Is it cheating to call energy efficiency savings CSR?

Today, as I was cruising a number of my favorite CSR websites, I stumbled upon a March white paper outlining a list of "nine ways to reduce your supply-side energy costs." Authored by the clean tech software firm Verisae, the list contained a mixed of energy saving activities, many of which should seem intuitive to most companies.

To some extent, it is surprising to think that companies are not taking the time to find billing errors in their utility bills (tip #4), take advantage of any available rebates and incentives (tip #5), make sure they are being billed for energy use at the best available rate (tip #8), and take advantage of any special programs offered by their utility (tip #9). At the same time, an organization with a lean staff and limited resources can easily overlook the types of mistakes and opportunities which fall under the energy efficiency umbrella. In fact, as I am learning through the Carbon Disclosure Project Project, Justmeans is a perfect example, not having ever considered it a priority to consolidate all utility bill data in a single place (tip #1).

Verisae's white paper made me reflect upon a question that has been on my mind for some time. I have often wondered whether companies focusing on energy efficiency in their CSR reports are in some respect cheating. After all, the advantages of energy savings are so clear-cut that it should be a natural focus for all companies, big and small. At the same time, reality dictates that only those paying special attention to energy efficiency will fully take advantage of all the opportunities to minimize costs by reducing corporate energy consumption. Perhaps I judge too harshly!

To take the question a step further, is there really any problem with a company bragging about its energy savings? This is where the perennial greenwash debate comes into play. While we want to acknowledge, encourage, and reward companies investing in reducing their carbon footprints, we cannot permit a company to gain widespread recognition for a relatively obvious fix when it is shirking responsibility in some other material area. For example, a cosmetics manufacturer making beauty products that only barely meet minimum product safety standards should not be able to coast on energy efficiency savings while the effect of its products on consumers goes unaddressed.

As we all know, CSR is a poorly defined subject, which means that anything can go. Ultimately, in the age of social media and the internet, we may assume that companies moving beyond low-hanging fruit will gain the most recognition. But is this how things really work?

Photo credit: Tom Raftery