Doing your best to conserve energy can add value to your business’ bottom line. According to the EPA, if all US offices switched their imaging equipment to Energy Star qualified products, the US would save more than 15 million kWh and more than $1 billion dollars, or $0.09/sq ft. of office space. It would also prevent the emission of over 30 million pounds of greenhouse gases.

Many small and large companies are voluntarily developing clean energy and conservation tools to save costs while improving the environment. Here are some success stories. You can share your success story here.

Washington, DC-based Gridpoint Inc. designs and sells two types of "intelligent energy management appliances" that allow customers to track, store, and manage their energy use. Gridpoint's "protect" and "connect" units, which are the size of washing machines and retail for about $11,000 each, also provide rechargeable backup power for use during outages. The connect unit works with other renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power. Since going to market in January 2006, Gridpoint has signed on 100 customers, mostly residential, who can log on to a personalized online portal to monitor and manage their energy consumption. "If we're ever going to be serious about renewable energy in this country, we've got to be able to find a way to make it easier for people to use it without requiring specialized knowledge," says Michael Petrucelli, Gridpoint's vice president of government affairs and a member of the Chamber's Emerging Technologies Committee. Gridpoint is also working with utility companies to offer the units to their customers.