Beijing pursues "green olympics"

Beijing has applied a wide range of green technologies and clean energy in building venues and facilities for the upcoming Olympic Games, reports Xinhuanet.

These advanced technologies, including water recycling, rainwater utilisation, solar photovoltaic power generation, and reclaimed water source heat pumps, could help environmental protection while encouraging technology innovation, said Tan Xuxiang, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Planning Commission.

Altogether 26 innovations were achieved during the Olympic preparation period, he added.

Businesses are joining in on the "green" craze by implementing energy-efficient and environment-friendly technologies at their facilities, according to the San Bernadino Sun.

With support from San Bernardino County and the US Green Building Council, businesses can take advantage of making the transition from traditional energy sources to more efficient ones.

"In the past, incorporating sustainable features in buildings has always involved an incredible amount of cost," said Jim Strodtbeck, redevelopment director for Ontario. "As energy prices increase and as more and more corporations and businesses adopt sustainable policies, we see a demand for green features."

Accenture has introduced the Accenture Green Technology Suite, a set of tools designed to help an organisation assess its environmental standing, provide recommendations on how to address its carbon footprint by improving the way IT is managed, and support the entire organisation's green agenda, says Fox Business.

The new tools offer a holistic view across the entire IT organisation, providing everything from detailed assessments of where the enterprise sits within a green "maturity spectrum", to suggesting IT initiatives that can be undertaken to proactively address the company's future carbon footprint.

The tools also help calculate the impact of the specific initiatives in terms of workplace environmental efficiency and data-centre energy savings.