Sunday, November 1, 2009

What is On Demand Sustainability?


By Daniel Stouffer

Major forces have been at work in recent times and they have all come together to project a "perfect storm" of responsibility. We have all seen what excesses can do during the recent most severe economic downturn and we are likely to want to lead our collective lives in a different manner in the future. In addition, there's been a growing call for action when it comes to climate related issues and it is certain that we are all going to need to take responsibility for this action as well in future. Business around the world must now understand and engage in a process of on-demand sustainability, whether they like it or not.

It is no longer good enough to accept certain elements as just part of a process of doing business and that pollution and waste and a general inefficient approach can be written off as expenses on a broader balance sheet. To be able to survive in the new and highly competitive business world ahead, management must have a clear concept of on-demand sustainability and know that they need to act very quickly to counter the threats.

Consumer opinion is firmly against waste of any kind and is now very educated when it comes to the damage that has been caused to our environment and our climate in general by our overuse, our reliance on fossil fuels and excess energy production. This opinion will drive corporate boardrooms to fully understand the entire operation, to make sure that they are fit and trim and able to make any changes necessary as quickly as possible through clear on-demand sustainability.

Every organization understands that it must be competitive in its marketplace, but the problem now is how to define the marketplace in the first instance. As we now know that if we continue to emit greenhouse gases at the same rate as we have been, we will cause irreversible damage to the climate, carbon itself is being injected into the business world as a trading cost. This expensive commodity will redefine the marketplace and introduce complex additional dynamics.

Conservation and control must be part of a system of on-demand sustainability. Before an organization can trade competitively in the future it must know to an ultimate degree how it is using its resources and how efficient its assets are. Water is an increasingly precious commodity and must be viewed as such. It is no longer acceptable to produce waste without evidence that it is absolutely necessary.

Lifecycle analysis is the process of understanding how the business operates from a to Z. It can be seen that individual asset performance is thus vitally important, as the overall ability for the organization to function is basically a process of global asset function.

Reputational harm, legislative fines and/or a loss of market competitiveness face the organization that is not nimble and able to move very quickly in the future to keep up with changes. This process of on-demand sustainability ensures a complete education and a retooling of the business.

There are specialized solutions and software packages available to the forward thinking management team, to help them analyze the function of each individual asset no matter the size of the organization. The systems should be implemented as a top priority to enable the company to whether the perfect storm ahead.

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