Environmental Management

A dramatic reduction in the country’s carbon footprint has been put at the forefront of the government’s agenda.  The government has allocated close to 50 billion dollars for the green industry with the interest of encouraging businesses, such as energy management software companies, to create environmentally friendly processes and products.

Individual states have also been giving out tax credits and rebates for individuals to want to install solar panels. Although many people are sincere in their intention to reduce their footprint, most are unaware of the actual amount of energy they use in their daily lives. Since they can not identify how much they use, it is difficult for them to determine where and how much they need to decrease.

Companies have identified this interesting phenomenon and created energy management software systems to help individuals and businesses understand how much energy they use.

The energy software systems monitor the various processes that use energy in a home or a business such as the HVAC, lighting systems, and electrical appliances. The energy management software systems can detect patterns or anomalies to the help the home or business owner identify areas where energy usage can be decreased.

For example, the energy management software can show the homeowner how much energy can be saved over a month if the temperature is increased or decreased by one degree and set optimal climate controls. A change in one degree of temperature will barely be noticed by the residents, however these energy management software recommendations create large long term energy savings.

The energy management software industry is a growing market. Although it was originally populated by smaller green tech companies, the large corporations are recognizing the importance of increasing consumer awareness and creating their own energy management software systems.

Microsoft, Google, and now GE have all created their own version of energy management software. However, even with the entrance of these heavyweights, small energy management software companies have retained a strong market presence as they offer systems that are customized to particular customers as well as 24/7 account managers that monitor the systems and ensure quality control.

Find out more about energy management software




By: Adam Steinberg

integrated management systems in your business will provide you with the tools to manage effectively. If you have more than one system, confusion and duplication occur unless these are integrated. The risk management approach in internationally recognized standards caters very well for this integration which can and should be consistent across all areas of the business.

Environmental management (ISO 14001), occupational health and safety, quality management food safety or HACCP and financial management can very readily be integrated. All the systems are risk based and suggest a consistent risk management tool within a business. Quality can be an exception because the risk based approach is optional. In the new carbon constrained economy the business can also include its accounting for its carbon footprint as part of its environmental sustainability.

What is crucial to making an integrated system work effectively is having straightforward procedures that are process based and cover all risks with a single reporting mechanism for the initial report of incidents, near misses and suggestions. Workers easily become confused by too many forms and instructions and then ignore them. Workers can find that having separate stand alone systems in very confusing and may even pu tthem in a position of being presented with conflicting instruction.

During the implementation phase you do need to separate your decision making about different activities because the risk of environmental harm from a single activity many be very different from the occupational safety risk of the same activity. An example in the agribusiness field would be the use of hydrogen peroxide which breaks down readily to form water and oxygen. This is approved for use in organic farming indicating that it is environmentally safe. However from an occupations health and safety viewpoint it is a very hazardous liquid because it breaks down too easily and can extremely dangerous for personnel to handle in larger quantities.

Where there is a difference in risk assessment as in the example given, the highest risk is the one that needs to be controlled using a combination of instructions, training, checklists, maintenance, equipment and contingency planning.

One of the biggest pitfalls for a business with a fully integrated management system can be inflexible Government inspectors from organizations like the national quarantine inspection service, the work place safety inspectors and the environment protection authority who only want to see their own issue and have no real concern about the effective operation of the business outside their narrow tunnel. The pressure that these people assert needs to be resisted without alienating them because they are present for only a few days and are not the people with the responsibility for managing the business and making a profit so that the business remains sustainable. Separating the varying incident reports into separate files usually appeases inspectors who need only look at their own area. There are also real business benefits from this separation because it is easy to analyze problem areas and build in continual improvement.

A fully integrated management system is simply the way that the organization does business and it is hard to see how a mix of management systems can be truly effective if they are not integrated.