Genzyme – Margaret Hodes – 2011

Goals

Margaret Hodes spent her summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at Genzyme Corporation in Cambridge, Mass., one of the world’s leading biotech companies. Hodes worked for Genzyme’s energy sustainability team to research and develop an employee engagement program around energy initiatives.

Solutions

Hodes was able to survey over 15 percent of Genzyme’s 10,000 employees, using the results to establish a baseline metric of attitudes and behaviors around energy efficiency. This survey provided a means of tracking improvements over time as well as identifying perceived barriers and incentives to participation. Hodes then developed a toolkit of initiatives that interested facilities could use to develop their own programs, working closely with three sites in particular – Framingham, Mass., Allston, Mass. and Geel, Belgium – to tailor and implement programs to match their needs. Hodes also developed a project plan to guide the growth of these initiatives across future campuses by encouraging networking and collaboration.

Potential Impact

Most initiatives were designed to increase awareness among employees, but one program offered a clear payback. If implemented at just a couple dozen labs in Framingham, a red-yellow-green turn-it-off label program could save Genzyme $18,000 in electricity costs and reduce carbon emissions by 54 metric tons annually, with virtually no upfront costs. Genzyme operates tens of thousands of energy-intensive pieces of equipment at labs worldwide, providing a huge opportunity for employee engagement to save significant amounts of energy.