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.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 8 July 2014 — As part of its environmental sustainability program, Grain Processing Corporation (GPC) has selected Locus Technologies’ (Locus’) software platform to manage a variety of environmental policies for two of its corn wet-milling facilities. GPC manufactures, distributes, and markets high quality, customer-specified food, pharmaceutical, and industrial grade products.
GPC will use Locus to identify, track, and respond to all environmental media affected by the operations of two of its facilities: one located in Muscatine, Iowa, and the other in Washington, Indiana. Both of these facilities have numerous air emission sources, wastewater treatment facilities, and both Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) requirements. With the assistance of Locus’ web-based software, GPC can manage all of its processes, such as tracking permit requirements and meeting recordkeeping and reporting deadlines, in one central, user-friendly platform.
“When we were searching for a software management system, we needed it to be able to manage all processes for our two facilities, with the expansion option of up to 20 additional locations with differing recordkeeping, schedules, and reporting needs,” said Mick Durham, Director of Environmental Services at GPC. “Locus met these specifications, and will allow us to manage our environmental data so that we can improve our environmental compliance and ensure that our company’s business practices remain sustainable in the long term.”
“Our recent success in deploying our software to several customers in food and agricultural industries proves its versatile nature: Locus’ software goes beyond mission-critical compliance activities and provides a system for broader sustainability and resource management that ultimately leads to operating cost reduction,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus Technologies. “Locus provides a simple, integrated system, similar to ERP that manages all environmental, energy, water, and other sustainability needs under a single portal infrastructure and single sign-on online.”
ABOUT GRAIN PROCESSING CORPORATION
Founded in 1943, GPC is a privately owned company with a solid history of innovation and a vision for continued success in the future. Its mission is to manufacture, distribute and market customer-specified food, pharmaceutical and industrial-grade products of uncompromising quality. GPC’s substantial investment in the finest people, facilities, technology and customer support services reflects the seriousness of that commitment to quality. For more information about Grain Processing Corporation, visit www.grainprocessing.com.
In 1989, 25 years before the technologically advanced world we currently live in, Locus’ founding members were busy publishing an article about the challenges of managing massive amounts of data produced from testing and long-term monitoring at hazardous waste sites.
The article, “Hazardous Data Explosion“, published in the December 1989 issue of the ASCE Civil Engineering Magazine was among the first of its kind to discuss these issues within the environmental space, and placed Locus securely at the forefront of the big data craze. This article was followed by a sequel article, titled “Taming Environmental Data“, published in 1992 in the same magazine.
Today, the term ‘big data’ has become a staple across various industries to describe the enormity and complexity of data sets that need to be captured, stored, analyzed, visualized and reported. Although the concept may have gained public popularity fairly recently, big data has been a formidable opponent for decades.
“It seems unavoidable that new or improved automated data processing techniques will be needed as the hazardous waste industry evolves. Automation can provide tools that help shorten the time it takes to obtain specific test results, extract the most significant finds, produce reports and display information graphically,” Buckle and Duplan stated.
They also claimed that “expert systems” and artificial intelligence (AI) could be a possible solution—technology that has been a long time coming but still has a promising future when dealing with big data. “Currently used in other technical fields, expert systems employ methods of artificial intelligence for interpreting and processing large bodies of information,” the authors explained.
For more information on AI, see the CBS 60 Minutes episode titled “Artificial Intelligence, Real-Life Applications” from 9 October 2016.
Almost 30 years later, cloud technologies combined with other advancements in big data processing are rising to the challenge of successfully processing and analyzing big environmental and sustainability data.
Access the entire 1989 article “Hazardous Data Explosion” here.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 27 May 2014 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and information management software, announced today that Exelon Nuclear is using Locus’ EIM and ePortal software at its nuclear generating stations and expanding this year to additional sites.
Exelon Nuclear is a business unit of Exelon Generation, which is one of the largest competitive U.S. power generators, with approximately 34,700 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company has made a long-standing commitment to the environment and in 2013 two separate global authorities on corporate sustainability—the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and CDP—recognized Exelon for its sustainability performance and climate change performance and reporting. Exelon is the only U.S. utility on CDP Global Indexes for Climate Performance and Disclosure.
Locus systems have been fully implemented to collect, manage, and organize environmental information at Exelon’s and their subsidiaries’ nuclear power stations.
“With the increased focus on nuclear power safety, and the decommissioning of older-generation power plants, we are proud that Exelon has chosen our cloud-based software to manage its operational data, which are subject to a different set of regulatory requirements from those typically seen at other sites. This award validates Locus’ long-term commitment to helping the utility industry improve sustainability performance at all levels,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.
“At Exelon, our commitment to the environment is integral to our customers and corporate strategy. Since its inception, Exelon has focused on the business value of reducing its impact on the environment, better meeting the needs of our customers, employees and the communities we serve,” said Francis Leone, Chemistry, Radwaste, and Environmental Manager for Exelon Nuclear. “We selected Locus as a strategic technology partner because of its advanced domain expertise, scalable cloud-based technology, comprehensive vision of centralized analytics of environmental management systems, and deep understanding of the nuclear industry. We are very pleased that we now have complete ownership of and easy access to our data, allowing us to continue operating our fleet in a transparent way so that the company and public can witness first-hand our commitment to long-term sustainability.”
Locus has been collaborating with the Electric Power Research Institute and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) over the last several years to develop and implement advanced information management systems at nuclear power plant sites and weapon complexes and is the leading provider of environmental and radionuclides information management in this important industry.
Exelon Nuclear will use Locus EIM and ePortal software to improve its data gathering and management, monitoring and reporting at its nuclear sites. Locus’ web-based software EIM is specifically designed to manage data from these types of operations, and provides an unmatched level of data security. The software will also help Exelon enforce an extensive set of QA/QC requirements on all uploaded data. The system helps reporting entities enforce data quality in accordance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or other standards, such as NQA-1, and ANSI/ISO/ASQ Q 9001:2000, and to validate incoming analytical data.
ABOUT EXELON
Exelon Corporation is the nation’s leading competitive energy provider, with approximately $24.9 billion in annual revenues. The Exelon family of companies participates in every stage of the energy business, from generation to competitive energy sales to transmission to delivery. Headquartered in Chicago, Exelon has operations and business activities in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Exelon is one of the largest competitive U.S. power generators, with approximately 34,700 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company’s Constellation business unit provides energy products and services to approximately 100,000 business and public sector customers and approximately 1 million residential customers. Exelon’s utilities deliver electricity and natural gas to more than 7.8 million customers in central Maryland (BGE), northern Illinois (ComEd) and southeastern Pennsylvania (PECO).
Exelon Nuclear will use Locus Technologies’ EIM and ePortal software to improve its data gathering and management, monitoring and reporting at its nuclear sites, the cloud-based environmental compliance and information management software company says.
The use of Locus’ cloud-based, environmental software confirms Exelon’s commitment to environmental stewardship
Originally Posted on Environmental Leader
SAN FRANCISCO, California —May 27, 2014 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and information management software, announced today that Exelon Nuclear is using Locus’ EIM and ePortal software at its nuclear generating stations and expanding this year to additional sites.
Exelon Nuclear is a business unit of Exelon Generation, which is one of the largest competitive U.S. power generators, with approximately 34,700 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company has made a long-standing commitment to the environment and in 2013 two separate global authorities on corporate sustainability—the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and CDP—recognized Exelon for its sustainability performance and climate change performance and reporting. Exelon is the only U.S. utility on CDP Global Indexes for Climate Performance and Disclosure.
Locus systems have been fully implemented to collect, manage, and organize environmental information at Exelon’s and their subsidiaries nuclear power stations.
“With the increased focus on nuclear power safety, and the decommissioning of older-generation power plants, we are proud that Exelon has chosen our cloud-based software to manage its operational data, which are subject to a different set of regulatory requirements from those typically seen at other sites. This award validates Locus’ long-term commitment to helping the utility industry improve sustainability performance at all levels,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.
“At Exelon, our commitment to the environment is integral to our customers and corporate strategy. Since its inception, Exelon has focused on the business value of reducing its impact on the environment, better meeting the needs of our customers, employees and the communities we serve,” said Francis Leone, Chemistry, Radwaste, and Environmental Manager for Exelon Nuclear. “We selected Locus as a strategic technology partner because of its advanced domain expertise, scalable cloud-based technology, comprehensive vision of centralized analytics of environmental management systems, and deep understanding of the nuclear industry. We are very pleased that we now have complete ownership of and easy access to our data, allowing us to continue operating our fleet in a transparent way so that the company and public can witness first-hand our commitment to long-term sustainability.”
Locus has been collaborating with the Electric Power Research Institute and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) over the last several years to develop and implement advanced information management systems at nuclear power plant sites and weapon complexes and is the leading provider of environmental and radionuclides information management in this important industry.
Exelon Nuclear will use Locus EIM and ePortal software to improve its data gathering and management, monitoring and reporting at its nuclear sites. Locus’ web-based software EIM is specifically designed to manage data from these types of operations, and provides an unmatched level of data security. The software will also help Exelon enforce an extensive set of QA/QC requirements on all uploaded data. The system helps reporting entities enforce data quality in accordance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or other standards, such as NQA-1, and ANSI/ISO/ASQ Q 9001:2000, and to validate incoming analytical data.
About Exelon
Exelon Corporation is the nation’s leading competitive energy provider, with approximately $24.9 billion in annual revenues. The Exelon family of companies participates in every stage of the energy business, from generation to competitive energy sales to transmission to delivery. Headquartered in Chicago, Exelon has operations and business activities in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Exelon is one of the largest competitive U.S. power generators, with approximately 34,700 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company’s Constellation business unit provides energy products and services to approximately 100,000 business and public sector customers and approximately 1 million residential customers. Exelon’s utilities deliver electricity and natural gas to more than 7.8 million customers in central Maryland (BGE), northern Illinois (ComEd) and southeastern Pennsylvania (PECO).
The recently produced study, known as the National Climate Assessment, has found that the effects of human-induced climate change are being felt across the United States. The involved scientists found that an average warming of less than two degrees Fahrenheit over most areas of the country in the last century has resulted in a decrease in water in dry regions, an increase in torrential rains in wet regions, and an escalation in more severe droughts and wildfires.
The study was supervised and approved by a large committee representing a cross section of American society, and is the third national report of its kind in 14 years. “Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present,” the scientists stated in the new report.
The National Climate Assessment was released by the White House in hopes to increase the sense of urgency among Americans about climate change, and strengthen the support behind the new climate change regulation that President Obama plans to issue next month.
In an interview following the release of the report President Obama declared “This is not some distant problem of the future. This is a problem that is affecting Americans right now. Whether it means increased flooding, greater vulnerability to drought, more severe wild fires—all these things are having an impact on Americans as we speak.”
The report stated that although many U.S. states and cities had begun to take steps toward limiting their emissions, these efforts were not yet enough. “There is mounting evidence that harm to the nation will increase substantially in the future unless global emissions of heat-trapping gases are greatly reduced,” the report warned.
An important element in addressing climate change will be collecting, aggregating and reporting emission sources data so that credible information can be generated to tackle the problem at its source—emissions. The good news is that technologies for dealing with this planetary challenge exist and start with big data management and cloud computing. As the old business adage goes, what is important must be measured, and what’s important enough to be measured must also be managed.
Locus Technologies has expanded its environmental information management (EIM) software to automate the generation of self-monitoring report forms (SMRFs).
Locus’ EIM Software Automates the Generation of SMRFs for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ)
Originally Posted on Environmental Leader
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – In response to industry and customer requirements, Locus Technologies (Locus), the leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and information management software, has expanded its award-winning Environmental Information Management (EIM) software to automate the generation of Self-Monitoring Report Forms (SMRFs).
Locus EIM solves the problem of expensive, labor-intensive manual SMRF generation by completely automating the process. SMRFs are required by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, and are meant to meet the monitoring and reporting requirements as set forth by each facility’s Aquifer Protection Permit (APP) or Reuse Permit. An example form may include data such as sample date, analysis date, lab ID, reported concentration or method, and can incorporate other extremely specific information.
Thanks to Locus’ new functionality, once arranged in EIM, companies can generate SMRFs within minutes in the approved formats, using validated data. Companies can set up EIM for all permitted facilities and realize immediate cost and time savings during each reporting period. Relevant data are directly uploaded to the system, reviewed and validated, then reported in the proper regulatory required formats. These new output formats can be easily modified to generate the exact format needed by other cities that are required to submit similar self-monitoring report forms.
“Incorporating the automatic generation of SMRFs within our EIM software is a testament to the true flexibility of Locus’ software platforms,” said Neno Duplan, President & CEO of Locus Technologies. “It is our goal here at Locus to automate reporting by providing as many off-the-shelf standard reports as possible. SMRF reports are just one of many examples. By automating reporting our customers streamline their management processes, so that they increase operational efficiencies and lower reporting costs.”
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 22 April 2014 — In response to industry and customer requirements, Locus Technologies (Locus), the leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and information management software, has expanded its award-winning Environmental Information Management (EIM) software to automate the generation of Self-Monitoring Report Forms (SMRFs).
Locus EIM solves the problem of expensive, labor-intensive manual SMRF generation by completely automating the process. SMRFs are required by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, and are meant to meet the monitoring and reporting requirements as set forth by each facility’s Aquifer Protection Permit (APP) or Reuse Permit. An example form may include data such as sample date, analysis date, lab ID, reported concentration or method, and can incorporate other extremely specific information.
Thanks to Locus’ new functionality, once arranged in EIM, companies can generate SMRFs within minutes in the approved formats, using validated data. Companies can set up EIM for all permitted facilities and realize immediate cost and time savings during each reporting period. Relevant data are directly uploaded to the system, reviewed and validated, then reported in the proper regulatory required formats. These new output formats can be easily modified to generate the exact format needed by other cities that are required to submit similar self-monitoring report forms.
“Incorporating the automatic generation of SMRFs within our EIM software is a testament to the true flexibility of Locus’ software platforms,” said Neno Duplan, President & CEO of Locus Technologies. “It is our goal here at Locus to automate reporting by providing as many off-the-shelf standard reports as possible. SMRF reports are just one of many examples. By automating reporting our customers streamline their management processes, so that they increase operational efficiencies and lower reporting costs.”
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 17 April 2014 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and information management software, has been recognized as one of the top 13 global environmental health and safety (EH&S) management software suppliers in the report “Green Quadrant® EH&S Software, April 2014.” 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 lower cost, user-configurable Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that meets the needs of multiple industries by allowing for the incorporation of firm-specific functionality.
“The new platform, recently released by Locus Technologies, is designed to put power in the hands of users,” said Jordan Nadian, Verdantix Analyst. “This reflects broader trends in software development, where non-technical business analysts get to design small-scale apps. It also reflects a product strategy designed to side-step the significant costs and risks of developing detailed feature sets for industry-specific processes.”
The Verdantix report also acknowledges Locus for its strengths in data capture, data security, hazardous waste management and water and waste water quality management. Locus’ software reflects its more than 17 years of experience in the market and incorporated feedback from its impressive customer list. A major differentiator for Locus is that the company is a passionate advocate of single instance, multi-tenant architecture. “The supplier has developed an architecture which successfully separates the technology platform (workflow tools, master data management, integration, etc.) from specific EH&S business processes such as air emissions management or chemical inventories,” said Nadian.
The report recognizes a widespread movement toward offering integrated EH&S solutions as hosted software services. It acknowledges significant challenges with the implementation and maintenance of older and disconnected software applications installed on customers’ infrastructures. While there was no separation between true SaaS and traditional on-premises software providers in the report, Locus was identified as one of the top three leading SaaS vendors.
“With new regulations, risks, and business improvement opportunities arising so frequently today, companies’ EH&S management and reporting requirements are constantly expanding,” said Neno Duplan, President & CEO of Locus. “At Locus, we strive to offer our customers a cost-effective, integrated software platform that can mold to fit their business-specific processes now, and evolve along with their changing needs in the future.”
EH&S domain content in the Locus SaaS platform is configurable by business analysts or domain experts with no underlying code change and is not hard-coded for any specific solution. The separation of domain from software framework makes it easy for Locus customers to enjoy the rolling upgrade program without incurring costly upgrades associated with traditional on-premises software installations. Locus’ framework is coded to render and process configuration at runtime, and supports any domain and customer-specific content. The platform is fully wizard-driven via a graphical configuration workbench.
ABOUT VERDANTIX
Verdantix is an independent analyst firm, providing authoritative data, analysis and advice to help clients resolve their energy, environment and sustainability challenges. Through global primary research and deep domain expertise, they provide clients with strategic advice, revenue generating services, best practice frameworks, industry connections and competitive advantage.
For further information, please visit www.verdantix.com.
Despite impressive growth of environmental and sustainability management industry, some troubling trends persist within the industry.
Most notably is the industry’s failure to embrace the information management cloud revolution.
Not adopting the latest technologies for storing, distributing, and managing information increases costs and delays the implementation of cost-saving resource management initiatives and management of climate change information, which are necessary to better understand the causes of climate change phenomena.
The way companies with environmental liabilities manage and store their environmental information and data stands in marked contrast to the model they have adopted for all their other key data.
Historically, companies have used narrowly focused applications built on spreadsheets and client/server databases to serve the complex software requirements of this market. Today’s landscape of available technology options has consolidated; new and better options exist.
While planned IT spending on environmental software is rising, organizations are still struggling to identify software that can scale. They are also looking for service providers that can support environmental information management in the manner to which they’ve become accustomed with other enterprise initiatives and enterprise software, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and supply chain management (SCM).
Why is this the case?
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Locus Technologies provides cloud-based environmental software and mobile solutions for EHS, sustainability management, GHG reporting, water quality management, risk management, and analytical, geologic, and ecologic environmental data management.