The United Nations has defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The body says that this process requires a reconciliation between environmental, social and economic elements, which in relation to sustainable corporations reflects the new concept of the triple bottom line. It is now widely accepted that an organization must squarely aim for sustainability as a core element of doing business.

Sustainable corporations are more likely to be accepted in the future than those that are not, or have failed to make an effort in this regard. Socially, environmental awareness is to the fore and the organization that is not compliant risks alienating the very clients that it needs to succeed. Enterprise carbon and energy management systems are now emerging as a key tool in the business arsenal, enabling the company to fully understand and develop its position.

It is sobering to realize that a majority of companies do not really understand their accurate cost of doing business. An enterprise carbon and energy management system can, maybe for the first time, reveal individual asset energy use and its associated efficiency. It is not good enough to assume that an asset is efficient if it is performing according to the manufacturer benchmark, as efficiency these days means energy compliance and a minimum amount of carbon emission.

For an organization to be fully aware of its carbon footprint, energy inefficiencies and what it needs to do to change, it needs to analyze the performance of every asset and be in possession of comprehensive and up-to-date information. Systems and solutions provide this information to the company, regardless of how many assets are concerned, how distributed the organization or how complex the process.

The triple bottom line approach means that carbon is becoming a very real element within the various balance sheets. Some contend that legislation will convert carbon into an actual commodity and that legislation will create market driven forces to drive down the costs of carbon emissions. It really does not matter what type of business an organization is in, sustainable corporations must be created throughout.

Recent research by AMR has shown that almost half of all businesses have no systems or plans in place to measure the carbon use and as such, are as far from being sustainable corporations as they could be. Almost 1/3 of those surveyed indicated that a lack of information, a failure to understand the processes were barriers to adoption and these organizations should investigate enterprise carbon and energy management systems at the earliest convenience.

Tough regulations are being rolled out in certain countries around the world, forcing the formation of sustainable corporations. Unless an organization moves with the times, it will face trading restrictions, penalties and fines. Other actions within individual jurisdictions are creating additional levels of interest and in one way or the other a highly regulated carbon market is inevitable.

It is important to understand that brand management must be carefully handled during this time. Reputation is difficult to gain and easy to lose and senior management should not consider creating a PR campaign or talk about their intents and wishes without ensuring that they have enterprise carbon and energy management systems in place to give them the highly accurate information upon which to base it.

Daniel Stouffer has much more data about enterprise carbon and energy management systems and how a visit to www.verisae.com will aid you.