Automated generation of environmental reports - a case study
A variety of documents generated within the scope of environmental reporting are based on similar and partly overlapping information. However, in the majority of cases information collected for a particular environmental document cannot be reused for other objectives and if then only with huge additional work input. Data need to be updated on a regular basis, e.g. according to the report period. Therefore computer aided and automated reporting would make good sense. This paper introduces an approach of partly automated environmental reporting. The focus thereby lies on automated conversion of environmental assessment data to XML (Extensible Markup Language) format and integration into environmental reports, which will be shown with the software tool Umberto.
Environmental engineering & facility management of Berlin's public buildings
Berlin is one of the major European capitals with an extensive network of public services. To provide these services Berlin operates a number of public buildings ranging from small community centers and police stations to court buildings and police training polygons. Overall office space is approx. 20 000 m2. In 2003 the Berlin Senate founded the “Landesbetrieb fur Gebaudebewirtschaftung” (LfG) as astate-owned enterprise that is responsible for all facility management activities related to state-owned real estates. In 2005 the LfG started a joint research project with the Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin) with the aim of introducing novel information technologies (IT) and environmental engineering applications to better support these activities. This paper presents three aspects of this research project: (i) the overall approach that we used to gather and assess requirements for environmental engineering technologies, (ii) the system architecture that includes a distributed computing environment, mobile clients, and centralized processing systems which integrate ERP applications, and (iii) a description of several environmental engineering application scenarios and how they are supported by the IT infrastructure.
Internet use for corporate environmental reporting: current challenges—technical benefits—practical guidance
The huge opportunities of using the internet for corporate reporting are arranged in a comprehensive system of technical benefits. In order to give a tangible example and describe practical use thoroughly, the benefits are focused on environmental reporting but they can be transferred in major parts also to financial, social or sustainability reporting—seen as a currently emerging trend towards integrated financial, environmental and social reporting. In more detail, the system of internet-specific benefits is illustrated by four main categories: benefits concerning the underlying purposes of publishing reports, benefits concerning the entire reporting process, benefits concerning the report contents and benefits concerning the report design. In terms of corporate reporting, professional internet use will enhance the way in which companies give information, communicate and manage their business internally and externally, benefiting all members involved that are reporting companies, addressed key target groups and other stakeholders such as standard setting institutions and benchmarking organizations. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment