2012 National Champion, announced April 2, 2012 will be awarded:

• A $5,000 cash donation to the university’s environmental & sustainability department.
• An all-expense paid trip to San Diego, CA for the department chair, where he or she will attend the Enviance User Conference April 16-18, 2012 and participate in a panel titled, “What Tomorrow’s Environmental Leaders Need to Know.”

In addition, the top two students who submitted the most compelling video or essay during the competition will win netbooks. There are also multiple opportunities for schools to be featured in publications throughout the tournament.

Judges for this year’s tournament include Velislava Ivanova , global sustainability director at CH2M HILL, Nick Johnson, managing consultant at Trinity Consultants, Don Cuffel, manager of environmental engineering at Valero/California, and our very own CEO, Larry Goldenhersh.

For more information on the tournament and how to get involved please visit our website.

The 5th Annual State of Green Business Live Webcast

Enviance is proud to sponsor GreenBiz’s State of Green Business live webcast. This year’s webcast takes a closer look at the findings from the fifth annual edition of GreenBiz’s State of Green Business report which measures the environmental impacts of the emerging green economy.

Join GreenBiz’s Executive Editor, Joel Makower, and VP and Senior Analyst, Joe Davies, as they discuss how companies are improving their environmental performance in spite of the many challenges that have come as a result of the recession. Together Joel and Joe will assess the economy from an environmental perspective, and highlight key trends in corporate culture in regard to the environment.

Register today and watch the webinar!

 

The results are in! Find out what Enviance’s third annual EUEC survey revealed

It was great to see those of you who were able to make it out to the EUEC conference in Phoenix this week. As you may have noticed, we conducted an environmental survey addressing controversial topics ranging from readiness to report carbon emissions to reactions about cap and trade regulation.

This year, 237 attendees participated in our third annual EUEC survey. This morning, we released the results – here are just a couple highlights:

• This year’s survey showed that more than three-fifths of respondents now believe the imposition of a carbon tax will affect their business.
• Surprisingly, there was a substantial 17 percent increase from last year in the number of companies that have no system in place for tracking and reporting greenhouse gas emissions.
• While water management was an issue that 48 percent of respondents said was a concern for their organization (similar to carbon emissions), approximately 40 percent responded that they don’t measure or report on water at all.

Check out all of the results from the 2012 EUEC survey here!

Take a sneak peek at the Enviance 2012 E-Book

Over the last few years, Enviance has helped innovative companies around the world reach their environmental compliance goals while saving them time, money and resources in the process. To capture some of these case studies, and show how these companies were able to achieve success and gain confidence in their compliance reports, we compiled our 2012 E-Book featuring clients such as American Electric Power, Boral, Fujifilm and many more.

Find out how companies like Tucson Electric Power and Valero were able to address their complex environmental regulatory requirements while saving time and money with the Enviance system.

Preview our 2012 E-Book here!

EPA’s new site identifies biggest GHG emitters

Have you ever wondered what happens to all of the data collected as a result of the EPA’s Green House Gas (GHG) Mandatory Reporting Rule (MRR)?

It looks the EPA has put it to good use to help us get a better idea of where emissions are coming from—they’ve launched a new website that allows you to enter a location and see the top GHG emitters in your area. For the first time, the EPA is sharing data on the amount of CO2 and other pollutants emitted from over 6,700 utilities, factories and refineries in the U.S.

To find out what’s going on in your city, and see how it compares to others, visit the EPA site to get started. We were surprised by some of our results, will you be too?

 

Will we be breathing easier in 2012? EPA releases new air pollution regulations

As you may have seen, the U.S. EPA signed a rule on December 16, 2011 to reduce air pollution from power plants. Many are against the new directives, while others are applauding the EPA’s initiative to drastically reduce harmful emissions from industrial emitters. Regardless of your position, it is imperative that we all learn more about the new ruling and its effects on many industries.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the new rule:

The U.S. EPA signed a rule to reduce mercury and air toxics emissions from power plants, and also signed revisions to the new source performance standards (NSPS) for fossil-fuel-fired EGUs. This NSPS revises the standards that new coal- and oil-fired power plants must meet for particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule (MATS) applies to Emission Generating Units (EGUs) larger than 25 megawatts (MW) that burn coal or oil for the purpose of generating electricity for sale and distribution through the national electric grid to the public.  These include investor-owned units, as well as units owned by the Federal government, municipalities and cooperatives that provide electricity for commercial, industrial and residential uses.  The EPA estimates that there are approximately 1,400 units affected by this action – approximately 1,100 existing coal-fired units and 300 oil fired units at about 600 power plants.

The final MATS identifies two subcategories of coal-fired EGUs, four subcategories of oil- fired EGUs, and a subcategory for units that combust gasified coal or solid oil (integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) units) based on the design, utilization and/or location of the various types of boilers at different power plants. The rule includes emission standards and/or other requirements for each subcategory.

For all existing and new coal-fired EGUs, the rule establishes numerical emission limits for mercury, PM (a surrogate for toxic non-mercury metals), and HCl (a surrogate for all toxic acid gases).  For existing and new oil-fired EGUs, the standards establish numerical emission limits for PM (a surrogate for all toxic metals), HCl, and HF.  EGUs may also show compliance with the HCl and HF limits by limiting the moisture content of their oil.

The rule establishes alternative numeric emission standards, including SO2 (as an alternate to HCl), individual non-mercury metal air toxics (as an alternate to PM), and total non-mercury metal air toxics (as an alternate to PM) for certain subcategories of power plants.  The standards set work practices, instead of numerical limits, to limit emissions of organic air toxics, including dioxin/furan, from existing and new coal- and oil-fired power plants. Because dioxins and furans form as a result of inefficient combustion, the work practice standards require an annual performance test program for each unit that includes inspection, adjustment, and/or maintenance and repairs to ensure optimal combustion.  The standards also set work practices for limited-use oil-fired EGUs in the continental U.S.

Hopefully this overview clarifies some of the EPA’s new emissions regulations. Have an opinion on the new rule? Feel free to comment below!

3 Questions with... Jamie Johnson, Verde Sustainable Solutions

It’s time again for our 3 Questions series, where we ask industry experts about their organization’s environmental programs, opinions on environmental policy, and how they reduce their own environmental footprint.

This week, we spoke with Jamie Johnson, social entrepreneur at Verde Sustainable Solutions, to get his perspective on the environmental industry. Jamie has a background in environmental consulting, developing sustainability software for the iPad, and teaching. He’s run his own environmental technology company for two years, and before that worked in various capacities in the sustainability field. He holds an MS in Environmental Science Policy from the University of Chicago and a B.S. in Biology from Bradley University.  

Q: Do you believe policy will help drive the green economy, or do you think the government should leave it up to private businesses and market demand?
A: Both are essential to tackle the large environmental problems that we have before us. Government has a key role for certain policies, such as high-speed rail infrastructure and stability in energy markets. Ignoring the role that government plays in sustainability is not realistic, especially since the military is the largest consumer of renewable power in the world. 

However, private business will also play key roles in the green economy. My company recently released the Verde iPad app, an inexpensive way for consumers to conduct an energy audit on the iPad. We need innovation like this from millions of companies to increase energy efficiency, renewable power options and transportation options.  We cannot rely on government alone to be the source of innovation, but they must set policies to encourage it.     

Q: Are we doing enough to encourage the use of renewable energy through subsidies and incentives? If not, what more can be done?
A: Government has done enough in the form of subsidies and incentives for renewable energy.  What they have yet to do is increase the price on carbon to level the playing field between traditional and renewable energy.  

Historically, the idea of a carbon tax has been unpopular in our country.  However, with our increasing deficit problem, a carbon tax could bring in valuable revenue to our government and make renewable energy more competitive as opposed to the current tax incentives for alternative energy sources.  I think that after the 2013 elections, we may see some resurgence of interest in a carbon tax and the long-term benefits it would provide for both our economy and environment. 

Q: In your opinion, which industry sector has the greatest opportunity to impact the future of sustainable business?
A: While I am not personally involved in this sector, I think battery storage capabilities will have the greatest opportunity to impact sustainability.  I find this exciting space, not only because of the transportation issue, but also for the impact it will have on smart grid independent energy sources.   

Thanks to Jamie for participating in this week’s 3 Questions series. If you have any additional questions for him, feel free to comment below!

 

 

GHG and the Crystal Ball: The EPA’s (not so clear) Path Forward for Regulating GHG Emissions

It’s hard to believe that the EPA first proposed its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Mandatory Reporting Rule (MRR) over two and a half years ago with the hope that it would gather enough information to better understand the breadth and scope of GHG emissions.

Within just a few months of the initial proposal, so many things changed that the agency finalized its Endangerment Finding in December of 2009 and began creating new regulations—including vehicle standards to address GHG emissions from transportation sources. In addition, the EPA created guidelines around Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and the Title V Gas Tailoring Rule for new major sources, and new source performance standards.

With all the new GHG regulations, many organizations are trying to understand how these laws will affect their business costs as well as their day-to-day operations, and are increasingly finding themselves trying to anticipate what sort of guidelines may be forthcoming.

To dive deeper into this topic, we are hosting a live webinar next week entitled “GHG and the Crystal Ball: The EPA’s (not so clear) Path Forward for Regulating GHG Emissions”.  John McManus, vice president of Environmental Services at American Electric Power (AEP), and Greg Gasperecz, vice president of Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) at Enviance, will take a closer look at the impacts of GHG regulations on U.S. companies, and discuss:

• Background of the EPA’s GHG regulations
• Key takeaways from the last two years under the current Federal Administration
• Considerations on the path the EPA might take in regulating GHG emissions in the future

Join us!

Time: 11:00am PT/ 2:00 p.m. ET
Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Twitter Rashtag: #EPApredicts

Register Here!

Do more with less: one-stop environmental platform benefits

Typically, companies deploy a different solution for each of their environmental management needs. Need to measure greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)? Get software for GHG management. Need to report waste? Buy another solution that can measure and report waste. It makes sense, right?

Not so much.

As environmental guidelines become more complex, implementation of various solutions – either developed in-house or purchased externally – to meet regulatory needs is proving cumbersome for companies. Acquiring or building these technology solutions for management of a single environmental type is costly. Companies are significantly overpaying for too many systems that cannot integrate with their infrastructure, or even communicate with each other to convey the organization’s overall environmental performance.

To address these challenges, we just released a new white paper entitled “More Bang, Less Bucks: Why One-Stop Environmental Systems Make Better Sense,” which explores the business benefits and value of using one environmental enterprise resource planning (EERP) platform. This paper demonstrates how a one-stop, comprehensive environmental ERP system can meet all of an organization’s environmental management needs, by:

• Providing a single, centralized platform for organizations to manage ALL of their environmental programs;
• Offering economies of scale, enabling more thorough analysis of environmental data across an organization;
• Creating the foundation required to manage one, or even 20 or more environmental initiatives as the need arises.

In this whitepaper, you’ll uncover many other benefits made possible by the use of a single environmental system, pertaining to both IT and business settings across an organization. In an era where environmental solutions are required for regulatory purposes, it’s crucial for companies to find the most all-inclusive system that will meet their needs, while saving time and money to reduce the bottom line.

Read white paper here.

19th Annual EHS Management Forum just days away, will Enviance see you there?

This week, October 19-20, the Enviance team will be exhibiting at the largest annual gathering for EHS decision makers: The EHS Management Forum. This year’s NAEM forum will revolve around EHS excellence, covering topics such as defining and delivering sustainability, supply chain strategies, and 21st Century Leadership.

Nigel Nugent, vice president of worldwide sales, will be in attendance for Enviance. Nigel recently took part in the Enviance webinar, “Mandatory x Voluntary: Creating an Environmental Compliance Culture of Value”, along with Andrea Gardner, senior technologist for CH2M HILL, and Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz. The topics discussed at the webinar, specially how companies are taking an integrated approach to environmental compliance and sustainability efforts will all be prevalent themes at this year’s EHS Management Forum.    

If you will be attending the show and haven’t yet seen the Mandatory x Voluntary webinar, check it out and then stop by the Enviance Booth (#26) to say hello to Nigel and hear more about the exciting work Enviance is doing to help its customers reach their environmental compliance goals.