Free-market environmental management system having insured certification to a process standard

• US 7,401,036 B2
• Filed: 03/27/2001
• Issued: 07/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mark E. Vande Pol
• Original Assignee: Mark E. Vande Pol
• Inventors: Vande Pol, Mark E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Colbert; Ella
• Application Number:
  US09/819,159
• Publication Number:
  US 20030014342A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,667 Days
• Field of Search: 705/36, 705/36.R, 705/1, 705/35, 705/40
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 90/00 Systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial or supervisory purposes, not involving significant data processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/90 Financial instruments for climate change mitigation, e.g. environmental taxes, subsidies or financing

Abstract

Environmental regulation by government is structurally incapable of satisfying its mandate. The present invention is an alternative, free-market management system designed to deliver a superior product, at lower cost, with an insured guarantee, and without regulatory oversight by government. The system uses an insured, certified best-practice form of process certification that objectively accounts the financial value of ecosystem resources. The conduct of practice within the system accounts the price of assets at risk and characterizes their function by which to market them for their ability to offset the environmental impacts of industrial, commercial, and residential activities.

Claims

1. A method for developing a natural process asset management method as a risk-reduction service, means to produce a performing asset or assets capable of offsetting the destructive use of an asset or assets performing a similar service elsewhere, a source of certified data by which to quantify risk, or a method to be licensed by which to market a product or service, certified and warranted to meet performance specifications to a prospective second party:

a customer or customers in the free market, the steps comprising of;

(a) developing an experimental process for improving the condition of a natural process asset that deviates from an accepted standard process, meeting conformance specifications to deliver performance expectations, performed by a first party, the property owner or his agents;

(b) contracting for verification of the experiment and preparation of data collection performed by the first party with one or more persons constituting a third party, a certifying entity;

(c) contracting for indemnity covering consequential damages due to said experiment only, not including hazards of pre-existing conditions, performed by the first party with a fourth party;

one or more persons constituting the insurance function;

(d) indemnifying said third party, certifying entity, for risk of failing to perform step (b) performed by a party of the insurance function;

(e) conducting said experimental process performed by said property owner;

(f) validating accuracy of data from said experimental process performed by said property owner;

(g) validating that said experimental process was conducted according to said conformance specifications performed by said property owner;

(h) characterizing the performance of the asset with a mathematical model or other quantitative process description thus completing a performance specification with known tolerances or limits, performed by said property owner;

(i) verifying and certifying said data were properly validated, said experimental process was conducted according to said conformance specifications, that said quantitative process description is accurate, and that said experimental process achieved the expectations of said performance specifications within specified tolerances, performed by said certifying function;

(j) determining a financial cost of said experimental process for restoring said natural process asset, performed by said property owner;

(k) estimating extent and probability of damage to man-made assets and/or natural process assets resulting from a loss of said natural process assets, performed by said insurance function;

(1) using said financial costs of steps (j) and (k) to re-evaluate existing indemnities resulting from to failure to restore said natural process asset successfully, performed by said insurance function;

(m) defining a description of the functional boundary of each process unit, performed by said property owner;

(n) combining functional units into a scale and/or configuration sufficient to constitute an economically viable product or service, performed by said property owner or owners.