Commute Greener recognised under ‘Sustainability Innovation Award for Energy Management Tools’
INDIACSR News Network
BANGALORE: Volvo India Pvt. Ltd. has received the Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Award for 2012under the category ‘Sustainability Innovation Award for Energy Management Tools’for its initiative ‘Commute Greener’ which guides individuals and companies towards greener commuting. The awardswere presented at the recently held Annual Summit of the Sustainable Business Leadership Forum, India’s first market development forum on Sustainability and Innovation, in New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr.A.M.Muralidharan – President, Volvo Construction Equipment said, “We are pleased to accept the coveted Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Award for our Commute Greener initiative. The initiative has not just created environmental awareness among the employees but also led to a change in their attitudes. Employees now understand the impact of their commuting choice on the environment and have started making efforts to lessen this impact.”
“Since implementing Commute Greener, we have been successful in getting down the use of two wheelers to 53% and large cars to 8% within the Volvo and Tarang employees. On the other hand, the use of small cars and buses has gone up to 18% and 13% respectively. In due course we would like to extend this initiative to other companies and individuals as well,” he further added.
Commute Greener has been designed by Volvo IT to help reduce congestion, save time and money, improve health and contribute to eco-sustainability. It was launched in March 2012 and involves more than 2,300 employees from across Volvo Group companies in India and Tarang Software Technologiesout of Bangalore.Through this project employees have been able to save over 6,000 kg of carbon dioxide. Additionally there have been large savings in money, improvements in health and conservation of time since usage of some 300 buses replaced more than 16,000 cars that caused congestion in traffic.
The energy management tools that are available within Commute Greener helps set measurable targets, allows users to track and share progress. It also aims to affect lasting behavioral changes within the community. The reporting capabilities of the tool can be utilized in annual reports, sustainability reporting and environmental management systems or certifications.
Commute Greener has till date created an impact to the tune of:
260,000 public transportation kms being registered – equivalent of easing congestion thanks to using 325 buses instead of 16,250 cars
Saving of more than 200 trees – equivalent of a saving a large part of Bangalore’s famous Lalbagh
12% reduction in CO2 against 7% target with some teams reducing more than 30% – more than 3 tons of CO2 havealready been saved
37,000 Zero Emission Km’s registered-almost equal to going around the globe
The Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards is instituted by Sustainability Outlook, a platform to uncover and recognize progressive corporates, service providers, and individuals whose efforts serve as catalyst for advancing sustainability in India. Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards recognize and showcase companies that have used innovation for making their products, processes, facilities and operations sustainable.
The award winners were chosen after a rigorous three-step review and the finalists were judged by an eminent seven-member jury headed by Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India. Other jury members included Stuart L. Hart, S.C. Johnson Chair of Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell University, Bakul R. Patel, Board Director, Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC), Rita Menon, Chairperson -cum-Managing Director, India Trade Promotion Organisation, Dr. Uddesh Kohli, Chairman Emeritus – Construction Industry Development Council and Senior Advisor to the UN Global Compact, K.C. Mehra, Resident Director (Corporate), Shapoorji Pallonji Group and Bazmi Husain, Managing Director, ABB India.
Sustainability Outlook
Sustainability Outlook is a market access, insight and collaboration platform tracking actions related towards Sustainability in the Indian economy. It proactively promotes dialogue and collates data to enable action by local, regional as well as global practitioners. Sustainability Outlook provides (a) in-depth business and policy analyses (b) updates on the market participants and latest trends on sustainability initiatives and (c) expert inputs on resource reduction and other abatement as well as adaptation measures being undertaken. Sustainability Outlook aims to be the bridge for shaping change in this thought process and spur innovation.
Volvo India Pvt. Ltd.
Volvo India Private Limited was established in India in 1998 and is one of the three legal entities of the Volvo Group in India. As a joint company, Volvo India Pvt. Ltd. is an umbrella organisation for the Volvo Group in India and encompasses business areas, operational units and Volvo Group functions such as Volvo Construction Equipment, Volvo Penta, Global Trucks Operations, Global Trucks Technology, Finance and Business Support, and Asia Trucks Organisation.
