SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING STRATEGIES TO REDUCE THE CARBON OUTPUT AND OPERATING COSTS OF A WORKPLACE

• US 20090204916A1
• Filed: 06/24/2008
• Published: 08/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services GmbH (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Benedek, Zsolt, Wenegrat, Jacob O., Liang, Jonathan Wen jay
• Granted Patent: US 8,812,971 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/764
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0637 Strategic management or analysis, e.g. setting a goal or target of an organisation; Planning actions based on goals; Analysis or evaluation of effectiveness of goals
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/84 Greenhouse gas [GHG] management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/90 Financial instruments for climate change mitigation, e.g. environmental taxes, subsidies or financing

Abstract

A system is described for providing strategies to reduce the carbon output and operating cost of a workplace. The system may include a memory, interface, and processor. The memory may store an initial configuration of a workplace and workplace initiatives. The initial workplace configuration may include equipment and travel data items, and each workplace initiative may be associated with a data item and may provide a strategy for reducing the carbon output of the associated data item. The processor may receive the initial configuration from the user and provide workplace initiatives to the user. The processor may receive a selection of an initiative from the user. The processor may process the initial workplace configuration and selected initiative to determine a recommended configuration capable of reducing the carbon output of the data item associated with the selected initiative. The processor may provide the recommended configuration to the user.

Claims

1. A method for providing a user interface for determining a strategy for reducing the carbon output associated with the operation of a workplace, the method comprising:

providing a user interface to a user, the user interface capable of providing an output to the user and receiving an input from the user;

receiving an initial workplace configuration from a user via the user interface, wherein the initial workplace configuration comprises one or more data items, at least one of the data items comprising an equipment data item or a travel data item;

providing one or more workplace initiatives to the user via the user interface, each workplace initiative associated with one of the data items and providing a strategy for reducing a carbon output of the associated data item;

receiving a selection of a workplace initiative from the user via the user interface;

processing the initial workplace configuration and the selected workplace initiative to determine a recommended workplace configuration capable of reducing the carbon output of the data item associated with the selected workplace initiative; and

providing the recommended workplace configuration to the user via the user interface.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the workplace initiative comprises at least one of an equipment initiative, a travel initiative or a behavior initiative.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a selection of a workplace initiative from the user via the user interface further comprises receiving a reduction factor from the user via the user interface, the reduction factor indicating a portion of the data item associated with the selected workplace initiative to be affected by the selected workplace initiative.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a reduction value to the user via the user interface, wherein the reduction value represents a reduction attributable to an operation of a workplace configured with the recommended workplace configuration over a period of time compared with an operation of a workplace configured with the initial workplace configuration and adjusted for headcount growth over the period of time.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the reduction value comprises a carbon output reduction value.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the reduction value comprises at least one of an electricity cost reduction value, an operating cost reduction value, or a travel cost reduction value.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein the reduction value is provided to the user in a graphical form.

8. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

receiving a trend value from the user via the interface, the trend value indicating a future value of a variable associated with determining the reduction value; and

processing the initial workplace configuration, the selected workplace initiative, the trend value, and the recommended workplace configuration to determine the reduction value.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the trend value comprises an electricity cost.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing the user with an environmental comparison value via the user interface, the environmental comparison value indicating a change attributable to an operation of a workplace configured with the recommended workplace configuration over a period of time compared with an operation of a workplace configured with the initial workplace configuration over the period of time.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the environmental comparison value comprises at least one of a number of cars removed from the road or a number of acres of forest planted.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the user interface is accessible via a web browser.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the equipment data item comprises a description, a quantity, and a power consumption of each computer used in the workplace configuration.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the travel data item comprises an annual travel cost.

15. A method of determining a timeframe for achieving a return on investment of a strategy for reducing the carbon output of a workplace, the method comprising:

receiving an initial workplace configuration from a user;

determining a recommended workplace configuration, the recommended workplace configuration capable of producing a lower annual carbon output than the initial workplace configuration;

calculating a cost associated with implementing the recommended workplace configuration;

calculating a reduction in costs per year associated with operating a workplace configured with the recommended workplace instead of operating a workplace configured with the initial workplace configuration;

calculating a timeframe when the cost associated with implementing the recommended workplace technology configuration is exceeded by an aggregate of the reduction of costs per year over the timeframe; and

providing the timeframe and the recommended workplace configuration to the user.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising providing the timeframe and the recommended workplace configuration to the user via a web browser.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the recommended configuration comprises a description and a quantity of each computer used in the configuration.

18. A method for reducing the carbon output of a workplace by implementing behavior initiatives which incentivize workers to reduce their carbon output, the method comprising:

receiving a workplace configuration from a user wherein the workplace configuration describes a configuration of a workplace comprising of a plurality of workers;

determining a behavior initiative capable of reducing a carbon output associated with the workplace, wherein the behavior initiative describes an action to be performed by each worker;

notifying the plurality of workers of the action described by the behavior initiative;

determining whether each worker performed the action; and

providing an incentive to each worker if the worker performed the action, otherwise re-notifying the user of the action.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

generating a report indicating whether each worker performed the action; and

providing the report to the user.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein notifying the workers of the action described by the behavior initiative further comprises sending an email to each worker, the email comprising a notification of the action described by the behavior initiative.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the incentive comprises at least one of a gift certificate or a gift card.

22. A system for providing a strategy for reducing the carbon output of a workplace, the system comprising:

a memory to store an initial workplace configuration, the initial workplace configuration comprising of one or more data items, at least one of the data items comprising an equipment data item or a travel data item, and one or more workplace initiatives, each workplace initiative associated with one of the data items and providing a strategy for reducing a carbon output of the associated data item;

an interface operatively connected to the memory, the interface operative to communicate with a user; and

a processor operatively connected to the memory and the interface, the processor operative to receive the initial workplace configuration from the user via the interface, provide one or more workplace initiatives to the user via the interface, receive a selection of a workplace initiative from the user via the interface, process the initial workplace configuration and the selected workplace initiative to determine a recommended workplace configuration capable of reducing the carbon output of the data item associated with the selected initiative, and provide the recommended workplace configuration to the user via the interface.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the processor is further operative to provide a net present value of the selected initiative to the user via the interface.

24. The system of claim 22 wherein the equipment data item comprises a description, a quantity and a power consumption of each computer used in the workplace configuration.

25. The system of claim 22 wherein the processor is further operative to receive a trend value from the user via the interface, the trend value indicating a future value of a variable associated with determining a reduction value and to process the initial workplace configuration, the selected workplace initiative, the trend value, and the recommended workplace configuration to determine the reduction value.