First, let me apologize for the long time since my last post. Client commitments have kept me very, very busy. In fact, they still continue to require a lot of my time, but I just love writing to this blog so when I can’t find time I have to make some (e.g: sleeping less). Well, in such tough times, I am certainly not the only one so I will try to be quick and to the point.

What exactly do you have to do to get a greener workplace? Just to make sure we are all on the same page here, to me a Green Workplace means a workplace environment that is more efficient, adheres to specific standards (e.g.: EPA Energy Efficient), adds financial value to the company, and ultimately is an enabler of employee collaboration and productivity. Green is the logical extension of a well managed, efficient and cost-effective workplace. Wow! That’s beautiful. How to get there is where the challenge is.

With the magnitude of green discussions, conferences and presentations it is very easy to find yourself confused about where to start investing the time and money for a greener workplace.  Moreover, recent discussions about the US cap-trade bill and the upcoming Climate Event in Copenhagen are driving discussions around environmental issues. Honestly, if you are waiting on the cap-trade bill or the Carbon Trading market before taking action, don't, I have a few items for you to consider immediately:

• Virtualization Technologies;
• Energy Management for the office environment – moving beyond your notebooks, desktops, and thin devices to include other items like the floor, building, rooms, etc.
• Integrated Energy Management.
• Organization PC Lifecycle definition.
• Green procurement – ok, it’s about time I talk about this. My next post will be about eco-labels in the workplace.
• Waste recycling. Take a look at eCycling Stations to see the possibilities.

Want to go further?

• Change the employees behavior
• Collaboration systems: Video Conferencing, online chats, internal blogs, twitter, etc.
• If regulation comes, update the systems and processes to make sure your organization runs in accordance to them.
• Chargeback: if units in your company don’t comply with the standards defined, they pay more back to IT. Pockets are certainly one area to influence behavior.

These all can affect the bottom-line. Accenture has been working on reducing office space, improving collaboration, and implementing processes to help employees be more efficient when they work - I will share some of these initiatives on the next posts. These actions helped Accenture cut costs, and positively impact its balance sheet.

In the end, the message I am trying to pass along is that it is worth giving Green IT a shot. It will bring you, your clients, and your company benefits.