Ecology and Environment, Inc. Achieves 80-Percent Carbon Reduction at Net Cost Savings
| Source: Ecology & Environment, Inc.
LANCASTER, NY--(Marketwire - October 1, 2009) - Ecology and Environment, Inc. (NASDAQ : EEI )
announced today that it has achieved an 80-percent reduction in
annual carbon emissions associated with building energy use at its
global headquarters in Lancaster, N.Y. The company's achievement --
accomplished in just nine years -- is the result of a series of measures,
targeted toward not only infrastructure improvements but the direct
engagement of employees in energy efficiency, that have also netted
hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings.
"Climate change experts have been debating the crucial need for carbon
footprint reduction over the past 25 years, and are recommending an
83-percent reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050," said E &
E president and CEO Kevin Neumaier. "Based on our experience this goal is
not only achievable, but if done right will foster an economic gain.
Without enough data and real world examples, some fear that greenhouse gas
reduction initiatives will cripple the world economy. E & E's experience
over the past 9 years is that there is a path to meeting global targets,
and it provides great ROI."
E & E employed a variety of GHG reduction methods that contributed to this
achievement, including the development of GreenMeter® (greenmeter.com), a
"real-time" energy consumption tracking and management system designed to
identify energy efficiency opportunities. In addition to developing the
system, E & E installed a GreenMeter monitor in the lobby of its
headquarters, allowing both employees and visitors to readily view building
energy use data throughout the day.
"Actively engaging our employees in this effort was critical to our
success," said Neumaier. "We did everything from post reminders about
turning off unnecessary lighting and equipment, to implement an energy
efficiency program that showed documented results, through GreenMeter, of
how their conservation efforts were making a real and direct impact. This
not only kept the momentum going, it contributed to a long-term behavioral
and cultural shift among our employees. Our experience suggests that
organizations the world over stand to gain as we have when they address not
only the technical operations of their building, but the involvement of
their most important asset -- their people."
Built in 1986, the 64,000-square-foot headquarters building is the world's
oldest LEED® Platinum-certified structure under the U.S. Green Building
Council's LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) rating system. Thus, the
company's 80-percent GHG reduction accomplishment is magnified by the fact
that it began focused energy efficiency efforts in 1999 with a building
already achieving better-than-average energy efficiency. "This is not only
a testament to the fact that others can most certainly follow our lead, but
that further efforts can be made within even today's 'greenest' buildings."
To learn more about E & E's sustainability initiatives, visit www.ene.com
and download the company's recently published 2008
corporate sustainability report.
Headquartered in Lancaster, N.Y., Ecology and
Environment, Inc. has completed more than 45,000 projects for a wide
variety of clients in 84 countries, providing environmental solutions in
nearly every ecosystem on our planet. The company is listed on the NASDAQ
under the symbol EEI and is located on the web at www.ene.com.