Large Companies on Green

One reason I started this blog was to help ferret out the market noise and provide real-time feedback on what's happening in the green space.

I met with some data center managers of some very large companies a couple of weeks ago. It's clear that although awareness is high in green-related topics, they for the most part are not making any fundamental changes to the way they are doing business. I say "for the most part" because there was a person there representing a large financial institution in Manhattan - his business unit, like all others in his company, is being asked to provide the data on how they are adding to his company's "green" story. As a result, he is looking for ways to contribute without breaking the bank or sacrificing performance of the data center.

This, plus anecdotal feedback from other large companies, drives my opinion that US businesses are nearing a tipping point - we're moving past green being good PR and moving into a period where it is fundamental to a company's ongoing operations. Large companies that can fund Sustainability teams and initiatives will be able to weather this trend just fine. However, as they push green requirements into their supply chains, smaller companies will be forced to tell their story as a condition of doing business.

We will see this trend roll downhill, it's a question of "when" this will happen, not "if."