Green Technologies Help Companies Meet Sustainability Goals, Improve Bottom Lines

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By Badal Shah, CEO Flareum Technologies

As businesses strive to meet their sustainability goals while meeting their obligation to their own bottom lines, it is becoming increasingly clear that these two goals are not in conflict, but in fact are complementary. A recent deal completed by my company, Flareum Technologies, illustrates just how going green can do more than improve a company’s reputation: it can also save them money.

A few weeks ago, Flareum Technologies completed installation of a solar-powered air conditioning system to cool the Bangalore offices of Siemens. This 10 TR system uses the sun’s rays and an innovative vapor absorption technology (as compared to the vapor compression technology used by traditional air conditioners) to produce 200 kWh of cooling power while reducing the carbon footprint of the office by 30,000 tons of emissions annually. Installing this system will help Siemens meet its goal of becoming a greener company and also save the company more than $12,000 annually.

And Siemens is not the only company to discover that going green can save. A recent report from the Environmental Defense Fund found that decisions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at major multinational corporations such as Nike, IKEA, and Walmart weren’t driven by prospects of regional or global carbon pricing, but saving money. The report describes several best practices corporations are employing to reduce carbon emissions and improve bottom lines, including shifting cargo from planes to ships, or from trucks to trains, leveraging partnerships, even with competitors, to collaboratively distribute goods and improving the energy efficiency of warehouses and distribution centers.

Public entities both within the U.S. and beyond are saving money through renewable technologies as well. More than 500 schools across the U.S. are using solar power to reduce their energy bills. At Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad, India, a solar cooking system from my company uses steam generated by solar power to replace traditional firewood and gas-fired cooking, and saves approximately $37,000 each year in fuel costs while reducing annual carbon emissions by 72,000 tons.

In these economic times, as it becomes clearer that individuals, families, companies, and public entities can save money through investments designed to decrease their carbon emissions (while achieving important environmental goals), demand for innovative, green technology solutions will increase. And companies like mine stand ready to deliver.

Author Bio: Badal Shah, managing director and CEO of Flareum Technologies, has more than a decade of experience in clean energy. His career in the clean tech sector began in 1997 when he formed Reality Energy Limited, a solar energy company based in Mumbai. He joined the Oxford Office of Ecosecurities in 2000 and later worked as a consultant for the Clean Air Capital Fund in London. In 2005, he founded Enion Management Ltd., which provides consulting services related to climate change, green buildings and renewable energy. Two years later, he invested in several clean tech startup companies, including Flareum Technologies.

Mr. Shah has received numerous awards for his leadership in the clean tech field, including Outstanding Entrepreneurship in Alternate Energy from the Mayor of Los Angeles in 2010.

He has spoken at many conferences including RENEWTECH India 2011, where he served as session chairman. He has also served as a delegate for the UK’s Climate Change Project Office (CCPO) Trading Mission to numerous countries.


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