Enhanced Reporting Capabilities to Help San Diego Regional Transportation Network Reduce Energy Costs, Lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Increase Renewable Energy Generation
North County Transit District (NCTD), the agency responsible for public transportation in North San Diego County, CA, selected Oracle to support its sustainability reporting goals.
A vital part of San Diego’s regional transportation network, NCTD serves more than 12 million passengers annually through a family of transit services, including bus system, commuter rail service, paratransit and light rail.
To meet the requirements of the American Public Transportation Association’sCommitment to Sustainability program, NCTD needed a dedicated system that could automate and streamline the collection and analysis of sustainability metrics including greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption.
The production of computers is energy and material intensive, it creates significant amounts of waste, and uses many toxic materials. Therefore it is critical to purchase, use and dispose of computers in the most sustainable manner possible.
Below are some tips to help you green your computer usage.
✔ Turn on your energy management features - All computers, regardless of the operating system, come with energy management features. Be sure these setting put your computer in ‘hibernate’ or ‘deep sleep’ mode after a certain period of inactivity.
✔ Turn off your screen saver - While helping save your screen, screen savers do not save electricity. Depending on the complexity of the screen saver, the screen saver may be using as much processing power as when you are using your computer to run programs. Opt to have your computer go into ‘hibernation’ or ‘deep sleep’ after a period of inactivity as opposed to using screen savers to protect your screen. Continue reading →
“CurrentState is a necessity for every company that is serious about going green”Ramon Ginah, CFO – Francesca Furzi
“I would highly recommend CurrentState for any company exploring sustainability”Tim Gilbert, Plant Manager – FasCast Inc
(Press Release) Tulsa, OK – January 13, 2012 – Caelus has released the CurrentState™ sustainability audit for business.
The world of sustainability can be a confusing place. It is easy to get lost in the sea of acronym-rich reporting initiatives, certifications, eco-labels and regulations. However, the most important thing for businesses is missing – a comprehensive tool that tells tells companies exactly what they need to do. This is why we developed CurrentState™.
The CurrentState™ Sustainability Audit is a ‘best practices gap analysis’ and a ‘business practices maturity analysis’ combined into one tool – nothing more, nothing less. Simple elegant, and in our opinion a game-changer.
Does this sound simple? That’s because it is. Why hasn’t this been done before? Because nobody has created a framework that clearly and comprehensively defined sustainability – until now.
Sustainability Defined
CurrentState™ is based on our Three Tiers of Sustainability™ framework. Our framework clearly defines sustainability and in our opinion has been the ‘missing link’ in sustainability consulting. Our framework organizes sustainability into three primary activity groups: Green IT, Facilities and Business. These three groups are further divided into 25 (more specific) sub-groups. If an activity is related to sustainability in business, it will have a place in the framework.
By having a comprehensive framework, we are able to answer another very important question all businesses have – Are we doing everything that we can in order to go green?
Why CurrentState™?
In addition to being a revolutionary approach, CurrentState™ offers business other distinct advantages.
CurrentState™ is delivered directly to your desktop. No need for time-consuming, money-wasting meetings. Time is money, especially when your paying by the hour. CurrentState™ is not charged by the hour and delivers the same questions a consultant would, but at your convenience and with no chance of missing anything
This method of collecting information is efficient. What we do with the information once we receive it is also efficient. We have automated many of the non-analytical steps of the consulting process, so as soon as qualified sustainability consultant begins on your case, they will be able to begin analysis immediately. This allows us to deliver a Findings Report in a matter of days, not weeks or months.
Another advantage is that CurrentState is focussed. CurrentState™ does not count carbon or advise you on the ROI of specific projects. It is focused on determining exactly the activities your organization needs to conduct or consider. The result – your team will not be wasting valuable time hunting for data for activities that may not be needed.
Finally, your Findings Report will spell out in specific terms exactly what tasks need to be done (Quick Wins) and what things you need to consider (Recommendations) in order to improve your sustainability performance. Ratings and analysis for each sub-category is also generated. For most organizations, these tasks can be used as the basis of a sustainability implementation plan. Add some resourcing, budget and do a little ROI analysis and you will have a plan that leaves no leaf unturned and would make any CSO proud.
The Findings Report
The Findings Report is ‘boardroom ready’ and is delivered in both PowerPoint and pdf formats. Each report will contain over 100 specific quick wins (shorter-term, easily achievable tasks) and recommendations (longer-term activities). “In essence, if you add resource requirements and budget to the report, you will have a nearly complete Sustainability Program. This is exactly what our clients are doing and their reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.”
The Findings Report can be used as:
a blueprint to develop a sustainability program;
a method to demonstrate to management, a board or the public an organization’s sustainability achievements;
a way to quickly identify gaps in your current sustainability efforts;
a way to document and track sustainability performance from period to period;
and a way to determine current compliance with major international standards and certifications.
Morehead Memorial Hospital Selects Unidesk to Expand Desktop Virtualization Program and Realize VDI’s Full Potential
Unidesk will be integrated with VMware View™ to help healthcare IT staff spend more time focusing on optimizing processes and use of health system applications to benefit staff, customers and patients, and less time worrying about patching and updating desktops, delivering applications, and securing patient information.
Marlborough, MA (PRWEB) December 06, 2011
Morehead Memorial Hospital of Eden, N.C., has selected Unidesk® as the desktop provisioning and application delivery platform for its VMware®-based Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with the aim of making VDI better suited for the wide range of workers across the main hospital, nursing home, physician practices, and cancer and diagnostic centers. Unidesk will be integrated with VMware View™, forming an increasingly popular combination that helps healthcare IT staff spend more time focusing on optimizing processes and use of health system applications to benefit staff, customers and patients, and less time worrying about patching and updating desktops, delivering applications, and securing patient information. Continue reading →
Environmental considerations and sustainability issues have long been a part of business metrics and corporate image. The environmental impacts of business first began to be seriously quantified and mitigated in the 1970s, and compliance with government environmental regulations is now accepted as a cost of doing business. More recently, however, sustainability is in transition as a concept and a measure of corporate performance. Today, the business risks of out-of-control global supply chains have increased significantly even as the personal commitment to implementing sustainable business practices has risen among many corporate executives. According to a recent report from Pike Research, sustainability is growing in importance among electronics companies, particularly those that compete in the consumer electronics sectors.
Applying a unique index of corporate social responsibility (CSR) based on company-generated reports and metrics, the cleantech market intelligence firm finds that companies like IBM, HP, Apple, and Texas Instruments achieved the highest levels of completeness, transparency, and reported results. Continue reading →
Fujitsu, a leading provider of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) business solutions, today released the second ICT Sustainability: The Global Benchmark Report, providing an unmatched analysis of the trending maturity of ICT Sustainability in organizations across the globe.
The research summarizes 1,000 responses to 80 questions about ICT Sustainability policies, behavior and technologies. The data was collected through an online survey of CIOs and ICT managers in large IT-using organizations across industry sectors in seven countries: Australia, Canada, China, India, New Zealand, The United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA).
This is the second Benchmark Report and from this year’s findings there is a continuing relative lack of maturity in ICT Sustainability. It is also clear there is a direct relationship between the visibility of ICT power costs and an organization’s overall awareness of ICT Sustainability issues. Continue reading →
AT&T 2010 Sustainability Report Highlights Energy Efficiency Gains, Reduction in Use of Gasoline and Increase in Employee Volunteer Hours
AT&T today announced the release of its 2010 Sustainability Report, which highlights how AT&T is working on its own and in conjunction with others to have a positive impact on the community, minimize its impact on the environment and strengthen its operations. The report features personal stories about how AT&T is working with others to inspire a better tomorrow. One story details work with the National Organization for the advancement of Haitians and Water Transit Solutions to develop and implement innovative new technology to track and manage critical water shipments destined for Haiti earthquake victims. Continue reading →
SAP NEWSBYTE – - With sustainability core to its strategy of making the world run better, SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today released its fourth annual sustainability report. The 2010 SAP Sustainability Report showcases SAP’s belief that in a better-run world IT helps companies operate profitably and sustainably, IT leaders become sustainability leaders and IT drives opportunity for everyone. Integrated with the 2010 Annual Report, the sustainability report supports transparency and engagement by encouraging a two-way dialogue with stakeholders via social media platforms.
“Recognizing the connection among challenges in today’s world, the role of IT and the importance of innovation to drive progress, sustainability is at the heart of our business” said Peter Graf, chief sustainability officer and executive vice president of Sustainability Solutions, SAP. “From our innovation road map to our focus on leadership and people development, it is shaping our business at every level. Our report offers a view into how we are not simply embracing a sustainability strategy, but rather making our corporate strategy sustainable” Continue reading →
Enhanced Reporting Capabilities to Help San Diego Regional Transportation Network Reduce Energy Costs, Lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Increase Renewable Energy Generation 
