681Eco-Efficiency: How Businesses Can Go Green and Increase Profits
posted on December 14th, 2009
Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was founded by Henry Kravis and his business partner George Roberts in the 1970’s with the support of the First Chicago Corporation. Recently they have set up a unique green enterprise that concentrates not solely on how much money they can produce, but in addition on how ecologically friendly each of the companies in their portfolio currently are.
When Henry Kravis from KKR and the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) joined forces last year environmental matters suddenly became a mainstream concern. The coalition wants to oppose some primary green matters, including toxic chemical use, depletion of the ozone layer, excessive consumption of water resources, and air pollution. To implement these goals, they utilize a procedure known as eco-efficiency; this makes use of concepts such as optimizing data centers for efficiency, fuel economy, and using clean energy. Regardless of the fact that the program was a huge success, managment just didn’t understand how important the effects truly were until Ken Mehlman, the man responsible for the program, examined the first year’s figures. Much to everyone’s surprise, Ken learned that the Green Portfolio Project not only cut back on the overall impact on the planet, but also increased the profits from all their companies besides. Well-nigh all of the businesses affiliated to Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman nowadays are actively engaged in eco-efficiency. Seeing that this portfolio of companies has a value of virtually 100.000,000,000 USD, you can imagine what a feat this really was.
The original Green Portfolio project now encompasses new enterprises. To illustrate, KKR linked up with the EDF’s Climate Corps Program a venture which teaches students taking an MBA how to design and introduce cost-effective, environmentally friendly techniques. KKR and Ken Mehlman have been developing a package of metrics that oversee various resources. With this information available, any business can evaluate each of their day-to-day activities and find out how any issues can be resolved while at the same time seeing their progress.
Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund have encouraged all sorts of businesses to become more ecologically friendly. Their innovations have simplified the process for businesses in every industry and demonstrated that running a profitable business need not entail the hefty price of negatively impacting our planet.
