Success Stories

Renee, CSO. Renee is CSO of a large multi-national computer hardware manufacturer. She was recently appointed to this role because of the respect she has within the organization and her success with other large initiatives. She was given a small budget, a small team, and big responsibilities. Renee wants to collaborate with other recently apponted CSO's. So she joined Viridus.

Renee found an invite-only group for CSO's. She was accepted into this group based on her credentials. Because it was a private group, She felt comfortable asking sensitive questions. She started a forum posting on her challenges getting senior management to really commit to the program with budget and spending. She was re-assured by the conversations and dialogue that she was not alone. Another CSO coached her on finding high ROI CSR programs. Another peer pointed her to a study by a well known consulting firm that demonstrated correlation between CSR and earnings. Renee was off and running.

Emily, Environmental Manager. Emily manages the greenhouse gas inventory and reduction programs for a major university. She found the old listserv and Usenet groups on GHG were highly inefficient – she couldn't find what she needs, the information is unorganized, there was no privacy. So she joined Viridus.

She started a blog and shared what she had done – communications templates, GHG spreadsheets, program goals, and more. Others asked questions and she answered. She found herself visiting Viridus everyday. And she found some great ideas to help her support IT on their Green IT program, including a solar energy powered datacenter that met their security and network standards.

Jason, Asst. Plant Manager Jason is in operations for a food manufacturer in the Midwest US. He was recently asked to be a plant representative for a corporate sustainability initiative. He needed to find ways to reduce waste by implementing a recycling program and reduce energy usage through process change. He had no idea where to start. So he joined Viridus.

The first thing he did is search the forums. He started with the operations forum and searched for energy usage reduction. He found a post with the question "What are highest impact energy reduction programs?" He became intrigued by another food processing company who raved about smart meters, but he was still unsure. So he posted a poll "Did you get ROI on smart meters?" A day later, 80% say yes. Someone pointed Jason to their Member Blog entry on how they integrated smart readers with an analytics program to track metrics. Another member emailed a Smart Meter RFP template.

Jason implemented smart meters and saved his company hundreds of thousands of dollars in energy costs and a reduction in greenhouse gases. He has since become a permanent member of the corporate sustainability group.