3 Ways to Incorporate Sustainability into

Everyday Work 

A look at global trends such as energy demand should remind leaders of businesses

small and large that what we do every day matters. The key to solving the world’s

pressing energy and environmental challenges is for organizations with the right

expertise — like the one I lead Ingersoll !and — to implement measurable climate"

change initiatives and take a vocal role within their industries.

#ast year during $limate %eek my company took the opportunity to publicly

announce a commitment to increase the energy e&ciency and reduce the

environmental impact of our operations and product portfolio. 'ur ($limate

$ommitment) is a pledge to achieve* a +,- reduction in the greenhouse gas

emissions related to the refrigerant in our products by ,, a /+,, million

investment in product"related research and development over the next 0ve years to

fund the long"term reduction of greenhouse"gas emissions and 1+- reduction in

the greenhouse"gas footprint of our own operations by ,,.

In 2ear 'ne we have avoided 3.+ million metric tons of (carbon dioxide e4uivalent)

gases 5$'e6 globally which is the e4uivalent of nearly +7,,,, tons of waste sent

to the land0ll. 8y ,1, we expect to reduce our carbon"footprint e4uivalent to the

energy used by 7.9 million homes.

%e were able to reduce the :;: footprint of our products and create more

sustainable product choices with the launch of our <co%ise portfolio of products

designed to lower environmental impact without performance tradeo=s.

%ith the end of $limate %eek ,3+ and to encourage other companies to make

similar bold commitments allow me to share what we’ve learned.

It starts with leadership support. <mbedding the values of your commitment into

every aspect of your organization re4uires strong leadership to uphold these values.

Asking our best thinkers to determine how we declare an environmental

commitment for our company and customers was invigorating but still re4uired a

 

culture change. 'ur board of directors enterprise leadership team and internal and

external advisory councils all have responsibility for sustainability governance and

participated in setting the direction of our $limate $ommitment.

>rom there the commitment was elevated to one of our company’s annual strategic

priorities and cascaded throughout the organization using our goal"deployment

process. This ensured all employees had a direct line of sight as to how their work

supported the overall commitment of the company. 'ne result* 'ur team of global

operations leaders seized the opportunity to retro0t facilities with new e4uipment

and processes that are energy and operationally e&cient. They also placed a focus

on emissions such as the reduction of the use of high"global"warming"potential

5:%?6 foam"blowing agents.

<mbrace your ecosystem. 8eing one of the 0rst to pioneer a commitment can be

overwhelming. Taking that leap though has opened doors for us to create a path

for customer conversations around solving business issues and accelerating the

pace of product innovation. %e’re working closely with refrigerant manufacturers

academic institutions and customers to develop test apply and educate users

about adoption of next"generation refrigerant options. To ensure our e=orts are

working in parallel with industry initiatives our teams are engaging with

policymakers non"government organizations media and other in@uencers in 8razil

$anada $hina India <urope apan the Bnited Arab <mirates and the Bnited

Ctates to discuss the adoption of next"generation technology.

<ngage your employees. ?aramount to achieving success is inspiring employees

and providing a variety of avenues to help them incorporate sustainable thinking

into their everyday work lives. %e found this to be true through the successes of our

:reen Teams a global employee network that works internally and partners with

community groups. >rom $harlotte Dorth $arolina to %uEiang $hina employees

come together on activities including riding bicycles to work instead of driving or

recycling and reusing materials versus creating unnecessary waste. <veryone is

encouraged to make a di=erence. #ast year our employee"sustainability initiatives

saved an estimated 7.F billion 8TBs of energy.

%e also made sustainability training meaningful to employees. 'ne example is our

Gesign for Custainability program for product managers and design engineers

which we developed with Bnderwriters #aboratories <nvironment. It helps

employees incorporate sustainability"related attributes into product design and use

assessment tools to identify sustainable product strategies in response to market

needs.

 

'ur experience is that when you encourage employees to form a personal

connection to sustainable thinking they are more eager to get involved in

sustainable actions within your company and o=ering opportunities for sustainable

education helps broaden the impact of those actions.

%hat’s nextH Cigni0cant global changes will take place over the next , years that

impact our daily lives. The growing population is proEected to increase world energy

demand by 1F- in ,1+ from current levels. These issues re4uire immediate

attention.

At Ingersoll !and we are looking ahead to the achievement of our ,,

sustainability targets which keep us focused on continuous improvement in the

areas of environmental impact and social responsibility and have the added bene0t

of improving customer relationships and productivity. In ,39 we will introduce new

products and services with improved energy performance and lower use of :%?

agents that are cost e=ective and exceed customer expectations. %e will convene

third parties and industry players. And we will diligently continue to measure and

reduce the carbon footprint of our own facilities and @eet.

 The route to transformation is pursuing an all"inclusive approach involving action

from government business research institutions and academia and the public at

large to do their parts. The key is to act now to create the culture change needed to

impact climate change. 8y taking a public stance and working with others

companies can create a path to a better world.

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