This past Saturday was Earth Day. This weekend´s news was also filled with reports about increasing gas prices and the certainty that they would continue to increase. The need to reduce energy consumption and find sustainable alternatives to energy generation is increasing in importance.  No longer is this only an environmental issue, it is also a very significant economic issue as price increases and concerns about future availability or accessibility to resources spurs growth in the energy and green building market in an unprecedented way. 

Over 30 years since the first earth day, we are seeing a number of innovative companies incorporating the principles of sustainable building design, waste and energy consumption reduction along with investment in the development of leading-edge products to capture new market opportunities.  The market for photovoltaic´s and wind energy generation is expanding.  Organizations are venturing into unfamiliar territory to develop new products to help us deal with realities facing us like increasing energy prices, competition for remaining oil supplies, and worldwide scarcity of water supply.  In the process, companies and consumers utilizing new technologies, processes and products are experiencing reductions in costs.  Product innovators are banking on a future market which can only continue to grow; the question is how the market will unfold.

Regardless of how future demand evolves, provided here are some examples of how companies are innovating to meet these expanding needs:

General Electric

http://ge.ecomagination.com/@v=03062006_1150@/index.html

bp

http://www.bp.com/subsection

Toyota

http://www.toyota.com/prius/index.html?s_van=GM_TN_HYBRID_PRIUS

Honda

http://corporate.honda.com/environment/report.aspx?id=2005

Husky

http://www.husky.ca/abouthusky/companyoverview/content-110-94.html

Advanced Micro Devices

http://www.amd.com/us-en/

Intel

http://www.intel.com/technology/eep/index.htm

For more information on companies incorporating the principles of sustainability in their work see:

The Dow Jones Sustainability Index

http://www.sustainability-indexes.com/ 

The results of a project between Corporate Knights Inc. with Innovest Strategic Value Advisors Inc. can be found at: 

http://www.global100.org/what.asp in the form of a list of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the world. 

In addition, organizations which suggest guidelines or standards related to sustainable practices are experiencing increased attention: 

The Leed ® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System provides information related to guidelines and standards.   Additional information can be found on the U.S. Green Building Council website. 

http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=1 

Not surprisingly, many of the companies that are developing innovative products or adopting forward-looking practices to reduce costs and meet the needs of emerging markets also embrace best practice human capital management practices.   For a discussion on this topic, see the archived HR.com Reality HR Interview with Bob Willard, author of "The Sustainability Advantage."

What are your thoughts on how these principles impact future competitiveness?