What does VERGE mean to you?

I'm asking this question assuming that you, like most readers, are a senior sustainability professional, probably in a large corporation. Your job involves things like promoting energy efficiency, waste reduction, greening buildings and facilities, and pushing suppliers to adopt similar practices. So how does the technology convergence we call VERGE -- the mash-up of energy, information, building, and transportation technologies -- fit?

That's a question my colleagues and I have been hearing lately, as we promote our upcoming 3-day summit, VERGE DC, March 14-16. For some sustainability professional, it seems, it's not an obvious fit.

VERGE, as I explain in a blog post today, fits like a glove. It aligns closely with sustainability professionals' core strengths: thinking systemically, building bridges, exploiting efficiencies, busting silos. It accelerates their quest to do such things as dramatically reduce energy consumption, increase renewable energy use, foment innovation, and compile and report increasingly comprehensive data about their company's footprint and operations.

Simply put, VERGE is about the future of your company -- and your career. If you haven't yet, I encourage you to tune in to the conversation, and attend the March event.

Lots of Action: This week brings a rich lode of stories about leadership companies: Puma's cutting-edge efforts to produce a environmental profit & loss statement ... Nike's move to adopt a waterless dyeing process for textiles ... Mitsubishi scoring first place in the annual Greenest Vehicles List ... Hertz's launch of a comprehensive sustainability platform ... and IKEA's revving up its solar power and electric vehicle charging programs. PLUS: insight and opinion from regulars Marc Gunther, Ellen Weinreb, Marc Stoiber, and Adam Aston.

Also this week: We're pleased to present installments in two running series: Part 2 of the Rocky Mountain Institute's series on steps business leaders can take to seize the economic and competitive opportunities in the new energy economy, this week on the future of transportation; and Part 1 of a four-part series from GreenOrder on the intersection of business and policy.