Supply Chain Feature
10 Ways to a Green and Profitable Business
Norfolk Southern has taken sustainability to the bank — you can too.
“Our attitude is that we can be green and we can be profitable doing it,” says Frank Brown, spokesman and a member of Norfolk Southern’s sustainability team. “Sometimes people will ask us what is our definition of sustainability, and it’s simply — where commerce and the environment can successfully intersect.”
The company’s focus on sustainability has been building over the years, and momentum is coming from all directions.
“There’s been tremendous interest by employees, by our customers and even by our people coming into the workforce,” says Brown. Sustainability is of personal importance to new employees, and they want to see the efforts the company is making.
Norfolk Southern sees being green as nothing less than a business tool and believes it still has a long way to go. Here are just a few steps they’re taking — ones your company may consider taking as well.
1 Establish environmental working groups
Norfolk made sustainability a corporate commitment. They created an environmental policy council and populated it with senior level officers. Brown adds, “We were the first railroad to appoint a corporate sustainability officer. So we’re proud of that — it’s a sign that we’re putting resources behind [sustainability].”
2 Listen and respond to employee ideas
All 30,000 Norfolk employees are encouraged to submit their green ideas — from the smallest daily task to an idea that could have global impact. And there is a dedicated e-mail address to collect those ideas on the company website.
3 Advertise sustainability
Norfolk was one of the first railroads to nationally advertise rail’s fuel efficiency and that it emits fewer emissions than other modes of transportation.
Norfolk’s television commercial is a humorous and poignant story about a family of fuel cans making a cross-country trek to meet a Norfolk Southern train that ultimately gives them the cold shoulder. (If you haven’t seen it, you can view it on their website.)
4 Think outside the box … wind generation
In late 2007, Norfolk installed a 50 kW wind turbine in Bellevue, Ohio. “It’s on an 80-foot tower, and we think that it will generate about 100,000 kW hours annually,” says Brown.
It’s the company’s first wind turbine and will be used to power a wastewater treatment plant at its yard. If this one proves successful, there may be more in the future.
5 Form public/private partnerships
“We are working with government agencies, at all levels, to find places whereby combining our resources we can improve the rail infrastructure in the U.S.,” says Brown. By doing so, he says, more freight can be moved by rail — a more environmentally friendly way to transport.
Norfolk has been successful in several public/private partnerships:
• CREATE (Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program) — This program will reduce congestion and pollution in the Chicago metropolitan area.
• Heartland Corridor — The route needed bigger tunnels to accommodate double stack cars, and Norfolk partnered with Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio to make it happen.
• Crescent Corridor — This route, which runs to New Orleans, needs to be upgraded. It’s a new project, and the Commonwealth of Virginia has already said it will contribute.
“These are major projects that will benefit our competitiveness and the competitiveness of the states we serve and of the U.S. economy,” says Brown.
6 Form government partnerships
Norfolks’ government partnerships vary in size. They have cooperated with state and other agencies, like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to protect endangered species. Norfolk also has worked with the EPA to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and it is the first railroad to be part of the S.E.E. Change Business Round Table. (S.E.E. Change is a major sustainable growth initiative that demonstrates how business and economic growth are compatible with strong commitments to society and the environment.)
7 Light up
A two-year project is underway to upgrade the lighting in all Norfolk offices, shops and yard facilities — hundreds of workplaces across the Eastern U.S. In the end, not only will employees be able to see better, but the company will save on energy costs.
8 Renew and reuse
Norfolk purchases 2.6 million wooden crossties annually. To prolong their lifespan, Norfolk now pretreats them with a borate solution prior to creosote treatment. The borate controls insects and fungi that attack wood and provides safe, affordable, long-lasting protection against wood-destroying pests. The pretreatment also reduces creosote use by nearly 200,000 gallons annually.
To keep the old crossties out of landfills, 50 percent are used as a fuel source for small co-generation power plants. The other 50 percent are recycled for use in landscaping.
9 Invest in technology
Technology ranges from the very small to the new “gen-set” locomotives. The new locomotives are expected to reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter by up to 80 percent and achieve a 40 percent reduction in fuel consumption.
10 Tools for customers — the Green Machine
The company is proud of its new Green Machine tool. If you’re a shipper who uses truck and/or railroads, you can type in how far you need to ship something by tonnage, and the tool will show you how to fine-tune the percentage of truck and rail needed to reduce your carbon footprint.
Again, these are just a few of the green business tools that Norfolk Southern has put to good use. And the company will continue to add more.
Brown says, “It’s not about just saving a tree. It’s how you can do intelligent, sustainable business.”
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