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Ten major industries participate in Energy Star's Industrial Focuses to pool ideas and work toward energy efficiency improvements.

Industrial Focuses provide an opportunity for companies within each single manufacturing industry to network with peers and share industry-specific energy management tools and resources.

The goal of each industrial focus is to:

• Improve energy efficiency of the industry
• Create momentum for continued improvement
• Provide energy guides to uncover energy efficiency opportunities
• Encourage sharing of ideas
• Develop an energy performance indicator to evaluate the energy efficiency of their plants relative to the typical efficiency levels of their industry and to recognize the high performers with the ENERGY STAR label.

Industries that participate in Energy Star's Industrial Focus programs include:

• Cement Manufacturing
• Corn Refining
• Food Processing
• Glass Manufacturing
• Motor Vehicle Manufacturing
• Petrochemical Manufacturing
• Petroleum Industry
• Pharmaceuticals
• Pulp & Paper
• Steel

Green and sustainable business definitions are not yet settled. However, a number of industry sectors are quite well developed in the green and sustainable business process with well-defined certification programs in place.

A few of these are:

Organic Food and Crop Production: The federal Department of Agriculture has an "organic certification" program in place with inspectors, labeling guidelines, etc.

Alternative Vehicles: Again, the federal government and state governments do research on emissions, fuel efficiency, etc. and make these product evaluations available to the buying public.

Alternative Fuel: With the explosion of interest in alternative fuels, the field is changing rapidly. With various mixture levels of alternative fuels with traditional fuels, various raw material sourcing and various efficiency ratings, this field will probably be in flux for some time to come.

Energy: Residential and commercial equipment from refrigerators to computers are tested under a wide variety of programs, including Energy Star, Green-E, and various specific programs for windpower, solar heat and electricity...etc.

Forestry: The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certifies a chain-of-custody for wood sourced products from paper to plywood...and beyond. This is one of the most established programs that audits for grower practices, community impact, chemicals, sustainable farming practices...and sustainable business practices to the point of delivery to the consumer.

Other industry sectors that are developing programs include irrigation and water conservation, green hotels, green restaurants, green chemistry, even packaging and toys!

Check your industry trade association for their developing programs for conservation of natural resources, social responsibility, energy efficiency...etc.

Green Business Market

The green business market is both local...and global. With the massive population increases we are experiencing, we have a dual dilemna...how to support more people with less. Period. The average American consumes 20 times as much in natural resources as the average African and if all the people consumed at the level of high-income countries, the planet could support only 1.8 billion people, not the actual 6.5 billion. Like any movement, the green business movement started with a core of dedicated advocates and researchers who delved into what they saw were injustices, inadequacies and inaccuracies. These early businesses were traditional businesses with a few innovative products or services, as well as new kinds of businesses delivering new services or products in new ways. Organic food and gardening were instrumental in these early green businesses, as were water and energy conservation products such as water filters, solar water heaters...etc.

Every time we faced shortages of a particular resource...such as gasoline, or fresh food or affordable rent...new businesses have been pioneering new approaches.

Green and sustainable business definitions are not yet settled. However, a number of industry sectors are quite well developed in the green and sustainable business process with well-defined certification programs in place.

A few of these are:

Organic Food and Crop Production: The federal Department of Agriculture has an "organic certification" program in place with inspectors, labeling guidelines, etc.

Alternative Vehicles: Again, the federal government and state governments do research on emissions, fuel efficiency, etc. and make these product evaluations available to the buying public.

Alternative Fuel: With the explosion of interest in alternative fuels, the field is changing rapidly. With various mixture levels of alternative fuels with traditional fuels, various raw material sourcing and various efficiency ratings, this field will probably be in flux for some time to come.

Energy: Residential and commercial equipment from refrigerators to computers are tested under a wide variety of programs, including Energy Star, Green-E, and various specific programs for windpower, solar heat and electricity...etc.

Forestry: The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certifies a chain-of-custody for wood sourced products from paper to plywood...and beyond. This is one of the most established programs that audits for grower practices, community impact, chemicals, sustainable farming practices...and sustainable business practices to the point of delivery to the consumer.

Other industry sectors that are developing programs include irrigation and water conservation, green hotels, green restaurants, green chemistry, even packaging and toys!

Check your industry trade association for their developing programs for conservation of natural resources, social responsibility, energy efficiency...etc.

Green Business Market

The green business market is both local...and global. With the massive population increases we are experiencing, we have a dual dilemna...how to support more people with less. Period. The average American consumes 20 times as much in natural resources as the average African and if all the people consumed at the level of high-income countries, the planet could support only 1.8 billion people, not the actual 6.5 billion. Like any movement, the green business movement started with a core of dedicated advocates and researchers who delved into what they saw were injustices, inadequacies and inaccuracies. These early businesses were traditional businesses with a few innovative products or services, as well as new kinds of businesses delivering new services or products in new ways. Organic food and gardening were instrumental in these early green businesses, as were water and energy conservation products such as water filters, solar water heaters...etc.

Every time we faced shortages of a particular resource...such as gasoline, or fresh food or affordable rent...new businesses have been pioneering new approaches.