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Safety, affordability and privacy – it’s no surprise that these were some of top housing needs identified in a recent national survey of more than 10,000 households. But the No. 1 unmet housing concern, which the Demand Institute that carried out the poll defined as the “satisfaction gap” between what respondents actually have and what they said was important, was not as easily expected: energy efficiency.

Survey respondents were given a list of 52 housing and community concerns and asked to rank them, on a scale of 1 to 10, by how important they felt the issues were and how much their current home satisfied these needs. The result: 71 percent of U.S. households polled placed a great deal of importance on energy efficiency, but only 35 percent felt their homes were very energy efficient with low monthly utility costs (the respondents making up percentages answered these questions with an 8, 9 or 10 ranking).

Based on these numbers, energy efficiency was the housing concern with the largest gap between the rates of importance and satisfaction – beating out consumer needs and wants for updated kitchens, storage space, safe neighborhoods, affordability, landlord responsiveness and more.

Why the strong desire for energy-wise homes?

“Utilities are a significant and regular part of households’ budgets, and spending on utilities has risen more quickly than overall consumer spending – 56 percent vs. 38 percent growth since 2000,” said Louise Keely, president of the Demand Institute, a nonprofit think tank jointly created and operated by Nielsen and the Conference Board to monitor consumer demand.

This interest in reducing utility bills was likely the motivation for another poll finding: 90 percent of households reported taking measures to reduce energy use in the last five years:

• 67 percent of respondents said they changed their energy-use habits


• 63 percent switched to CFL or LED bulbs


• 38 percent sealed air leaks


• 34 percent replaced old, inefficient appliances


• 28 percent installed a programmable thermostat

It’s telling that despite the high percentage of households making energy-efficiency improvements, 35 percent of poll participants were still not satisfied with their homes’ energy usage; America’s housing stock has a long way to go before it consumes energy very efficiently.

But there has been a significant investment in the energy efficiency field over the past few years, especially from the 2009 federal stimulus. There are now more trained home performance professionals who know how to weatherize homes, as well as more rebates and services for home energy-efficiency improvements than ever. So, why aren’t Americans taking better advantage of these opportunities, if they say they are so interested in energy efficiency?

Perhaps it’s a simple matter of consumers not knowing about services and programs, or – as is most often the case – it’s about money; individuals simply cannot afford to retrofit their homes, even with the rebates and financing options available to them.

The Demand Institute did find a difference in the types of energy-saving actions taken between higher- and lower-income households, Keely said. (The poll attempted to capture a representation of all U.S. households: renters and owners, young and old, high- and low-income).

“Many energy efficiency enhancing options where there is a significant tax impact, like replacing windows or doors, are very expensive and are more likely to be taken by higher income households,” she said. “Lower income households are more likely to report taking inexpensive actions like applying weather stripping or plastic wrapping to windows and doors.”

Advocates for energy efficiency have long known that financing is the key to convincing more Americans to upgrade their homes – by offering attractive rebates and tax credits, or allowing homeowners to pay for retrofits over time through their property taxes or on their utility bills, for example. But now that consumer demand for energy efficiency is at an all-time high, finding ways to make energy improvements more affordable is more important than ever.

Image credit: Flickr/Brett and Sue Coulstock

Passionate about both writing and sustainability, Alexis Petru is freelance journalist and communications consultant based in the San Francisco Bay Area whose work has appeared on Earth911, Huffington Post and Patch.com. Prior to working as a writer, she coordinated environmental programs for Bay Area cities and counties. Connect with Alexis on Twitter at @alexispetru

By Shannon Schuyler, PwC

2014 was a landmark year. Megatrends like demographic shifts, technological breakthroughs and rapid urbanization collided with milestone events -- such as India’s 2 percent give-back mandate and the People’s Climate March -- to re-shape how the world views businesses’ responsibility in the marketplace.

I recently participated in a Twitter chat, on behalf of PwC and the PwC Charitable Foundation, with TriplePundit and Dave Stangis of the Campbell Soup Co. During the chat, we touched on these issues and how they will impact the way we think and act as responsible business organizations in 2015. While there were many important insights and trends, there are seven that I believe will transform the landscape in 2015.

1. Employee engagement gets personal

Employee engagement has long been on top of CEOs' agendas – but as millennials rise to management positions, employee engagement has become even more critical to successful business transformation. Millennials want their workplace to represent their values, which is why firms like PwC see greater retention and higher performance when their people are actively engaged in corporate responsibility (CR). According to a February 2014 PwC study, employees most engaged with their organizations put in 57 percent more effort on the job and are 87 percent less likely to resign than their disengaged counterparts. Millennials are proving that CR is not just something that aligns with company values; it’s a commitment that helps retain talent, spur engagement and promote employee success.

This Year: Expect the adoption of more sophisticated employee engagement strategies with a focus on personalization and mobilization. Companies will look to help employees define purpose across a variety of different levels. We are also likely to see deeper engagement strategies via pro bono and skills-based volunteering, as well as companies embracing digital innovation to drive scale.

2. Investment in youth education deepens

The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy’s 2014 annual giving report noted that 96 percent of companies support educational causes, and 28 percent direct the majority of their funding toward youth education, outpacing every other issue area. As the economy and the talent gap continue to be issues that are front and center for CEOs, companies want to invest in areas that have both short- and long-term benefits. In 2014, the “go local” movement continued to pick up steam across all areas of CR, as people want to feel tangibly connected to their decisions and actions. This trend also contributed to the rise of community investments.

This Year: Expect investment in youth education to continue to comprise a large portion of company giving strategies. Technology, digital tools and game-based learning are the wave of the future. These new teaching tactics can help to transform, revamp and retool the way students and educators approach learning, especially within challenging subjects like math and science, where U.S. youth typically lag behind those from other parts of the world. As budget issues continue to plague school districts in communities across the country, expect to see business play an increased role in investing in quality education programs.

3. Companies look at diversity in different forms

This year, diversity has dominated conversations from Washington to Wall Street. For the first time in history, the number of women in the U.S. Congress is more than 100, representing substantial progress for female leaders. While females comprise just 18 percent of overall boards, nearly a quarter of all new S&P 500 directors in the past two years have been women.

This Year: We’ll see more companies looking to address diversity in a variety of forms. From a talent perspective, CEOs want to hire employees who bring more to the table than ever before. In fact, according to PwC’s 18th Annual Global CEO survey, 85 percent of CEOs said they are actively searching for talent in different geographies, industries or demographic segments, and 80 percent are looking for a broader range of skills than they did in the past. Today’s business environment requires innovative thinking and the ability to examine issues from a range of perspectives. Companies want boards that are better suited to address evolving and increasingly complex business, regulatory and political environments.

4. Sharing economy and digital mapping tools become mainstream

2014 was the year of the so-called “sharing economy” – in which businesses or peers built on the promise of shared resources. Disruptive companies have become mainstream around the globe and continue to grow in popularity and size. These disrupters are radically shifting how consumers live, spend and interact with each other.

This Year: Expect to see an uptick in new organizations, tools and applications – such as innovative digital mapping tools to ease the targeting and sharing of resources – that enhance the value of the sharing economy. The challenge now is how to support the development and maturity of these creative companies and industries to bring them to scale. Those in the digital and social purpose worlds should be able to complement them.

5. Supply chain becomes a competitive advantage

As companies have grown increasingly reliant on complex global supply chains, business disruption, increasing costs and brand management have emerged as important concerns. But companies have started to integrate sustainability strategies to overcome supply chain vulnerabilities and create competitive advantages. More than two-thirds of supply chain executives surveyed in PwC’s 2013 Global Supply Chain Survey say sustainability will play an important role in managing supply chains through 2015 due to the potential to improve resilience, reduce costs and support growth.

This Year: Investors can expect to see increased collaboration at the supply chain level, leading the way for more sustainable sourcing. Industry leaders play an important role in setting the supply chain goals, such as greenhouse gas reduction targets and sustainable sourcing, that consumers and businesses want to see – creating a competitive marketplace advantage. Other supply chain risks – climate change, human rights violations and the use of controversial raw materials – may also come into play, as investors increase pressure to address potential supply chain risks.

6. Climate change becomes more inclusive

From start to finish, 2014 was marked by extreme weather patterns, lengthy droughts and dangerous storm surges that continue to showcase the effect of global climate change. The impact on business and the economy, coupled with increased consumer advocacy, has led to newfound interest in tackling climate change. In September during Climate Week, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators from around the world gathered in Manhattan to demand action ahead of a United Nations Climate Summit. PwC was among the businesses who signed the World Bank’s call to governments and business leaders to support putting a price on carbon to support the transition to a low-carbon economy.

This Year: Expect to see a rise in local government action to address the challenges posed by climate change. On the federal level, the new GOP leadership in Congress has pledged to thoroughly review proposed clean energy regulations, including the adoption and implementation of the EPA Clean Power Plan for power plants. On a global level, expect to see a crescendo of business engagement leading up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change later this year, which is seen as a critical opportunity to achieve a binding global agreement on climate. Further, U.N. member states are working with the business community to advance a series of sustainable development goals to grow economic, social and environmental advancement.

7. More companies embrace new reporting methods

PwC data shows that nearly two-thirds of investment professionals (63 percent) say that the quality of a company’s reporting could have a direct impact on its cost of capital. A separate study found that the same percentage of institutional investors say they are dissatisfied with the current level of corporate disclosure by U.S. companies on matters relevant to climate change, resource scarcity, corporate responsibility and citizenship. Feedback such as this has led companies to discover that corporate reporting should create a customized experience, which considers the many different ways people, companies and organizations engage with each other.

This Year: Financial reporting can be resource intensive for issuing companies and of suboptimal value to investors. Expect to see a newfound openness to revised standards and frameworks for reporting, such as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) Guiding Principles.

Bottom Line: I’ve been closely following these seven CR trends throughout 2014, and believe these issues are prime for increased movement in 2015. What did I miss? What are your predictions? What’s next? Share your thoughts with me @shannonschuyler #pwcCR2015.

Image credit: Flickr/keiya

Shannon Schuyler is the corporate responsibility leader for PwC and the president of PwC’s Charitable Foundation, Inc.

By Giles Hutchins

We are now settling into 2015 -- transformational times, no less, which quite naturally invoke a feeling of trepidation. Tectonic shifts in our socio-economic models, strategic and operational management, and leadership development are metamorphosing our prevalent paradigm into something as different in look and feel as a butterfly is from a caterpillar.

In the early stages of a pupa’s metamorphosis, cells quite different from the caterpillar organize into groups. These ‘imaginal cells’ run up against the opposition of the old caterpillar’s immune system, which perceives them as a threat to the caterpillar’s existence. Over time, as the system of the old caterpillar begins to break down, these new formations spawn forth the structures, processes and logic of the butterfly; ditto for the metamorphosis in our midst.

We know an era is ending and a new one being conceived when the fundamental assumptions and illusions of the old worldview are exhausted by their inability to deal with the challenges of the day. Yesterday’s logic understands nature as purposeless, devoid of meaning and consciousness. This materialism creates an illusion of separation which underpins our cultural tendency towards short-termist profiteering, control-based silo’ed thinking, and divide-and-rule behavior; what Gregory Bateson calls a paradigm for extinction. In short, we have become inured by a corrupting logic that undermines our very evolution.

The good news is that through recent discoveries in quantum science, depth psychology, neuroscience, facilitation ecology and many other fields of research, this outdated logic is now breaking down, giving way to a fresh yet ancient logic inspired by nature. Rather than viewing life as mechanistic with humans separate from and in competition with life, we are opening up to a deeper perspective of life as innately conscious, participatory and sacred. Yet, as economist Joseph Gustave Speth warns us, proposals for transforming our systemic logic will be derided and, when they gain traction, resisted at every turn -- much like the imaginal cells in the early stages of metamorphosis.

Many of today’s organizational pioneers and cultural change agents go unnoticed, catalyzing transformation by applying a deeper wisdom beyond illusion: compassion rather than competition; empathy rather than egotism; synchronicity rather than separateness; service rather than selfishness; reciprocity rather than robbery. And this is not new -- business finds its origins in value-creation through service provision for its community. Likewise, the roots of Western philosophy and science draw from nature’s wisdom. For the ancient Greeks, to embody the inherent grammar running throughout life is the ultimate goal of philosophy (the word originating from philia the Greek for ‘love’ and Sophia ‘wisdom’ – to love and embody the wisdom flowing throughout nature).

And yet many of today’s attempted solutions apply outdated, materialistic and anthropocentric logic without stepping back to question it. If we have any hope of rectifying the error of our ways in 2015, the logic that sets us apart from nature needs to be put right at its root. The word ‘radical’ originates from radix, the Latin for ‘root.' The paradigm shift now upon us has to deal with the root source of our flawed logic and so be radical – philosophically, scientifically, culturally and economically. Deep and complex influences within our own psyche, our collective consciousness and in the structures pervading our culture are being challenged to radically reshape; at its heart this paradigm shift challenges the very way we view the world and ourselves as embodied within it.

In recognizing that we are expressions within nature and that our own rational and intuitive consciousness is immersed within a deeper field -- the ground of our being – we may begin to open our minds to reality beyond the illusion of separation. It is this radical perspective of reality that the great minds of Jung, Einstein, Da Vinci, Confucius and many others understood. As spiritual ecologist Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee explains through his profound work, we are waking up to the awareness of our relationship between our individual soul and the world soul of nature. In his words, "It is only through awakening to an awareness of the sacred within creation, and its relationship to our own sacred nature, that we can begin to redeem the primal imbalance that lies at the root of our present predicament."

It is this recognition, no less, that will we ensure our solutions are both inspired by AND in harmony with nature -- the only viable future for humanity on Earth.  Humanity is collectively on the cusp of evolving this deeper awareness, and each of us has the conscious choice in the days and weeks ahead to courageously embrace our destiny as imaginal cells in this metamorphic undertaking.

You can access a podcast series on this shift in our midst here bit.ly/1Gj31TL

A special for TriplePundit readers - a 20 percent discount code AF1014 when ordering The Illusion of Separation by Giles Hutchins in paperback here and the ebook here. Alternatively, the book can be found on Amazon and on Amazon.com

Giles Hutchins blogs at www.thenatureofbusiness.org, facebook community https://www.facebook.com/businessinspiredbynature and tweets @gileshutchins

Like water, energy and waste management, digital telecommunications and data centers have become utilities essential for modern societies to function sustainably. It is generally accepted that the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events -- and the onset of gradual, long-terms shifts in weather patterns and climate -- pose existential threats to critical information and communications technology (ICT) supply chains, as well as infrastructure.

But a recent report from Riverside Technology and Acclimatise found that the business risks of climate change as they relate to telecommunications and data centers are poorly recognized -- particularly with respect to infrastructure and supply chains. Similarly, climate change resiliency and adaptation plans in this critical segment of the U.S. ICT sector are poorly developed, concluded the report, which was conducted on behalf of the federal government's General Services Administration (GSA).

“Despite the importance of these sectors, the climate risk they face is poorly understood. Even less understood are climate risks to the supply chains both sectors rely upon,” the authors of Climate Risks Study for Telecommunications and Data Center Services highlight. Furthermore, though it boosts operational efficiency and the bottom line, the recent trend that has seen more and more companies sharing ICT resources – platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), for instance – increases the vulnerability of critical ICT infrastructure and supply chains to the impacts of extreme weather events and more gradual shifts in climate.

Extreme weather, climate change, and ICT infrastructure and supply chains

Bangkok's floods, Superstorm Sandy and Typhoon Haiyan are among the extreme weather events that have caused the loss of many lives, displaced many more families, and resulted in billion-plus-dollar losses to the economies of Thailand, the U.S. and the Philippines in recent years. A total of 258 natural disasters combined to cause $132 billion in economic losses worldwide in 2014, according to reinsurance company Aon Benfield's 2014 Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report.

Fifty-three percent of last year's global insured losses from natural disasters occurred in the U.S.

2014 was the second consecutive year of below-normal catastrophe losses. The year before, however, saw a record number of “billion-dollar weather disasters” around the world, according to Aon Benfield's research.

As the GSA report authors point out, “Disruptions in the ability to communicate or access information severely inhibit governments, companies, and citizens, and in periods of disaster or extreme events, this inability to communicate puts national and human security and business value at risk. Climate variability and change may threaten the infrastructural integrity and productivity of these critical sectors, increasing the number and severity of disruptions. Extreme or unusual weather can lead to cascading impacts felt across sectors and borders.”

Climate adaptation and resilience across telecoms, data centers

Climate risk and vulnerability in the ICT sector are poorly understood, particularly when it comes to recognizing risks and planning to adapt to gradual, long-term shifts, the report's authors continue. Even less well-understood are the risks climate change poses to ICT supply chains, as well as how resilience can be enhanced. "Extreme weather events, like Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and the Thai floods in 2011, dramatically show the potential economic cost of climate change in the near term,” the authors state.

“However, cumulative or gradual climate impacts are less likely to be studied due to failure to spot the signals if operating performance gradually deteriorates, uncertainty of the timing and magnitude of impacts, the absence of stakeholder consensus in the wake of an extreme event, and the short- term decision-making time frames of many businesses.”

Riverside Technology and Acclimatise's report for the GSA “presents an initial step toward understanding how climate change may disrupt these sectors, how resilience can be fostered, and recommends next steps.” In doing so, Riverside and Acclimatise produced maps of telecoms and data center infrastructure and supply chains and used them as a basis for elaboration.

The report's authors also note that ICT equipment used in telecoms and data centers “were designed to function within within specific climate and environmental conditions." Climate change (which can include both incremental changes as well as extreme events) can impact the operating parameters and enterprise supply chains, causing impacts to telecoms and data center companies and their customers.

“Impacts may result in changes to functionality, quality of service, return on investment, business continuity, and cost, in addition to cascading impacts on the diverse customers that rely upon them. Value protection strategies are required to address these risks.”

Operational efficiency, climate risks and vulnerability

Compounding climate risks is the trend toward outsourcing of telecoms and data center functions to third-party hosting companies and managed services providers, according to the report. Such initiatives increase operational efficiency and can result in reduced IT costs and new revenue-generating opportunities. But they also reduce redundancy across the network and generate single points of failure, the report's authors highlight.

Drawing on case studies from around the world, the GSA report authors offer examples of adaptation options and early instances of initiatives being undertaken by telecoms companies to enhance climate resilience. They also provide a summary list of key recommendations:

• Frame climate risks as business risks using the language of business, not science. And contextualize climate risk from the perspective of private sector companies, their customers, investors and regulators.


• Plan for both a changing climate baseline and for climate extremes. Successfully addressing climate risk requires careful attention to subtle impacts (e.g., the cumulative impact of increasing sequences of warmer than average days on wired telecommunications) as well as to the effects of extreme storms.


• Build awareness of climate risks before disasters strike. Working with stakeholders to build consensus and collect the information each offers is to effectively build resilience.


• Conduct direct consultations with the private sector to understand their needs, strengths and weaknesses, as these stakeholders know the business, sites and technologies best and can help build understanding of what would happen under likely climate scenarios.


• Thoroughly assess climate risk of both telecoms and data center sectors, informed by consultations with experts and stakeholders. This will allow for the prioritization of risks to both sectors according to their relative consequence and likelihood;


• Require federal service providers to demonstrate climate resilience in all procurement processes, with suppliers required to undertake a climate risk assessment and demonstrate how their products and services will continue to meet required contractual and serviceability performance standards;


• Elucidate, test and document adaptation options as value protection strategies in both sectors, as many of these strategies and fixes remain prescriptive, not detailed and/or untested;


• Assess operating headrooms for key assets in both sectors to understand the functional thresholds for critical assets in a changing climate, which will assist in identifying and prioritizing risks, planning operational maintenance and informing future capital expenditures;


• Assess both sectors within the context of their asset lifetimes, with climate risk assessments scaled to the life cycles of assets and equipment. Though lifetimes are short, assets must be robust during their useful lives;


• Include telecoms and data centers in the fourth National Climate Assessment, alongside other key sectors already represented.
  Provide guidance on SEC material risk disclosure.

*Image credits: 1, 3 & 4) Riverside Technology, Acclimatise for the GSA; 2) Aon Benfield

By Amy Kalafa

Are you one of those people who gets excited when the price of a Tesla becomes almost affordable, or when you can buy a toothbrush made from recycled plastic, or a lipstick certified cruelty-free? If so, then you may be glad to know that there are a whole host of tools in the business world that give companies a way to report on their corporate sustainability practices.

Business directors are fond of the phrase, "What gets measured gets managed." According to a 2013 report by KPMG, 86 percent of large American companies use some form of sustainability reporting, up from 74 percent in 2008.

To date, all sustainability reporting in the U.S is voluntary self-reporting, but a growing number of indexed stock portfolios are based on corporate environmental and social governance (ESG) metrics. Firms like MSCI and ENSOGO scrutinize report contents and provide detailed evaluations to stock analysts, and companies that don’t file a corporate sustainability report are now perceived as laggards in corporate citizenship.

The Dow Jones Stock Exchange even has its own index — the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) -- for publicly-traded companies.

The field of sustainability reporting is still a bit of a minefield, however, stewing in an alphabet soup of acronyms. Analysts struggle to standardize metrics and measurements. Reports may not be comparable from year to year, as the frameworks for measurement continue to evolve. Worse yet, companies are free to define their boundaries in whatever terms they choose. Some will interpret boundaries in the broadest sense, reporting on the environmental impact of all of their suppliers (Walmart, for example, asks each of its suppliers to file a sustainability report), as well as the impact of their products once they've been purchased and used by consumers. Others ignore these factors and only report on their corporate offices or factory floor.

A close examination of a number of reports reveals that some are difficult to distinguish from a company's regular annual report to stockholders. Accomplishments in energy conservation and public relations are highlighted while indirect costs such as water pollution, carbon emissions, and other health and social impacts are glossed over. Some reports seem to be based on a loose definition of sustainability that refers only to the financial sustainability of the company.

Globally, Brazil, Denmark, France and South Africa now require companies to file sustainability reports. Shareholders, analysts and investors are also putting on the pressure by requesting disclosure on matters of corporate sustainability. This phenomenon is certainly having an impact on business performance, with those companies that do file reports performing significantly better in the markets than their non-reporting peers.

Even for smaller companies that can't afford to hire consultants and purchase software, self-reporting raises issues and awareness about which sustainability aspects are most relevant to the business. The process obliges managers and directors to acknowledge the cost of depleting natural capital and damaging the environment whether directly through pollution or indirectly through energy consumption, waste and employment practices. According to a report by Ernst and Young, sustainability reporting gives companies a better reputation, meets the expectations of employees, improves access to capital and increases efficiency and waste reduction.

Most companies that make the commitment to report use some version of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. These standards guide a company through a comprehensive sustainability audit, with sections on human rights and resources, environmental impact,  and consumption of natural resources, as well as fossil fuel. In addition to a numerical rating system, GRI requires a narrative approach. As a result the reports can run over 100 pages. Datamaran, Governance and Accountability Institute and RobecoSAM are among the new businesses that are crunching data and developing software to simplify the process of sustainability reporting.

Another framework in development, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) may ultimately displace GRI. SASB aims to disclose the risks that sustainability issues have on a company's financial bottom line. Its goal is to integrate sustainability measurements into the annual 10-K reports required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for all public companies in the U.S. If SASB can succeed in demonstrating that sustainability issues would materially affect a ‘reasonable’ investor’s assessment of a company, it could come to be required by the Securities and Exchange Commission. For the first time in the U.S., sustainability reporting would be mandatory.

Though all the acronyms are still baffling, with an environmental crisis looming --and consumers, investors and other stakeholders demanding corporate accountability -- we can bet that sustainability reporting will soon become a big business in its own right. As that happens, the demands of the marketplace will vie with regulatory frameworks to determine which metrics and standards will become the norm.

Image credit: Flickr/teegardin

Amy Kalafa is a TV producer, filmmaker, author and current student at Bard MBA in Sustainability. Her work in the fields of sustainable food, clean energy and mental health has earned international recognition and awards.

Acre, the sustainability recruitment consultancy, has launched a recognition programme to find superstars in the sustainability field.

Applicants for Acre365 need to have made a significant social or environmental impact within their first 12 months  within a new role at an organisation.

Andy Cartland, founder and director of Acre, said: “Placing talented professionals in roles where they can effect change is core to Acre’s mission and we want to recognise and celebrate these achievements via the recognition programme. We believe that people who do remarkable things in their first 12 months of employment have the ability to create a foundation of change that can help achieve the seemingly impossible."

The judging panel comprises Ronan Dunne, ceo of Telefonica;  Jean Oelwang, ceo of Virgin Unite; Liz Goodwin, ceo of WRAP; Jim Woods, ceo of The Crowd; Steven Lang, partner at Ernst & Young LLP and Acre's Andrew Cartland

The three winners will receive an Acre365 trophy, invitation to the celebratory awards dinner at a prestigious London restaurant and £1,000 to invest via the Kiva micro-financing platform.

The deadline for submissions is 18 February 2015 and successful applicants will be selected and announced in March 2015 by the panel.

To enter, click here. 

 

Picture credit: © Dagadu| Dreamstime.com- Eco Bulb Set Photo

 

The global economic system isn't working for six billion people, labour leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, have warned.

Mass unemployment, mistrust in institutions, rising inequality and extremism are global risks for working people, employers and leaders, maintained the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

“The very nature of corporate incentives to invest in any equal distribution is being undermined by their own business model. It’s a two way street: business needs workers, and workers need fair-minded employers. At the moment, business is letting down its side of the deal,” said Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the ITUC.

John Evans, general secretary of the OECD Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC), who is also ITUC Chief Economist, commented:  “A central aspect of ‘inclusive growth’ must be reducing income inequality and reversing the decline in the share of wages in output and income.”

Since the 1980s, real wages have failed to grow at the same rate as productivity, and as a result the wage share has drastically fallen. The global wage share has declined from 62% to 54% according to the UN.

“Raising wages and reducing inequality together with public investment are key elements of a recovery plan. Government and business leaders have in their hands the tools to make a measurable difference to the lives of working people. Thirty-three million jobs could be created in G20 countries alone, with co-ordinated increases and investments in infrastructure.

“A minimum wage on which people can live, strengthening collective bargaining, curbing the excesses of CEO pay and respecting ILO standards in global supply chains are actions that leaders can put in place," Evans added.


Picture credit: © Ylivdesign | Dreamstime.com - Business Structure Photo

 

Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg of Switzerland, who founded Solar Impulse, announced the flight path of Solar Impulse 2 during a press conference today in Abu Dhabi. The project’s latest plane will depart the capital of the United Arab Emirates in late February or early March and will return from this groundbreaking solar flight after flying around the world in late July or early August. The plane’s journey, which could take anywhere from 22,000 to 25,000 miles (35,000 to 40,000 kilometers), intends to fly day and night, 20 hours per flight, using only solar power--while sending a global message about the promise of clean energy and the need to confront the growing risks of climate change.

Solar Impulse has already made impressive history with the organization’s first prototype, which has flown across the United States, Morocco and Europe. The trips’ stops were opportunities for Piccard and Borschberg to evangelize Solar Impulse’s mission. But at a higher level, the two men, who are both engineers and pilots, have long emphasized the need to push the boundaries of renewable energy research and development. Next month’s round-the-world flight will promote their mission even further as they aim to reach out to governments, schools and local media during their upcoming journey—planned to both meet the challenges of geography while carrying out a very geopolitical strategy.

The first impression the plane makes is a reminder of what many have told Piccard and Borschberg since they conceptualized their vision over a decade ago: Their dream looks impossible. The plane has the wing span comparable to a 747 (236 feet, or 72 meters) yet weighs about as much as a family-sized car. Over 17,000 solar cells power four electric motors, which will rely on lithium batteries weighing 2,077 pounds (633 kg). The cockpit only has room for one pilot, which in part explains why the Solar Impulse 2 will take  25 or so flight days to travel around the world.

After takeoff from Abu Dhabi, the plane will stop in Muscat, Oman in order to position itself for the flight across the Arabian Sea where it will visit two cities in India. Piccard and Borschberg chose to stop in Ahmedabad in recognition of the city’s burgeoning clean technology sector; Varanasi, one of India’s oldest cities, serves as a symbol of how solar energy can transform lives and create economic opportunity in developing countries. From India the plane will continue to Myanmar, which the pilots said was important to recognize the country’s recent opening to the world. Solar Impulse’s final two stops in Asia are in China: Chongqing, which is industrializing rapidly as the country seeks to develop the nation’s interior, and then Nanjing. The duo will spend about a month in China as Piccard and Borschberg hope to use the media to spread clean technology’s potential to 80 million school-aged children.

The next leg, a five-day trip to Hawaii, presents not only technical challenges, but Solar Impulse’s biggest human challenges. High density thermal insulation is all what the pilots have to protect themselves from extreme cold and heat. The five or six days’ flights will be spent in a 41 square foot (3.8 m³) space that has only enough space for some physical exercise, oxygen, food and drink and survival equipment. After another long journey from Hawaii, Solar Impulse 2 will land in Phoenix to recognize Arizona’s rapid adoption of solar power. After a yet to be determined stop in the Midwest and New York’s JFK Airport, another long journey is planned across the Atlantic. Stops in southern Europe or Northern Africa will follow before the plane returns to its Middle East launch in Abu Dhabi.

Like past ventures in space travel, Solar Impulse’s attempt to circumvent the globe serves to demonstrate the future potential of new forms of energy technologies. The many partners who are vested in this project could also reap new opportunities in the future. For example, the chemical company Solvey has developed a composite of carbon fiber and paper to create a lightweight, honeycombed skin that allows the plane to shed weight. ABB has provided support with three engineers who are well versed in solar inverter and battery storage technologies. Google, Omega and Bayer Material Science are among the other companies that have supported Solar Impulse.

So of course we will not be gallivanting around the globe in solar powered planes, or cars, anytime soon. But pushing engineers and scientists to advance renewable energy technologies, while inspiring youth to consider a career in this sector, are more than a worthy enough outcome if Solar Impulse 2 completes its journey.

Based in California, Leon Kaye has also been featured in The Guardian, Clean Technica, Sustainable Brands, Earth911, Inhabitat, Architect Magazine and Wired.com. He shares his thoughts on his own site, GreenGoPost.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Disclosure: Masdar covered Leon Kaye’s travel costs to Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

Image credits: Leon Kaye

Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, the annual conference that brings together over 30,000 professionals to meet on issues including energy, water and waste, kicked off yesterday. As always it started with a grandiose opening ceremony and a reminder of the United Arab Emirates’ achievements over the 40+ years since independence.

In addition to the panels, press conferences and massive exhibition halls, the winners of the annual Zayed Future Energy Prize (ZFEP, or the “Oscars” or “Nobel Prize” for clean energy), which included former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, were announced for 2015.

Founded in 2008, ZFEP awards US$4 million in prizes for both achievements and future potential in clean energy development. The committee who decides the final winners recognized Gore for his “unwavering personal and political commitment” to climate change, while constantly expressing optimism that the world community can take on the challenge. Gore said he would divert the US$500,000 cash award to The Climate Change Reality Project, an initiative he founded in 2006 to train activists to speak publicly about climate change’s risks and find more effective ways to communicate them.

While Gore may have been the marquee name, the other awards announced during the brief ceremony give an idea of how renewable energy and clean technology have become more mainstream across the globe. The other achievement award, which ZFEP gives to a large corporation, went to Panasonic. The iconic electronics manufacturer was lauded for its research and development work dedicated to solar energy, its advancements in battery technology and leadership in the development of Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town.

Where ZFEP’s long-term impact could stand out globally is with the awards given to smaller organizations and schools. M-Kopa Solar, the awardee in the small and medium enterprise category, is an example of how renewables are no longer an expensive alternative for the wealthy -- but now are a key towards economic empowerment for the world’s poorest citizens. The Nairobi, Kenya-based company provides pay-as-you-go solar electricity systems that include a rechargeable radio, cell phone charging port and three lights — in turn allowing citizens in East Africa to forego buying expensive and dirty kerosene to power their homes.

On the nonprofit side, Liter of Light, a social enterprise launched in the Philippines, won the category for its work in expanding passive solar lighting to some of the world’s poorest communities.

Finally, five high schools across the world won awards for their projects seeking to phase out conventional electricity systems with renewable alternatives. Awardees included a high school in the Maldives that wants to install a 45-kilowatt solar system to deliver all of its power needs, along with another in Canada that will launch biomass heating and solar air connectors.

The prize competition, the cycle of which starts in the spring of each year, received almost 1,000 entries. For the first time this year, ZFEP gave an honorary award to Egyptian president Abdul Fattah al Sisi for his government’s commitment to sustainability. The most populated nation in the Arab world has committed to sourcing 20 percent of its energy from renewables by 2020 and is on track to install 4,300 megawatts of solar and wind power in the next three years.

More information on ZFEP, finalists, and past awardees can be found here.

Image credit: Leon Kaye

Based in California, Leon Kaye has also been featured in The Guardian, Clean Technica, Sustainable Brands, Earth911, Inhabitat, Architect Magazine and Wired.com. He shares his thoughts on his own site, GreenGoPost.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Disclosure: Masdar covered Leon Kaye’s travel costs to Abu Dhabi.

The appearance of the polar vortex in late 2013-early 2014 put much of the U.S. and eastern Canada in a record-setting deep freeze around this time last year, adding another new term to lay-people's weather-related vocabulary. The polar vortex also stressed power utility grids and generation assets, sending consumer demand and power prices soaring in markets from Texas to New England.

Wind power was a stand-out performer, however. According to study from American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), wind energy saved end-users in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic states at least $1 billion during just two polar-vortex days last January.

In these and other regions, AWEA's Greg Hresko and Michael Goggin highlight: “[W]ind energy provided large quantities of critical electricity supply when it was needed most, keeping the lights on and reducing the impact of these price spikes.” According to their analysis, “[W]ind energy protected Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes consumers from extreme price spikes during the polar vortex event” over just two days in early January 2014, “saving consumers over $1 billion on their electric bills.”

Two days, $1 billion in savings

The record-setting cold the polar vortex brought in two events from December 2013 to April 2014 prompted unusually high demand for electricity and natural gas, “both for heating and power generation,” Hresko and Goggin recount. The low temperatures led to outages at power plants as equipment breaking down and fuel shortages.

Electricity prices, meanwhile, “rose to dozens of times their normal levels in many regions. The Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes states were particularly hard hit by these abnormally cold temperatures and the resulting energy price spikes.”

In their analysis, Hresko and Goggin calculate “how much more electricity prices would have increased had the region's wind generation not been online” Jan. 6 and 7, 2014. They do this by taking hourly grid operator data, data on fuel prices “and a detailed representation of the characteristics of every power plant in the region.”

In sum, they found that electricity consumers in the Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes regional markets saved at least $1 billion as a result of wind power generation on just those two polar-vortex days. As they elaborate in their report:

"By diversifying America’s energy mix, wind energy improves electric reliability and protects consumers from energy price spikes. While wind energy always provides these benefits, they can become particularly pronounced when the electric grid is stressed."

New opportunities for power market manipulation, price gouging

Though wind power was a stand-out performer and power grids overall held up well to the strains the polar vortex put on generation and distribution assets last winter, the events revealed several troubling issues. Besides exposing the vulnerability of regional U.S. power grids to increasingly common and historically intense extreme weather events, it also revealed faults in the structure of power markets. That includes the potential for those who both own and speculate in U.S. power markets to “game” the system and reap windfall profits at the expense of consumers.

California residents and power market regulators should be very familiar with such conflicts of interest. Going down in notoriety, Enron traders shamefully – and shamelessly – manipulated power supplies and market prices when California first deregulated its power markets. While Enron traders instructed operators at power plants Enron owned to hold back electricity supply, the company was going long in the market, reaping extraordinary profits while California customers went without power and paid exorbitant prices.

Price gouging may be once again rearing its ugly head, according to a report from Al Jazeera U.S. “The test case is playing out in New England,” Al Jazeera's David Cay Johnston reported back in May 2014.

“Energy Capital Partners, an investment group that uses tax-avoiding offshore investing techniques and has deep ties to Goldman Sachs, paid $650 million last year to acquire three generating plant complexes, including the second largest electric power plant in New England, Brayton Point in Massachusetts.

“If regulators side with Wall Street — and indications are that they will — expect the cost of electricity to rise from Maine to California as others duplicate this scheme to manipulate the markets, as Enron did on the West Coast 14 years ago, before the electricity-trading company collapsed under allegations of accounting fraud and corruption.

*Image credits: AWEA; "Wind energy saves consumers money during the polar vortex," Greg Hresko and Michael Goggin