Greentech Lead America: IBM has saved more than $43
million inelectricity expenses and conserved 378,000 MW hours of electricity
last year, enough to power almost 34,000 average U.S. homes for a year.
IBM’s energy conservation projects delivered savings
equal to 7.4 percent of the company’s total energy use, exceeding the annual
goal of 3.5 percent.
This was the result of an ambitious ongoing program
involving 2,300 conservation projects at more than 364 IBM facilities
around the world.
IBM will continue these conservation efforts and aim to
eliminate 1.1 million megawatt hours of energy consumption by the end of 2012,
IBM said in its ninth annual Corporate Responsibility Report.
In 2011, IBM and the World Environment Center formed the
Innovation in Environmental Sustainability Council to explore how innovation in
business process and technology can enable strategic solutions to major
challenges involving energy, materials, water, infrastructure and logistics.
Charter members also include Boeing, CH2M HILL, The Coca-Cola Company, The Dow
Chemical Company, F. Hoffman-La Roche AG, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson
Family of Consumer Companies, and The Walt Disney Company.
From 1990-2011, the company’s energy conservation efforts
have avoided 5.8 billion kWh of electricity consumption, nearly 3.8 million
metric tons of CO2 emissions, and saved the company $442 million.
“At IBM, environmental leadership is at the heart of
our corporate values, and it shows in how we engage with clients, employees and
communities in our efforts to make the planet smarter. From the impact of our
operations and products on the environment, to how we manage our global supply
chain, environmental leadership is a strategic imperative, backed by the
conviction that good environmental management makes good business sense,”
said Wayne Balta, vice president of Environmental Affairs and Product Safety at
IBM.
“But in recent years our technology innovations
coupled with IBM’s best talent have taken those results to new levels of
performance. We continue to work with a global network of stakeholders from
governments, businesses and society but are now increasing the level of real
sustainable change in communities worldwide,” said Stanley Litow, vice
president of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs at IBM.