Race challenges businesses to reduce CO2 emissions, use energy more efficiently

Business Report Correspondent

DENVER — With the Race to Stop Global Warming to be held in Denver in just two days and Earth Day also rapidly approaching, many Colorado companies are evaluating their environmental practices and thinking about how they can become better stewards of the environment in the future.

Local and national companies sponsoring the Race to Stop Global Warming, which will be held on April 8, have a long history of being dedicated to reducing greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide and using energy more efficiently, which is what the race is challenging all Colorado companies to do.

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“Global Warming is the biggest environmental threat that we face as a planet,´ said Tom Stoner, chief executive officer and chairman of Boulder-based Econergy International Corp., a local sponsor of the Race to Stop Global Warming. “Never have we had to try to coalesce a global commitment to dealing with a problem such as global warming. It’s a real opportunity for people to be able to demonstrate the capacity to act in a way that is taking care of the whole and not just the individual.”

EIC, which employs financial MBAs and energy engineers, assists companies with strategies for dealing with global warming. EIC’s mission is to help clients complete projects that are technically, financially and environmentally viable, Stoner said.

Clients include utilities such as the AES Corp. and the Tennessee Valley Authority, and large development banks such as the International Finance Corp. (IFC), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank. EIC also works with the U.S. Agency for International Development. EIC has worked in more than 40

countries, including China, Brazil, Mexico, India, Argentina, the Philippines and some of the former Soviet Republics.

In addition to helping companies deal with global warming, EIC takes steps to improve the environment. The company’s facility is energy day-lit, and EIC uses recycled paper and recycles. Employees also bike to work. “We take it right down to how we live and how we work,” Stoner said.

In the future, EIC plans to begin trading carbon emission credits, Stoner said. The Kyoto Protocol agreement, of which the United States is part, set in place carbon emission reduction goals for countries participating in the agreement. One way to meet those goals is to trade with other countries for emission reductions, Stoner said.

EIC has been in Boulder for six years. The company also has offices in Washington, D.C., Mexico City and Sau Paulo, Brazil.

CH2M Hill, a multinational engineering construction and environmental technology firm, is the Colorado sponsor of the race. With the help of 10,000 employees, CH2M Hill provides a variety of services in the water, wastewater, telecommunications, transportation,

energy and industrial systems areas.

Dan Arvizu, senior vice president of the energy and industrial systems business unit for CH2M Hill, said that like EIC, CH2M Hill recycles all recyclable materials and works to reduce its paper use. It’s also starting to introduce hybrid vehicles that operate on a combination of

gasoline and electricity for corporate transportation.

Chief Executive Ralph Peterson has served as chairman of the Coalition to Advance Sustainable Technologies (CAST), an initiative of former Vice President Al Gore. CH2M Hill also has a strong leadership role with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and is a member of the Pew Charitable Trust’s Center on Climate Change and the Environmental Business Leadership Council.

The company encourages its employees to bike, ride the bus or carpool to work. Additionally, the company promotes flex time, which enables employees to come to work earlier and leave later, so their cars aren’t causing excess pollution during rush hour traffic. CH2M Hill also encourages employees to telecommute, and many employees are involved in environmental programs outside of work.

While CH2M Hill’s corporate headquarters is in Denver, the company has 160 locations worldwide and operates on seven continents. It has signature projects at all locations, with the signature project in Colorado being the cleanup and closure of Rocky Flats.

Clients include large industrial companies, electrical utilities and municipalities. CH2M Hill also is working with an oil and gas company, helping it reduce its emissions, said Lisa Nelowet, director of greenhouse gas management for CH2M Hill. Nelowet said clients interested in managing their greenhouse gas emissions tend to be progressive, visionary firms.

CH2M Hill chose to become involved in the Race to Stop Global Warming because global warming is such an important issue, and being a participant and sponsor provides the company with name recognition around environmental stewardship. “We have the technology and knowledge that is crucial to helping industries reduce their greenhouse emissions,´ said Brent Temmer, director of corporate affairs for CH2M Hill. “We want to be involved with events that educate the public on the issue.”

Arvizu stressed that global warming is an issue of significant importance to CH2M Hill’s clients. He said CH2M Hill believes it is better to have companies take action against global warming rather than have governmental regulations.

CH2M Hill wants to raise public awareness about the causes and effects of global warming and encourage industries to take voluntary action. Showing leadership in preventing global climate change makes good business sense, Arvizu said. And there’s always a need to reduce greenhouse gasses and global warming, he added, not just when there are organized events such as the Race to Stop Global Warming. “You can’t just have a big push to reduce them this month,” he said. “You have to have a change of mindset about being wasteful and our impact on the environment.”

Arvizu stressed that global warming will have a huge impact on future generations. “Future generations is what this is about,” he said. “Our children’s children. The things we do today come with a cost later.”

Aveda, Nike and Broomfield-based Gaiam are national sponsors of the Race to Stop Global Warming. Aveda’s concern with several issues threatening biodiversity, including global warming, water pollution, habitat destruction, species loss and air pollution, spurred its participation. The company values biodiversity so much that it is in the process of creating a foundation for it, said President and Chief Executive Dominique Conseil.

To show its concern for protecting biodiversity, Aveda has employed green building technologies in its retail stores, its shampoo bottles are made from recycled materials, and it works to minimize packaging. The company only uses wood from sustainable forests, and it supports biodynamic and organic agriculture, Conseil said.

Aveda also has worked to significantly reduce its electric and natural gas usage. “Energy conservation is certainly something we do well,” Conseil said, adding that Aveda has been, and will continue to be, committed to improving the environment.

“Real environmental progress is the one done step-by-step and every day,” he said. “Our commitment reducing carbon dioxide is a long-term commitment.”

In the future, Aveda hopes to improve the efficiency of the company’s transportation and to reduce the frequency of air shipments. Mary Tkach, director of ecological affairs for Aveda, said the company also plans to help beauty salons reduce their water consumption.

Nike was the original sponsor of the Race to Stop Global Warming when it was launched last year in Portland, Ore., and the company wants to see the race become a wake-up call, similar to what Race for the Cure is for breast cancer.

Nike also was one of the first companies to sign the Business Climate Challenge, which urges the federal government to promote climate change policies that provide incentives for businesses to act quickly and set clear and reasonable goals. Additionally, Nike is a member of Climatewise, a federally sponsored program to reduce carbon dioxide.