If you have a U.S. government contract and don't track your air emissions, get ready for a wake-up call: The Obama administration is set to kill deals with any

 contractors that don't track their emissions.

This is pretty huge. The federal government relies on well over half a million contractors across the country. According to a Federal Times report, fewer than 400 of those organizations (less than one per cent) report on GHG emissions in any form. 

Though this new requirement is not set to take effect till 2011 or 2012, the feds are already starting to take stock of who is reporting and who is not. Companies that already report (or immediately start to report) GHG emissions will have a much better chance of landing government contracts. Further, if you track your emissions throughout your entire supply chain and across third-party vendors, you will boost your chances of getting the attention of the federal government. 

Daunted? Don't be. Tracking emissions statistics can be a relatively straightforward process. However, if you want to get noticed and increase your chances of landing lucrative contracts, now's the time to start implementing software solutions to track emissions across your entire organization and supply chain. Alternatively, take your commitment to environment responsibility a step further by implementing a complete sustainability management program by tracking sustainability metrics and communicating sustainability performance to stakeholders.

In yesterday's weekly update EHS Today announced their list of the 50 most influential leaders in EHS.

The list is an interesting cross section of executives from government leaders to researchers and academics with a mini-bio of each of the appointees. Do you think anyone is missing from list? There is definitely a contingent of senior people with a wide breadth of expertise.

I was particularly struck by the impact that several of these leaders have made to the field and the interesting projects they are currently part of.

For a detailed description of the products that Intelex offers in EHS be sure to visit our product pages for Environment or Health & Safety. Or call us at 1-877-932-3747 for more information.

Having a damaging effect on the ozone layer, refrigerant gasses are part of a class of substances called ozone-depleting chemicals (ODC) which need to be controlled to eliminate their dispersion into the atmosphere. As many areas of industry rely heavily on refrigerants as part of their business processes, a need has been created to carefully address the control and release of these substances. One regulatory attempt at this is the EPA’s U.S. Clean Air Act (CAA), which is a congressional law that explains the EPA’s task in protecting air quality and the ozone layer. Section 608 of this law deals specifically with refrigerants and speaks to those using them in industrial and commercial applications.

CAA Section 608
Requires owners or operators of systems containing 50 pounds of refrigerant gas or more to maintain detailed service records, ensure that the leak rate does not exceed 15% for comfort cooling equipment or 35% for commercial refrigeration & industrial process refrigeration equipment and to take corrective actions when necessary.

Along with the current refrigerant regulations it can be speculated that future EPA mandatory rules will continue to include the reporting of refrigerants due to their high global warming potential, it is for this reason that Intelex has developed the Refrigerant Management System, to help organizations comply with these rules and curb the impact on the ozone layer that these gasses cause.

The Intelex Refrigerant Management System (RMS)
Provides an easy and complete solution for tracking and reporting refrigerant usage, leaks, tests, repairs, purchases and disposal while ensuring compliance with refrigerant regulations including EPA 608.

Enabling complete refrigerant lifecycle management, the Intelex RMS allows you to easily manage your inventory usage from purchase through to disposal in real-time. It simplifies and streamlines compliance sending automated notifications for above standard leak-rates and the associated equipment repair tasks. Consolidating all data into one central repository, Intelex’s web-based platform facilitates corporate-wide performance reporting, trending and analysis of all refrigerant related data.

Speaking on the issue the issue, Laura Scott, Environmental Specialist at leading energy provider NRG commented, “Organizations and facilities have been able to adequately track and monitor refrigerant with simple reporting tools for some time. The increase in reporting requirements and integration of data makes it necessary to incorporate management systems, such as Intelex, to track refrigerant at the facility level and report up to the corporate level to consolidate data. It is important to have your organization positioned to maintain compliance and meet reporting requirements.”

The Intelex RMS stores, tracks and reports on the following data types:

• Technician Certification & Training Records
• Equipment Service Records
• Refrigerant Purchases
• Disposal Records
• Usage & Recovery Logs
• Accidental Release Logs
• Leak Rates
• Verification Test Results
• Refrigerant Equipment
• Refrigerant Types by Equipment 
  
  Learn More about the Intelex Refrigerant Management System or request a Live Demo today.
  

This Saturday, hundreds of millions of people around the globe will observe Earth Hour by turning off their lights for one hour beginning at 8:30pm local time. Families, offices, businesses, and cities will join together to conserve energy and show their united support for environmental awareness and responsibility.

On March 27 at 5:30pm, Torontonians and friends will gather at Yonge-Dundas Square for an evening of fun-filled, family-friendly activities including arts & crafts, face painters, street performers, and more! There will be Earth Hour Wishing Trees, where people can share their personal wishes for the Earth and pledges for personal contributions to change. The event includes a free concert with performances by R&B artist Jarvis Church and singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk.

If joining thousands on the street isn't your thing, there are countless other ways to enjoy a technology-free evening with friends, family, or on your own. Maybe you'll simply turn off all but one lamp and flip though a magazine, or have some friends over to play board games. You might enjoy a candle-lit dinner with your partner or head to an area where you can view the city unplug from afar.

If, like so many others, you would love to make every hour Earth Hour, here are 10 easy ways you can start:

1. Leave the car at home 2. Eat local 3. Fly less 4. Be energy efficient 5. Use green power 6. Get a home energy audit - and act on it! 7. Hang dry your clothes 8. Work from home 9. Unplug unused appliances 10. Tell your local official Read more about making every hour Earth Hour.

Toronto's Skyline

In 2009 the city of Toronto saw a decrease of 15.1% of electricity during Earth Hour, up from 8.7% in 2008. I'm sure this year we'll see an even bigger decrease. Imagine if we did this more than once a year.

Join the movement and check out what events are happening in your city at www.earthhour.org.

Greener World Media, Inc. (www.greenbiz.com) has published its annual State of Green Business report, which measures the environmental impacts of the green economy. The report provides a recap of 2009's top green stories and looks at 20 measures of environmental performance in the U.S. including carbon transparency, corporate reporting, energy efficiency, GHG commitments, green office space, cleantech investments, toxics in manufacturing, and green power. The 20 topics have been given one of three distinctions: swimming (where companies are making progress), treading (where they're standing still), and sinking (where they're falling behind).

In the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), some thought the slowing economy would have a negative effect on budgets, and therefore, corporate reporting but it seems the opposite holds true. According to the report, "the financial crisis created more pressure from stakeholders, customers and investors for companies to increase transparency and close the non-financial information disclosure gap." While this can be interpreted as somewhat of an achievement, overall, the report finds U.S. companies are at a standstill when it comes to corporate reporting.

Areas where U.S. companies are swimming - clean-energy patents, energy efficiency, green IT and office space, paper use and recycling, and water use.

Although green business may be progressing slowly, it is definitely moving forward. Organizations big and small are taking steps to ensure they are being environmentally responsible, not only in preparation for tougher legislation but also due to the growing consumer interest in corporate sustainability and social responsibility initiatives.

Are you looking for solutions to support your company's environmental initiatives? Learn more about how Intelex can help you with all of your environmental software needs.

To download the State of Green Business 2010 report, visit GreenBiz.com.

Along with our Middle Eastern partner Barik IT Solutions, Intelex is pleased to announce two new additions to our client roster, Majan Electricity Company and Daleel Petroleum both located in Oman, have selected Intelex Technologies to provide them with an EHS Management System.

Both companies are key players in Oman’s energy industry with Majan Electricity being a leader in electricity distribution and supply and Daleel Petroleum a top oil and gas operator. Majan Electricity selected the Intelex EHS Management System as a means of automating all of their Environmental, Health & Safety processes into one unified system, working to effectively manage and track such core business components as Audits Management, EHS Training, Incident Reporting, Permit Management, Document Control, Environmental Management and Risk Assessments. Daleel Petroleum selected Intelex’s Safety Management System as a means of automating and tracking their EHS activities across all of their operating sites. Both companies will be leveraging the web-based Intelex platform to foster real-time reporting and generating a complete 360-degree view into their EHS business processes and performances.

To learn more about how an Intelex solution can help you improve your organization's EHS performance, request a free demo here.

Intelex recently attended two conferences that took place in the Middle East, both with a focus on addressing growing HSE challenges in the workplace. John Phyper, Intelex's EVP of Sales, Marketing and Alliances travelled to Doha Qatar first to participate in the 5th Annual HSE Forum in Oil, Gas & Petrochemicals. Taking place over 4 days, the Forum followed in the footsteps of the outstandingly successful 4th Annual HSE Meeting in 2008 and had over 150 regional and international senior level HSE professionals gathered to share their opinions and insights with their industry peers. This series of HSE Forums has proven itself to be the focal point for discussion on the best practices, innovative solutions and creative ideas on successful HSE compliance in the oil and gas industry. John also attended "Managing HSE in the Construction Industry," hosted by the Oman Society of Contractors which took place in Oman and specifically looked at recently introduced health and safety legislation as well as health and safety standards in the construction industry. Intelex's Middle Eastern partners, the Barik Group, were also in attendance at both events.

The conferences both addressed the shifting culture of safety in the workplace and the importance of implementing and maintaining a HSE Management System to have a pro-active and re-active solution to workplace safety. "There is a significant shift by companies to put in place robust systems to ensure their workers and contractors mitigate environmental damage and practice safety in the workplace," commented Phyper on the emerging industry trends.

Intelex's web-based HSE Management solutions provide a single, organization-wide platform for all safety data, policies, objectives and initiatives. Find out how an Intelex Safety Management Solution or Environmental Management Solution can help your organization save time, money and resources.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently proposed a new GHG emissions program designed to further regulate the amount of greenhouse gas produced in the US. The proposed Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule would require large facilities to obtain operating permits for their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Large facilities are defined as those emitting more than 25,000 tons per year CO2e. According to the EPA these large facilities make up nearly 70% of US GHG emissions. Additionally newly constructed facilities and significantly modified facilities would be required to use the best available control technology to minimize GHG emissions under the proposed rule.

Under Title V, the EPA is proposing an applicability threshold of 25,000 tons per year (tpy) CO2e for existing facilities. Facilities with emissions of less than 25,000 tpy CO2e would not be required to obtain an operating permit.

Under Prevention of Significant Deterioration, a program designed to minimize emissions from new or modified sources, the major stationary source threshold is 25,000 tpy CO2e. This is the threshold used to determine if a new facility or a major modification to an existing facility would require a PSD permit. The significance threshold is set at 10,000 to 25,000 tpy CO2e.  A PSD permit would be required if an existing facility makes modifications that increase emissions inside the range set.

The proposed rule includes the six main greenhouse gases; carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).  If the proposed rule is adopted, the rule would take effect in the spring of 2010. 

*Jonna McConaughy is Intelex's Air Emissions Specialist and is based out of Intelex's satellite location in Pittsburgh PA

The Envinronmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced its new mandatory GHG reporting program will commence on January 1st 2010 with reports being due in 2011. The new mandatory GHG rule from the EPA brings some changes from the originally proposed rule.   Some of the changes are outlined below.

INDUSTRIES INCLUDED
Excluded from reporting are the following industries:

Electronics manufacturing Ethanol production Fluorinated GHG production Food processing Industrial landfills Magnesium production Oil and natural gas systems SF6 from electrical equipment Underground coal mines Wastewater treatment Suppliers of coal

Industries required to report include those facilities emitting more than 25,000 metric tons CO2e per year.  These industries may include fossil fuel and natural gas suppliers, vehicle and engine makers (excluding light duty vehicles/engines), cement manufacturers, paper manufacturers, chemical manufacturers and others.

MONITORING OR BEST AVAILABLE DATA
Best available data may be used for Q1 2010 in lieu of required monitoring. Extensions for use of best available data may be requested within the year 2010 but not beyond this time.

QUALITY ASSURANCE
Calibration requirements for flow meters and monitors were added.  Accuracy to 5% is specified.

REPORT SUBMITTALS
The mandatory rule specifies reports are to be submitted to the EPA. Data collection was not delegated to the states.
The EPA is working to update the consolidated emissions reporting schema (CERS), the data schema used in submittals of Emission Inventories, to include GHG data.  This standardized data format will assist in data exchange between federal, state, and local agencies as well as other GHG registries and protocols.
Reports may be submitted in an XML format via web based system that is currently under construction.

DATA RETENTION
Records must be kept for 3 years under the mandatory rule.  This is down from 5 years in the proposed rule.

END OF REPORTING
Should a facility reduce their GHG emissions under the 25,000 tons CO2e per year limit for 5 consecutive years, they may cease annual GHG reporting to the EPA.  Should a facility reduce their GHG emissions under 15,000 metric tons CO2e per year for 3 consecutive years, they may cease to report GHG emissions.  Should a facility cease GHG emitting activities or shut down completely, reporting is not required.

 *Jonna McConaughy is Intelex's Air Emissions Specialist and is based out of Intelex's satellite location in Pittsburgh PA

As announced in a press release on August 19th 2009, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has recently been established between two of the major players in the Canadian standards and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions industries. Leading Canadian standards-based solutions organization, CSA Standards, and the leading North American GHG registry, The Climate Registry, have come together through the MoU to more closely align the two organizations in regards to supporting a consistent GHG measurement and reporting culture in Canada. The partnership solidifies the collaboration between the two organizations to promote the voluntary reporting of GHG emissions to The Climate Registry as well as the adoption of The Climate Registry’s platform for mandatory reporting among Canadian jurisdictions. The MoU also strives to improve upon and create new training opportunities and capacity building programs related to The Climate Registry as well as for general GHG accounting, verification, reporting and tracking.

With over 340 members, The Climate Registry currently operates the foremost North American voluntary GHG registry holding a unique relationship with the 12 Canadian provinces and territories as well as the 41 states that all sit on their board of directors. The Climate Registry, by setting consistent and transparent standards for calculating, verifying and publicly reporting GHG emissions, plays an active role in supporting mandatory reporting schemes across North America. On the other side, CSA Standards serves industry, government, consumers and other interested parties in North America and the global marketplace and has been working with Canadian jurisdictions to build components that support GHG reporting, regional emissions trading systems, and program performance tracking.

Speaking on the newly established MoU, Suzanne Kiraly, president of CSA Standards commented, “This MoU highlights CSA Standards and The Climate Registry’s mutual purpose and common goal of building standardized methods for measuring and tracking GHG emissions. Continued collaboration between our two organizations will serve to further these efforts and, in turn, benefit various organizations, including government and industries.”  Alex Carr, Canadian Regional Director of The Climate Registry, also sees the benefit that the MoU will bring to both government and industry stating that, “By working together with CSA, we can better support Canadian governments and industry as climate policy continues to evolve and capturing high quality GHG emissions data becomes even more important – both to regulators and to companies wanting to manage their risks, improve energy efficiency, and demonstrate their leadership.” The establishment of this MoU is a positive sign that the standardization of GHG emissions reporting in Canada is moving closer to becoming a reality, ultimately creating a reporting climate where ingenuity and continuous improvement are held as key drivers.

Web-based Environmental Management Systems such as the one offered by Intelex provide a platform to track and report GHG emissions data across an entire organization in real-time, providing a 360 degree view of emissions performance fostering regulatory compliance as well as driving continual improvement.