Why are businesses more interested in going green while individuals have become less so over the past two years? We’d say it all boils down to money.

While greener lifestyles tend to raise consumers’ costs at places like the grocery shop (think fair-trade, shade-grown organic coffee vs. Maxwell House or Folgers), greener business can help save money. Which explains why organisations are still pursuing environmental initiatives even in today’s rough economy.

That’s what new research conducted by Loudhouse on behalf of Kyocera has found.

Bad news first: the survey found the percentage of UK employees who said they were personally concerned about environmental issues fell from a peak of 77 per cent in 2008 to 63 per cent in 2010. On the issue of climate change, the figures were even starker, with concern down to 50 per cent from 65 per cent in 2008.

For business organisations, however, the economic downturn appears to have had little negative effect on environmental initiatives, with 25 per cent of respondents stating they had actually carried out more environmental activities than originally planned as a result of a focus on reducing energy costs.

Employees said they’ve also found it easier to get environmental policies onto the IT planning agenda in 2010 compared with 2008, with 41 per cent finding support from management easier to achieve. Furthermore, 65 per cent of IT managers confirmed they are now required to report on the energy performance of their networks, although only 49 per cent had actually conducted an energy audit.

Cost reduction remains the primary driver in IT investment for the majority of organisations. However, environmental considerations are considered “important” in 35 per cent of businesses. That points to a strong alignment between cost-saving and energy-saving initiatives over the past 18 months.

“It’s clear that individual office workers are suffering an element of ‘green fatigue’ when it comes to personal environmental concern,” said Tracey Rawling Church, Kyocera’s director of brand and reputation. “What is more encouraging is the increase in environmental activity being initiated from the corporate level. Undoubtedly in larger organisations this is being driven by legislative requirements such as the CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment) energy efficiency scheme. High environmental reporting requirements on IT networks encourage those responsible to prioritise investment in energy-efficient technology and as such are a positive sign.”

Document imaging company Kyocera and the consultancy Loudhouse have conducted similar research in three of the last four years.

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