2009-09-15 - ABB South Africa is extending the principle of sustainability that is embedded in the design of many of its products and its new head office, to how ABB runs events. The Automation and Power World Africa 2009 event, which will be held in Johannesburg on 11 and 12 November 2009, and which is expected to attract a large number of customers from across the continent, will be run largely as a green and carbon neutral event.
Recognising the potentially negative environmental impacts and the carbon footprint of an event such as this has prompted ABB to pursue a three-pronged approach towards carbon neutrality:
• an upfront greening of the event, with consideration given to green procurement principles such as locally and sustainably produced food and reduced energy and water use. In addition, video teleconferencing facilities will be made available for Automation and Power World.
• monitoring and calculating carbon emissions from the event. The methodology used to measure the carbon emissions from the event has been developed in line with the Green House Gas (GHG) Protocol’s five principles of Relevance, Completeness, Consistency, Transparency and Accuracy and best practice from international events. Carbon emissions will be calculated for the following impact areas of the event: travel to Johannesburg by air and road; travel to and from the event by road; energy use in accommodation; and energy use at the event venue.
• ABB will then look to offset the carbon emissions created by the event through, for instance, purchasing carbon credits. In addition, ABB will look at supporting a development project in South Africa that involves renewable energy as well as other sustainability criteria , twinning ABB’s social investment policy with environmental responsibility.
Event greening and carbon offsetting has become an international trend with many of ABB's customers practising it, among them Sasol Limited.
The event itself will be held at ABB South Africa's new green building at Longmeadow, Johannesburg, where the group has its head office, manufacturing and logistics centre in the country. This green building has raised green building technologies to a new level with use of solar power, greywater and ABB's products itself such as power factor correction, high-efficiency motors, a building management system and variable speed drives.
"Our Longmeadow commercial and industrial complex shows just what can be achieved in making buildings more energy-efficient and reducing impact on the environment," says Carlos Pone, CEO of ABB South Africa. "The event greening and carbon off set elements of Automation and Power World is an extension of our commitment to sustainability and reflects expectations from our customers who want to associate with a company that is sensitive to the environment."
Questionnaires and tools will be shortly made available to assist customers travelling to the event to report their carbon emissions.