by Brianna Crandall — January 20, 2012—Chairman and Executive Editor Joel Makower and the editors of GreenBiz.com have released the fifth annual State of Green Business Report, which identifies trends in corporate sustainability.
The free, downloadable report measures year-to-year data for 20 different areas of environmental performance, ranging from carbon emissions to LEED green building certifications to paper use and recycling, and explores the trends that shape the commitments and success of the business world.
The report indicates that companies “continue to dedicate time, money and staff to setting and meeting ambitious environmental goals,” although the momentum is slowing or even moving backwards on some of the indicators, such as clean technology innovations, overall energy intensity, certifications of LEED buildings, and paper use and recycling.
The authors identified 10 trends that they believe will shape corporate sustainability in 2012, including mainstream companies promoting smarter consumption; companies using green gamification to motivate customers and employees; cleantech investments increasing; energy efficiency projects returning potentially huge savings; technology and the availability of information creating big opportunities; cities taking the lead in sustainability through green infrastructure and technology; and sustainability becoming integrated into “business as usual.”
