Following Monday's announcement it will buy
Clear Standards, an environmental accounting software company,
SAP AG unveiled its 2008 Sustainability Report today showing the company reduced greenhouse emissions 6.7 percent last year.
The online
SAP 2008 Sustainability Report lets users investigate the performance of its offices and data centers and explore key environmental initiatives in areas such as virtualization, renewable energy, water use and data center cooling.
Among some of the highlights:
• SAP cut its greenhouse gas emissions 6.7 percent compared to 2007 levels. The company’s overarching goal involves slashing emissions to 2000 levels by 2020, which translates to a 49 percent reduction from a 2007 baseline. SAP measures Scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions in its footprint.
• An interactive map allows users to access the monthly energy consumption at SAP's various facilities, including locations in China, Israel, London and the U.S. SAP reduced energy consumption of its data centers by 0.7 percent in 2008.
• SAP plans to cut waste by using cardboard and paper for software compact disk packaging instead of plastic. To reduce energy consumption, SAP is reducing office temperature and investing in heat pumps.
• The company created a "Sustainability Map" that includes a visual layout of seven sustainability needs for businesses, including supply chain, product safety and stewardship, and IT infrastructure. Along with each need, the company lists its software offerings best suited to manage each need.
That's pretty ambitious for a company that released its
first sustainability report just last year. The intended purchase of Clear Standards will complement SAP’s Business Suite and Environment, Health, and Safety Management software offerings, as well as help SAP improve its own sustainability performance.
Clear Standards is a privately owned company that makes internal software to meet regulatory goals and measure and monitor environmental impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions, waste and water use. Its sale for an undisclosed sum is expected to close next month.
"It is essential that organizations gain actionable insight into their carbon emissions, water consumption, energy use and other environmental factors so they can lower their environmental impact," SAP AG Co-CEO Léo Apotheker said in a statement Monday. "Having this ability also correlates to an organization's efficiency and competitiveness. With the acquisition of Clear Standards, we will accelerate our vision to deliver a complete set of solutions to enable end-to-end sustainable businesses.
