2011 Mini-Conference of the POMS College of Sustainable Operations

The 2011 Mini-Conference of the POMS College of Sustainable Operations was held at the Peppermill Hotel in Reno, NV, on Thursday April 28, 2011, and focused on carbon footprint. It was co-chaired by Atalay Atasu (Georgia Tech), and Edgar Blanco (MIT).

The Mini-Conference commenced with Laura Draucker’s presentation about the Greenhouse Gas Protocol standards. She elaborated on the process, merits and challenges of the recently developed two standards: Scope 3 (Value Chain Accounting and Reporting Standard) and Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard. Sujeesh Krishnan talked about the evolving product carbon footprinting space from the perspective of what it is, why it is important, what the emerging methodologies are, and what the Carbon Trust is doing in this space. Through a few case studies, his presentation also emphasized that product carbon footprint can drive changes in market behavior. Buddy Polovick talked about the EPA’s SmartWay program, a program that promotes environmentally cleaner and more fuel efficient transportation options through among others, R&D and product labeling. His presentation focused on benefits of the SmartWay and how the partnership works among the stakeholders in the traffic sector. Leonardo Bonanni’s presentation introduced Sourcemap.org, which is a social network platform for mapping and sharing supply chains to inform sustainable choices. He explained how the social network platform can estimate the carbon footprints of product and share this information across different media.