CHICAGO, Ill. — Energy efficiency has become one of company leaders' three most important priorities when it comes to greening operations, and bringing down energy use in offices and facilities is a significant way of achieving that goal, according to a new study.

The study, "Doing good: Business and the sustainability challenge" [PDF], was conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, and surveyed 1,254 senior business executives about their overall CSR efforts. Just over half of respondents (52 percent) said that energy efficiency is at or near the top of the list when they think about how to make their business sustainable.

Three practices pertaining to facilities and real estate figured prominently in the executives' responses: 36 percent said that "improving the local environment around operating facilities" is a major priority for them, and 14 percent ranked it as the leading priority; 33 percent ranked the broader category of "improving energy efficiency across global operations" as a major priority, and 19 percent of those said it was the top priority; and finally, 26 percent ranked "reducing greenhouse gas emissions and/or waste/pollutants" as a major priority, and 13 percent ranked it as the top priority.