How would a recession impact current trends in business sustainability? Would green initiatives be cut if companies suffered from slow growth in a "stagnation" economy? These are the questions that Kevin Klustner, CEO of Verdiem (an energy-efficiency software company) tries to answer in a recent column for GreenBiz.com. He predicts that an economic downturn may tempt some companies to phase out their sustainability initiatives, but doing so may actually aggravate financial losses.
How would a recession impact current trends in business sustainability? Would green initiatives be cut if companies suffered from slow growth in a "stagnation" economy? These are the questions that Kevin Klustner, CEO of Verdiem (an energy-efficiency software company) tries to answer in a recent column for GreenBiz.com. He predicts that an economic downturn may tempt some companies to phase out their sustainability initiatives, but doing so may actually aggravate financial losses.
Klustner's approach towards this topic is refreshing, given his experience in the energy field and his ability to place the current downturn in perspective with other recessions over the past 3 decades. The coming recession, he comments, is similar to others that have been made worse by energy crises.
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"It boggles the mind that there still are echoes of the late 1970's when it comes to energy issues -- even after a series of petro-related recessions, consensus about climate change, and a new awareness of the dangers posed by the Middle East. And there lurks an even worse thought: if another recession is imminent, will corporate cost-cutters move in and trim away all the good green initiatives that have recently taken root in companies?" asks Klustner.
Klustner urges managers to continue to pursue energy efficiency initiatives as a way to maintain their green reputation and to add to their bottom line during tough times. Energy efficiency measures is "one of the least expensive, most effective and immediately adoptable action items for dealing with the environmental issues we face," he writes.
So, what does Klustner recommend? Well, of course, Verdiem's PC power management software called "Surveyor" is one such application intended to save money and emit less carbon. Surveyor works by reducing energy consumption from large PC networks. Verdiem's website reports that a "10,000 PC network can save over 2,000,000 kWh of electricity - every year," which equates to roughly $200,000 in annual savings.
Such implementation of easy, cost-effective means of achieving energy-efficiency should remind managers that it can pay to maintain corporate green initiatives.
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