• Facilitator Jennifer Shepherd, Canyon Snow and Sustainable Silicon Valley
• Panelist Lori Duvall,Program Manager, Eco Responsibility, Sun Microsystems, with a corporate perspective
• Panelist Alex Sloan from Expansion Capital Partners with a VC's perspective
• Panelist Gail Slocum, Attorney with PG&E with a utility perspective

Definitions:

• There are few standards for concepts like 'sustainability' and 'eco-responsibility', which is both a challenge and an opportunity. If companies proactively define these concepts and align them with the business and financial objectives for the organization, particularly when they are just forming, it would be possible for them to better meet the triple bottom line - people, planet, profits - and do well while doing good.
• The 'clean energy' sector is so new and emerging that it encompasses many sectors. For example, categories may include (based on the categories for the upcoming AlwaysOn event) Solar Energy; Biofuel & Agriculture; Clean Energy (not solar or biofuel); Energy Storage Systems; Energy Management, Smart Grid & Energy Efficiency; Water Technology & Treatment; Green Materials, Green Buildings, Green Nano/Micro-Tech; Green Automobiles & Transportation; Clean Manufacturing & Clean Products; Resource Recovery & Waste Management.

• Define sustainability and eco-responsibility in alignment with your strategic vision.
• Get engagement/buy-in at all levels of the organization.
• Empower everyone to participate actively.
• Measure and communicate objectives, successes and results.
• Leverage your practices to support retention and recruitment efforts, and clear benefit to the bottom line.
• Manage your resources from a longer-term/life cycle perspective, not just the short-term, immediate costs and needs perspective.
• Leadership within and outside the organization is essential as it defines the company's culture, its brand, and direction.
• Identify current successful programs and support them. Examples are Sun's Open Work program, which allows employees flex time and streamlines office/building and other infrastructure expenses and Sun's thin client servers and server rebate programs. Although these programs may not have originally been sustainability/eco-responsibility programs, they are generating results in these areas, which are worth promoting and celebrating internally and communicating to other organizations.
• Be transparent in communication within and outside the organization.
• Share best practices - the open source philosophy, how can we learn from each other and help each other reduce our carbon footprints?
• Make money and grow, but also mind the values of the organization.
• Government policies affect social, eco sustainability practices, so get informed and involved!

• Think about the business drivers - how would organizations profit from sustainability practices?
• Think about the exits for the investors - an M&A? an IPO?
• Consider the demand side, where's the market, the money?
• How can a clean energy solution be more efficient, superior for target customers at a more attractive cost? (think of more efficient rather than something new)
• How can we reduce waste and toxicity in a cost effective way?
• How is being sensitive to our natural resources a business opportunity?
• How can the interest in what's clean and green and healthy help my business? What does that mean for my business projections?
• Focus on incremental improvements in specific areas, not on how your company can provide end-to-end services, which would be too broad, encompass too many steps, incorporate too much risk  (the 'switch grass to pump' problem).
• Avoid the sexy, momentum-only trends - don't jump on the bandwagon.
• Clean Energy is not a bubble. It is building on the existing technology infrastructure from semiconductors to networks. There will be a burgeoning needs for clean energy solutions.
• Government policies affect clean energy companies, so get informed and involved!

• See PG&E's programs on delivering clean energy solutions. http://www.pge.com/about_us/environment/features/clean_energy.html
• Attend the AlwaysOn GoingGreen Top 100 Competition, in the areas of: Solar Energy; Biofuel & Agriculture; Clean Energy (not solar or biofuel); Energy Storage Systems; Energy Management, Smart Grid & Energy Efficiency; Water Technology & Treatment; Green Materials, Green Buildings, Green Nano/Micro-Tech; Green Automobiles & Transportation; Clean Manufacturing & Clean Products; Resource Recovery & Waste Management.  Winners for the competition will be announced at the AlwaysOn Going Green Conference, to be held Sept 10-12 at UC Davis. Visit http://alwayson.goingon.com/permalink/post/6393 for more information.
• Attend the SBODN event, TAKE ACTION ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, scheduled for Friday, October 19 from 8:30 – 5 p.m. at Sun Microsystems Auditorium in Santa Clara, $165. http://www.sbodn.com/conference/2007/index.html