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Stanford Board of Trustees issues a statement on climate change

In a statement, the Board of Trustees underlines Stanford’s commitment to battling climate change, highlights university initiatives to address it and responds to Fossil Free Stanford’s request to divest from the fossil fuel industry.

The trustees have concluded that Stanford’s endowment will not divest, based on a review of criteria in the university’s Statement on Investment Responsibility and input from the Advisory Panel on Investment Responsibility and Licensing. The trustees also announce a new climate task force that will solicit new ideas from across the Stanford community for addressing climate change.

Find out more about Stanford University’s new climate change policy.

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Locus Technologies introduces new calculation engine for GHG emissions inventories

The Locus GHG calculation engine is fully integrated with the dynamic Locus Platform and will automate emissions calculations for large enterprises.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 20 November 2015 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and sustainability management software, introduces an all-new calculation engine to its newest platform to redefine how companies organize, manage, and calculate their greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories. The Locus Platform offers a highly configurable, user-friendly interface to fully meet individual organizations’ environmental management needs.

With an increased focus on the role that GHG emissions play in climate change, ensuring that companies’ emissions are reported accurately is more important than ever. GHG emissions reports are coming under increased scrutiny from regulators, stakeholders, verifiers, and financial auditors. Choosing the right calculation engine plays a critical part in remaining compliant with these rapidly evolving requirements and regulations.

Locus GHG calculation engine eases compliance burdens for GHG tracking

GHG inventories may be the result of mandatory state, regional, or national reporting programs, such as California Air Resource Board (AB32), U.S. EPA Mandatory Reporting Rule, or European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). Organizations need a GHG calculation engine that can calculate GHGs automatically and accurately from all emission-producing activities at all of their facilities anywhere in the world. The new Locus calculation engine supports simultaneous calculations using multiple methods so that users can input data once and report to federal, state, and voluntary reporting programs according to each proper protocol.

“The requirements and procedures for GHG reporting are varied, complex, and rapidly evolving. To ensure compliance, companies need a calculation engine that can handle complex equations using appropriate emission factors, conversion factors, and calculation methodologies for each reporting program. The right calculation engine can reduce the stress, time, and potential inaccuracies found in home-grown accounting methods,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.

New GHG calculation engine removes reporting inaccuracies

As a leading accredited GHG verification company in California, Locus observed challenges that many companies experience with GHG inventory calculation, coupled with the gross inadequacy of tools previously available in the market. Informed by the verification of hundreds of inventories, Locus developed the new calculation engine.

“Besides spreadsheets, many calculation engines are proprietary to software vendors and are not transparent. For GHG calculations to pass audits and meet cap & trade requirements, transparency is absolutely required. Some of these ’black box‘ calculation tools have not been sufficiently stress-tested in the market and are generating errors that cause enterprises to fail their GHG verifications. Locus’ calculation engine addresses these deficiencies and capitalizes on the architecture of the highly scalable Locus platform. All calculations are viewable and traceable through the tool to the original data inputs,” said J. Wesley Hawthorne, Locus’ Senior Vice President of Operations and an accredited GHG verifier.

When evaluating carbon management software with built-in calculation engines, companies must ensure that users are able to define both the calculation rules and display of calculated data for the purpose of reporting to various regulators. By giving end users the power to view, analyze, and make changes to analytic model data, Locus helps companies emphasize the transparency of the process and ensure that calculations are correct and that the company meets all verification requirements.

“We listened to industry users and created a configurable calculation engine that is easy to use, dynamically driven, transparent, provides reproducible calculations, and is easy to verify. This calculation engine, along with the Locus Platform, will improve companies’ data collection, analysis, and most importantly, reporting capabilities,” added Duplan.

Locus will conduct live demonstrations of the Locus Platform and calculation engine at the Locus booth at the National Association for Environmental Management (NAEM) 2016 Sustainability Software and Data Management Conference from March 15-16, 2016 in Tampa, FL.

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Locus makes ENR TOP 200 Environmental Firms as the only EHS Software company

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Locus Recognized as a Top Environmental Firm in Silicon Valley

Read about the top environmental firms in Silicon Valley, ranked by the number of professionals in Silicon Valley. Learn more about their specialities, 2013 FY revenue and the number of employees each firm has locally and firm wide.

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California Kicks Off Cap-and-Trade Program to Auction Carbon Emission Credits

Locus Helps Companies Optimize Greenhouse Gas Reporting under AB 32

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 14 November 2012 — Today, California kicked off the first auction of their cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases under the California Air Resources Board (CARB) new cap-and-trade program. This is the first large-scale carbon market in the United States, and is expected to be the second largest carbon market in the world, after the European Union.

“Many may agree, especially with the buzz around climate change lately, that this cap-and-trade program is an attempt toward reaching an admirable goal of reducing California’s greenhouse gas emissions,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus Technologies. “However, Locus also recognizes the challenges that face businesses dealing with this auction, and stands at the ready to assist them in minimizing the costs of complying with the cap-and-trade regulation.”

Locus has been involved in the development of California’s carbon market from nearly the beginning.  Locus was one of the first accredited verification bodies for greenhouse gas emissions, and has years of expertise in reporting greenhouse gas data. Locus staff have also been certified as carbon offset verifiers under CARB.  From experience, Locus knows that participants in the cap-and-trade program have many options available to them in how they calculate and report their greenhouse gas data, and how they select those options can have significant effects on the financial impact of the cap-and-trade program. Some of Locus’ customers have saved thousands by making simple changes to their greenhouse gas reporting methods, as recommended by Locus’ technical experts or by using Locus’ Cloud-based GHG software.

The outcome of today’s auction will likely determine the future of greenhouse gas policy in the United States. California’s program already includes the concept of potential “linkage” with other carbon markets, which means that carbon credits could be transferred between other cap-and-trade programs. This essentially allows for expansion of this market to other states or jurisdictions outside the U.S.

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CPA Firm Issues SOC 2SM Report on Controls over Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy at Locus Technologies

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 24 September 2012 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in Cloud-computing enterprise software for environmental, energy, air, water, and compliance management,

A SOC 2SM report is designed to meet the needs of existing or potential customers  who need assurance about  the effectiveness of controls at Locus that are relevant to  the security, availability, or processing integrity of the system used by Locus to process customers’  information, or the confidentiality or privacy of that information. The SOC 2SM report places Locus in a rare category among environmental data management providers to have attained this rigorous classification. In today’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) and risk-management environment, it is essential that service providers like Locus demonstrate that they have adequate controls and safeguards in place so customers can be confident that their data are safe.

“We are pleased that our SOC 2SM report has shown that we have the appropriate controls in place to mitigate risks related to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy of customers’ environmental, energy, sustainability, and compliance data stored in Locus Cloud,” said Dr. Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus. “The culture here at Locus is to put our customers first at all times, and it is essential that they feel secure in trusting us with their data.”

The following principles and related criteria have been developed by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) for use by practitioners in the performance of trust services engagements:

  • Security. The system is protected against unauthorized access (both physical and logical).
  • Availability. The system is available for operation and use as committed or agreed.
  • Processing integrity. System processing is complete, accurate, timely and authorized.
  • Confidentiality. Information designated as confidential is protected as committed or agreed.
  • Privacy. Personal information is collected, used, retained, disclosed and destroyed in conformity with the commitments in the entity’s privacy notice and with criteria set forth in generally accepted privacy principles issued by the AICPA and CICA. 

A SOC 2SM report is an internal control report on the services provided by Locus to its customers and provides valuable information that existing and potential customers of the service organization need to assess and address the risks associated with an outsourced service.

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Locus Scores in Green Quadrant of Environmental Management Software Report

Locus’ Cloud-based Software Recognized for Deployment Capabilities

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 17 September 2012 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in Cloud-computing enterprise software for environmental, energy, air, water, and compliance management, has been recognized as one of 12 leading environmental management software suppliers globally in the report “Green Quadrant® Environmental Management Software, 2012.” This report by Verdantix, an independent analyst firm who provide data, analysis and advice in the areas of energy, environment and sustainability,  reveals that Locus offers a compelling feature/function set, and its large-scale deployments across industries respond to customers’ preferences for solutions that can match the expanding scale of their EH&S programs.

The Verdantix report recognizes Locus for having strong environmental management software capabilities, and awards it high scores for providing domain-specific and predefined environmental monitoring functionality. It recognizes Locus for providing easily configurable gateways for integration, strong target setting, benchmarking, and analytics tools; among a group of suppliers, the report recommends Locus’ suite of products and services for both firms that require a high level of integration, and firms that have mature strategies.

Thanks to Locus’ presence in the environmental management market for more than 10 years, boasting a solid customer base, and because Locus’ services are offered through the Cloud, its business model allows for flexible pricing models, quicker product updates to follow regulations, and faster deployment. In addition, the report notes that Locus has invested resources to develop specialized capabilities in waste and subsurface water-quality data management within its EIM software.

‘’In the past, implementing EH&S software has been driven by compliance and risk-reduction concerns. Our analysis uncovered a new desire among customers in sectors like chemicals and manufacturing to use software to improve environmental performance. This expands the business case beyond a narrow compliance mind-set,” said Emilie Beauchamp, Verdantix Industry Analyst. “Software suppliers now offer new capabilities to respond to firms’ ever-growing requirements to manage, report and optimize their environmental performance across greenhouse gases, hazardous waste, water, toxic releases, toxic chemicals, and refrigerants.’’

Locus ePortal addresses this need for broad-ranging environmental data management functionality. It provides full integration of energy and environment-related sustainability applications into environmental enterprise-resource planning (EERP). This platform for end-to-end energy and environmental sustainability management has been the core of Locus’ offering via the Cloud since 1999.

“We are very pleased that Verdantix has recognized Locus as one of the top suppliers of environmental management software,” said Dr. Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus. “The report recognized what long has been Locus’ strategy— shifting the agenda from that of a support and compliance process function up to a strategic and cost-reduction function for private and public-sector organizations. With our suite of diverse but well integrated products to organize water, energy, waste, and carbon emissions information across different regulatory frameworks, Locus will continue to lead the environmental software market,” noted Dr. Duplan.

“Forward-looking firms are already starting to deploy environmental management software on a global scale, but most multinationals have immature EH&S technology strategies. They manage their environmental data, systems, and processes through a patchwork of legacy apps, spreadsheets, and internally developed tools,’’ remarked David Metcalfe, CEO of Verdantix. “This Verdantix Green Quadrant product benchmark provides an independently researched, data-driven platform to help EH&S directors and CIOs accelerate and de-risk environmental management software selection.”

 

ABOUT VERDANTIX

Verdantix is an independent analyst firm. We provide authoritative data, analysis and advice to help our clients resolve their energy, environment and sustainability challenges. Through our global primary research and deep domain expertise we provide our clients with strategic advice, revenue generating services, best practice frameworks, industry connections and competitive advantage.

For further information, please visit www.verdantix.com.

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Locus Verifiers Accredited Under New California GHG Reporting Rule

Locus among the first to be accredited by California Air Resources Board

SAN FRANCISCO 19 April 2012 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in web-based environmental compliance and information management software, has been accredited by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to provide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions verification services. Locus is one of a select few companies to obtain this accreditation.

Locus has provided verification services since 2010 for dozens of reporting entities. Recent amendments to the CARB regulation have prompted the regulators to retest and recertify all verifiers to ensure thorough understanding of the new regulations. Locus verifiers passed the first round of re-certification, in which less than half of previously certified verifiers were re-certified. Locus verifiers were also re-approved to complete verifications under all three specialty sectors, including transactions, oil and gas, and process emissions. Locus is approved to begin the verification process immediately for the 2011 reporting year. Verification of that data is due 1 September 2012.

The GHG verification services cover facilities in California that are regulated by the California Air Resources Board. Locus is accredited as a verification body through CARB and has lead verifiers certified in all reporting sectors. While verification is a requirement this year through AB 32, companies are also using third-party verification to promote their brands and the accuracy of their emissions information.

“We are very pleased to receive this confirmation that our verification staff are among the top experts in the field of greenhouse gases. Locus continues to expand its carbon practice at a rapid pace. Coupled with our carbon software services and domain expertise in all three key AB 32 reporting sectors in California, Locus is becoming a partner of choice for all companies wishing to be credible in their carbon reporting practices,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.

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Locus Scored in Green Quadrant of Carbon and Energy Management Software Report

Locus’ Cloud-based Software High on Leading Analysts Lists

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 22 November 2010 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in web-based environmental compliance and information management software, has been recognized as one of the top 28 firms for greenhouse gas (GHG) and Energy Management software in the report, “Green Quadrant® Carbon and Energy Management Software, 2010.” This report by Verdantix, an independent analyst firm focused on sustainable business strategies and market opportunities, comes only weeks after Gartner, Inc., the leading provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry, in another study entitled “Sustainable Business Systems: Differentiating Sustainable Solutions by Functional Domain,” recognized Locus as a high growth, high foresight company whose software brings to its customers high enterprise efficiency and optimization intelligence. Gartner also recognized Locus’ focused analysis of key environmental parameters, including water foot-printing, and its incorporation of spatial data analysis in all of its SaaS solutions.

“Based on the insights from our customer panel and our in-depth interviews we define carbon and energy management software as: Software designed to help individuals responsible for carbon and energy management to collect, store, audit, report, analyze, and forecast carbon emissions and energy consumption data to meet business objectives such as planning, reduction, budgeting, compliance and trading,” said David Metcalfe, Verdantix Director. “The global market for carbon and energy software is intensely competitive — buyers choose from over 100 suppliers. To help buyers save time, save money and reduce risk in their selection process this Verdantix Green Quadrant report compares the 28 software applications that pre-qualify as a potential fit for $1 billion revenue firms. Our analysis is based on interviews with 15 buyers collectively representing firms with revenues of $260 billion, live demonstrations of the 28 applications and supplier responses to a 99 point questionnaire. Before jumping to conclusions about the best fit supplier, buyers need to conduct a detailed assessment of their business strategy, available budget and usage scenarios. Suppliers in the Challenger, Specialist and Entrepreneur Quadrants may meet requirements just as well as the Leaders,” added Mr. Metcalfe.

The Verdantix report recognized that Locus Technologies’ environmental compliance software has evolved into broader sustainable business software. The report states that Locus is one of only two firms in the Entrepreneurs Quadrant that claim more than 10 customers with more than $1 billion in revenue. The report further states that “the Entrepreneurs have more opportunity to win customers in the price-sensitive mid-market.” Overall, Locus scored strong in customer momentum, master data management and financial resources.

“We are very pleased that some of the leading industry analysts, first Gartner, and now Verdantix, have recognized Locus as a potential fit for $1 billion revenue firms in the sustainability, carbon and energy software space,” said Dr. Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus. “With our suite of diverse but well integrated products to organize water, energy, waste and carbon emissions information across different regulatory frameworks, Locus is well positioned to continue to lead the environmental software market. Locus has served this market exceptionally well since 1997, and maintains the leading position in many of its segments,” noted Dr. Duplan.

The environmental software market has become a multi-billion dollar industry with new players entering almost weekly. The current environmental software leaders in the Verdantix report include a mix of startups funded by venture capital and longtime software players from other arenas. According to Dr. Duplan, “Locus stands apart from this competition in terms of its long history and domain expertise. Since its founding 13 years ago, Locus has compiled a proven track record of delivering complex environmental information management and compliance solutions over the Internet to some of the world largest companies.” The company integrates a deep and versatile set of applications that not only manage GHGs but also provide management of other, mission-critical environmental data and information, such as water quality and resource consumption management.

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Locus Wins Over a Dozen New Greenhouse Gas Verification Contracts

Locus takes the lead in GHG verification services for California Air Resources Board

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., August 16, 2010 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in web-based environmental compliance and information management software, has been selected for over a dozen new greenhouse gases (GHG) verification services contracts.

The GHG verification services cover facilities in California that are regulated by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Locus is accredited as a verification body through CARB and has Lead Verifiers certified in all reporting sectors, including cement plants, refineries, and electrical transactions. As a part of these contracts, Locus Lead Verifiers will perform mandatory verification of CO2 emissions at selected California facilities. While verification is a requirement this year through AB32, companies are also using 3rd party verification to promote their brands and the accuracy of their emissions information.

The new GHG verification contracts include the following companies: Ameresco, Cardinal Cogen Inc., City of Oxnard, DG Fairhaven Power LLC. (owned by Marubeni Corporation), General Chemical, Lehigh Southwest Cement, Monterey Regional Waste Management District, Roseburg Forest Products, SRI International Cogen (operated and managed by International Power Technology Inc.), United Airlines, and US Pipe & Foundry. Several of the new awarded contracts cover multiple facilities.

“We are very pleased to have been selected by so many well-recognized firms for GHG verification services. Locus continues to expand its carbon practice at a rapid pace. Coupled with our carbon software services and domain expertise in all three key AB 32 reporting sectors in California including cement, refineries, and electrical transactions, Locus is becoming a partner of choice for all companies wishing to be credible in their carbon reporting needs.” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.