GreenSuite

Ernst & Young Report Addresses Business Risks and Rewards Posed by Climate Change

Fall edition of Cleantech Matters reviews business response to climate change and highlights green building opportunities

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading businesses are responding to the challenges and opportunities resulting from climate change, according to the fall 2008 edition of Cleantech Matters issued today by Ernst & Young LLP. The report, entitled "Climate Change Opportunity and Risk," examines strategic risk with thought provoking interviews, case studies and a special section on the green building industry.

"Forward-thinking businesses can gain a strategic advantage when they incorporate climate change into their analysis of the extended risk universe, which range from operational and strategic risks to finance and compliance," says Joseph Muscat, Ernst & Young's Americas Director of Cleantech and Venture Capital. "This issue of Cleantech Matters identifies how companies can manage their risks to work to a company's advantage."

This report features a global study of today's top ten strategic business risks, which includes "radical greening," the increasing corporate environmental initiatives resulting from social, economic and regulatory pressure. The report illustrates how climate change-related threats fit into the risk universe of six major industries.

Ernst & Young also interviewed Paul Dickinson, co-founder and CEO of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an independent non-profit organization that publishes voluntary corporate reporting of carbon emissions data, requesting this information from businesses on behalf of 385 institutional investors with assets of $57 trillion under management. Dickinson also sheds light on emissions reporting trends, how investors use the CDP data to make investment decisions and why even small companies can benefit from addressing climate change.

The report also contains a special section on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System(TM) includes an article by Katherine Hammack from Ernst & Young's tax and LEED advisory group. Hammack explains the real business opportunities resulting from this program and how it links to both financial and non-financial incentives, such as tax credits, tax deductions, utility rebates, lower insurance premiums and increased sales and rental price.

The green building section also highlights future developments to LEED, which is a result of global demand for this certification. According to the US Green Building Council, almost 13,000 projects - in all 50 US states and 69 countries - have registered for LEED certification since the program started in 1998 and continued growth is expected. The report also features case studies on the Palazzo - the largest LEED certified building in the world - and Masdar - the world's first zero-carbon city in the desert of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

"Growing consumer demand, corporate sustainability initiatives and government incentives are driving the booming green building segment, which in many ways, is consistent with the popularity of LEED," explains Muscat.

Finally, the report also looks at how Ernst & Young itself is seizing opportunities and mitigating its environmental footprint in an interview with Leisha John, Ernst & Young's Americas Director of Environmental Sustainability, who notes in the interview "we have an obligation to operate in a manner that minimizes the impact of our business operations on the environment."

About Ernst & Young's Strategic Growth Markets Practice

Ernst & Young's Strategic Growth Markets (SGM) practice guides the best high-growth companies. Our multi-disciplinary team of elite professionals provides perspective and advice to help our clients accelerate market leadership. SGM delivers audit, advisory, tax and transactions services to thousands of companies spanning all industries. Ernst & Young is the undisputed leader in taking companies public, advising key government agencies on the issues impacting high-growth companies, and convening the experts who shape the business climate. For more information, please visit us at www.ey.com/us/strategicgrowthmarkets.

San Jose adopts mandatory green building standards

Only two months after the city of San Francisco passed a Green Building Ordinance, San Jose follows suit. It appears from the article that San Jose's standards apply to new construction where as San Francisco's also encompass renovations.  -JW

 

Tuesday, October 7, 2008 - 4:01 PM PDT

San Jose adopts mandatory green building standards

Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal

A year after launching a Green Vision for San Jose, the City Council Tuesday adopted mandatory green building standards for all new construction.

The standards, intended to reduce water and energy usage, will apply to all housing developments with 10 or more units. On the commercial side, buildings under 25,000 square feet will be required to meet basic standards outlined by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, known as LEED. Buildings larger than 25,000 square feet must meet the LEED standards set forth in the silver designation. LEED has four rating levels: basic, silver, gold and the highest, platinum.

The vote Tuesday was unanimous with Council members Forrest Williams and Nora Campos absent.

In October 2007, Mayor Chuck Reed introduced his Green Vision for the city that called for creating 25,000 clean tech jobs, building or retrofitting 50 million square feet of green buildings, installing 100,000 solar roofs, reducing electricity usage by half, recycling 100 percent of the city’s water and waste, and obtaining all its energy from renewable sources.