by
JP Nadeau
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
The discourse of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gained considerable momentum in recent years with all signs indicating that this movement will continue with even greater force throughout the remainder of 2009 and into 2010. Business leaders that have had CSR programs up and running for several years will tell you that when their programs started there was very little measuring and reporting on established objectives, but with sophisticated consumers and stakeholders demanding greater accountability gone are the days of just saying "it's working."
A general framework for CSR reporting has been established by The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a large multi-stakeholder network of thousands of experts, in dozens of countries worldwide. Intended to inform shareholders, stakeholders and the general public of all efforts to adhere to laws and ethical standards as well as any improvements to the sustainability of the company and the environment, CSR reports are a means of increasing the transparency into an organizations operations, which some say will spur other companies to further action. As the GRI's website (www.globalreporting.org) describes, "The Global Reporting Initiative's vision is that disclosure on economic, environmental, and social performance is as commonplace and comparable as financial reporting, and important to organizational success." On an organizational level CSR reports can be useful for companies to benchmark organizational performance, demonstrate organizational commitment to sustainable development and to compare organizational performance over time.
Celeste LeCompte investigates some of the ideas surrounding CSR reporting in a recent article on BusinessWeek.comentitled "How to Put Sustainability on the Books." The issue at the heart of LeCompte's piece is not so much what types of data organizations are including in their CSR reports but rather how they are collecting and then extracting this data. As DeCompte explains, "CSR data are notoriously complex. Putting together a report can mean pulling data from environmental health and safety departments, community and education programs, philanthropic giving records, supply chain partners, and operations records. Historically, companies have pulled that data into Excel spreadsheets to create new datasets for CSR reports. But as stakeholders—and shareholders—show more interest in sustainability concerns, companies are beginning to eye more sophisticated software to help them manage and report that data." Because collecting, verifying, and publishing data from multiple spreadsheets and various other sources is an obvious limitation on the accuracy and efficiency of a CSR report, a more sophisticated, web-based software solution such as what Intelex offers is something that many organizations have now implemented to streamline operations and make data reporting more accurate and manageable, a trend that will likely continue to increase as we move towards a more accountable, socially and environmentally conscious business world.
by
Lori Dyne
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Intelex
Technologies has released its latest software innovation, the Intelex OpenPass
API, a revolutionary application programming interface that will enable its
users to sync and report data between multiple business management systems.
The Intelex
OpenPass API functions as a conduit for seamlessly feeding data between
multiple software programs. This means that Intelex’s environment, quality, and health & safety, and business management Software can now share data with pre-existing
business software applications; thereby, saving time and resources while
maintaining a degree of accuracy that’s difficult to achieve when data is
transmitted manually.
The City of Calgary
and St. Gobain are the first Intelex clients to take advantage of the OpenPass
API. The City of Calgary used our
OpenPass API to import employee and location data from their pre-existing HR system
into their Intelex System. They also used the OpenPass API to export employee
injury data (i.e., incident number with date and time stamp) from Intelex’s
Master Incidents Module into their HR program.
St. Gobain used the
OpenPass API to import training courses, employee lists, and employee workgroup
data from Lotus Notes into the Intelex System and Training Management Module. By
using the OpenPass API St. Gobain was able to quickly populate their new
Intelex System with historical data that will be a key factor in reporting
accuracy and trending.
If you think that
your organization could use the Intelex OpenPass API to import, export, and
sync data between a pre-existing management program and your Intelex System, send
an email to client.relations@intelex.com
or call 416.599.6009 for more details.
by
Lori Dyne
Thursday, March 12, 2009
 In an environment where corporations are demanding that their suppliers and business partners assume greener corporate processes, Standard & Poor’s launched the S&P US Carbon Efficient Index as a means of measuring the performance of large US companies with relatively lower carbon emissions.
According to Standard & Poor’s, the companies listed on the new US Carbon Efficient Index had a 48% lower carbon footprint when compared with the average company on the S&P 500. There are currently 362 companies listed, with plans to examine all 4,500 companies recognized on S&P’s indices.
To calculate the carbon footprint, S&P is working with the environmental research organization Trucost PLC. Trucost arrives at a figure by dividing greenhouse gas emissions by annual revenues.
With the potential for new and more conservative emissions regulations just around the corner, and an increase in consumer demand for socially responsible products and services, it appears that tracking corporate greenhouse gas emissions is evolving from an optional business initiative to a mandatory one.
Click here to read a recent press release addressing how Intelex is enabling organizations to improve their sustainability efforts through greenhouse gas emissions tracking and reporting.
by
Lori Dyne
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
(Above: EUEC Energy & Environment Conference 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona)
(Above: Intelex's Steve Ross & Dan Marcus with Intelex Users and colleagues)
The EUEC Energy & Environment Conference was a great source for industry news and best practices, but this year's
conference was particularly relevant in light of President Obama's
proposed renewable energy initiatives, which include "Implementing an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050," and "Helping create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150
billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a
clean energy future." (White House Agenda - Energy & Environment).
Information on managing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and other environmental initiatives.
by
Lori Dyne
Thursday, January 15, 2009
It's not uncommon to hear about
organizations working feverishly to develop effective quality and environmental
management programs so that ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 certifications can be
attained. While securing these
certifications is a great accomplishment, implementing a web-based software
application after the fact is a trend Intelex's Account Managers are not
unfamiliar with.After discussions with
organizations such as these, it’s often the case that the ISO implementation
team was unaware that web-based quality and environmental management systems can
actually help work toward this certification, as opposed to simply maintaining
a compliant status.
Intelex's web-based Quality and
Environmental Management Systems are designed to help organizations implement
ISO standards and maintain ongoing compliance. Both Intelex's Quality and
Environmental Management Systems function as frameworks enabling organizations
to define an ISO registration schedule, identify project objectives, record
policies, assign and track ISO tasks, manage all ISO-related documents, and
provide real-time implementation progress reports. And because the Intelex
System operates on a web-based platform, your organization's "ISO Portal" can
be securely accessed by any approved employee with access to the internet.
The main takeaway here, is that
organizations that purchase web-based quality or environmental management
systems like the Intelex System, consistently report faster ISO registration
turnaround times and more effective use of intellectual resources. When combined, these factors typically
translate into significant cost savings.
If your organization has
identified becoming ISO 9001:2008 or ISO 14001 registered as a business
objective in 2009, save yourself time and money by speaking with an Intelex
Account Manager first. Our account managers will be able to provide valuable
insights, implementation best practices, and a no-obligation quote.
by
Lori Dyne
Friday, November 21, 2008
With initiatives such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Western Climate Initiative, tracking greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has become a necessity for many organizations. To help our customers address this business need, Intelex developed a Greenhouse Gas Emission Tracking Module in 2008.
Like all of Intelex’s systems and modules, the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Tracking Module is designed to be both scalable and configurable; in turn, making the system applicable to all emitter types and constituents. The Intelex System has the ability to track a single point source at a single location or thousands of point sources around the globe. Larger emitters with multi-locations and diverse point sources will benefit greatly from the built-in location-oriented logic that allows all emissions of a common type to roll up to a top location for a top-down view of all point sources.
Organizations using the Intelex GHG Tracking Module have the ability to:
- Define any number of point sources for GHGs or other air contaminants
- Determine point source emission factors that can be applied organization-wide or made specific to each location or source (many emission factors can be found in the USEPA AP-42 document)
- Outline the method and frequency for capturing GHG or air contaminant activities. Energy consumption, vehicle usage, fuel used, etc.
- Create organization-wide tasks for any company representative to complete GHG-related activities
- Automatically convert all GHGs to CO2e and define normalization factors for all organization locations
- Outline multiple emission factors per location and source
- Create frequency-based emission tasks
- Emission inventories for single locations, divisions , business units with organization-wide data roll up
- Define and maintain permit levels at each location or as an organization
- Chart normalized trends across point sources and locations
- Gain unparalleled transparency of carbon credits
- Facilitate transparency across all sources and locations to identify GHG and air contaminant abatement program
by
Michael Oksinski
Thursday, November 06, 2008
|
