Showing local businesses how to reduce their carbon footprint

Sustainable Hamilton Burlington and the City of Hamilton are trying to get businesses thinking about how they can reduce their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

The two organizations commissioned an online data visualization tool called BEEP (Business Energy and Emissions Profile), which launched last week.

“The BEEP program helps to inform our local businesses about their energy and greenhouse gas emissions and is part of the broader Community Climate Action Plan to help ensure the community reaches its GHG emission targets,” Brian Montgomery, air quality and climate change co-ordinator at the city, said in a media release.

The tool showcases emissions estimates for businesses based on information provided by British Columbia-based social enterprise Climate Smart, which has developed average greenhouse gas emissions based on the type of business and number of employees, combined with Statistics Canada’s business registration data.

“Our ultimate goal is to help our local business community be ready to thrive … in a new lowercarbon economy,” said Sustainable Hamilton Burlington president and founder Sandi Stride. “It provides all sorts of opportunities for the business to look at ways to be more efficient, reducing their cost, driving innovation — and those are just some of the business benefits.”

Stride said she sees the tool as particularly useful to demonstrate to small and medium-sized businesses, which can be hard to reach, about the magnitude of greenhouse gas emissions and the opportunities for them to address the issue.

“We’re hoping that by sitting down with a business, for example, and taking them through this and showing them what typical emissions are for their sector, then we’ll say to them, ‘Do you know how you compare with this?’” Stride said. “Well, let’s help you actually measure and help you figure out how you can reduce your emissions.”

When it comes to the economy and the environment, she added, “We’re really trying to get the word out that they go hand-inhand.

“By addressing issues like climate change, you are going to be more successful.

“There are huge business opportunities through the green economy, and by even with traditional businesses adapting to climate change, it drives innovation and so forth.”

For more information, visit sustainablehamiltonburlington.ca.