Business 100 Green Initiatives

Glen Dimplex

Martin Naughton, Founder and Chairman

Glen Dimplex has recently expanded to include renewable energy systems such as solar, thermal, heat recovery and ventilation, smart controls, and wood pellet heating systems. Not only do these systems offer less CO₂ emissions, they offer a local, inexhaustible resource for heating one’s home or business. Their heat pumps are accredited as part of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme [LCBP] and the Scottish Community & Householder Renewables Initiative.

Google

William Coughran, Jr., Senior VP, Engineering

Google has committed to being carbon neutral. They are increasing energy efficiency, getting energy from renewable sources through their Re<C and RechargeIT initiatives, and using carbon offsetting where necessary. Re<C works to develop clean energy that is cheaper than coal. RechargeIT works towards the mass commercialization of plug-in vehicles.

Right now, two Google centers run entirely on recycled water, and they want to make 80% of centers run this way by 2010. Google data centers use about half the energy of a typical data center and are therefore extremely efficient. Corporate culture is also very green—Google’s employee programs include providing free bikes on campus, biodiesel shuttles, composting, and locally-grown food.

For their users, Google provides its own Powermeter, which is a free electricity usage gauge that tells you how much electricity your home is using and gives tips on reducing energy usage to save money.

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Nster.com