Energy & Infrastructure

Companies around the world are responding to government, investor, and customer pressures by implementing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) management plans. A key challenge in the implementation of these plans is identifying a strong business case in order to justify the costs entailed, and to ensure that the approach can be sustained financially in the long run.

As I will discuss in detail during the first of our three-part, complimentary webinar series next month (Feb 1st), companies can derive business value from GHG management strategies in numerous ways. This article briefly describes five successful approaches that companies are implementing today.

The Black & Veatch 2017 Strategic Directions: Smart City/Smart Utility Report investigates the progress made by communities and utilities as they continue their evolution toward smarter infrastructure. Around the globe, cities and utilities are beginning to see tangible results from preliminary efforts and are gaining confidence in what a smart city can be.

The Desert Rain House located in Bend, Oregon, has become the first residential compound to earn Living Building certification, the most ambitious and optimistic international standard of sustainability in the world. Developed by the International Living Future Institute, the Living Building Challenge certification requires actual, rather than modeled or anticipated, performance across environmental, social and community impact.

RBS is one of 52 firms recognised in the 2017 Bloomberg Financial Services Gender-Equality Index (BFGEI).
The index provides investors and organisations with standardised aggregate data across company gender statistics; employee policies; gender-conscious product offerings; and external community support and engagement.

Novartis has published its Corporate Responsibility (CR) Performance Report for 2016. This year’s report provides even more context on the company’s CR performance, as well as views and comments on trends and challenges within the healthcare industry.

Republic Services recently accepted the Pioneer Award for the Southern Nevada Recycling Center at BOMA’s TOBY (The Outstanding Building of the Year) Awards. The Pioneer Award is given to the building that demonstrates a significant contribution to the improvement and enhancement of a community.

Cities and utilities are increasingly relying on data analytics tools to advance their smart systems, even as municipal leaders grapple with how to pay for these upgrades. Fulfilling the smart city promise will require integrating communication technology and increasing stakeholder engagement. This combination will help transform cities and infrastructure, according to Black & Veatch’s just-released 2017 Strategic Directions: Smart City/Smart Utility Report.

Green Mountain Energy partners with Trees For Houston to give back 500 trees to the Houston area.

Global Energy News has named SCS Global Services as recipient of its 2016 Best Renewable Energy Verification Specialist award, highlighting SCS' certification and verification services in the renewable energy sector and involvement in national and international standards development.