Enviance launches FastTrack

Refineries face new EPA rules.

Two months—that’s how long carbon management software firm Enviance says it needs to get industrial and manufacturing facilities into compliance with a new federal greenhouse gas reporting rule.

The Carlsbad-based company in March launched its Greenhouse Gas FastTrack offering. With a 60-day implementation time, the software-as-a-service tool targets companies that face U.S. Environmental Protection Agency greenhouse gas reporting deadlines. The service uses an automated question process to collect customer information; Enviance assesses the customer’s information and provides consultation and training, vice president of sales Nigel Nugent says.

The EPA rule requires fuel suppliers, vehicles and engine manufacturers and facilities emitting more than 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gasses annually to report their emissions by March 2011. EPA estimates the program will apply to about 10,000 facilities contributing about 85 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to companies that are required to report their emissions, Nugent says Enviance, which also offers waste- and water-monitoring software, is finding increasing demand from organizations that see voluntary reporting as a way to differentiate themselves. And while companies may start with greenhouse gas reporting, Nugent says air quality is an entry point to how organizations will monitor and report on their total environmental impacts.

Enviance, which was founded in 1999 and has raised more than $30 million in capital,  isn’t the only company looking to tap into the burgeoning market. A 2010 report by renewable energy and energy efficiency consultants Groom Energy Solutions identified about 60 vendors offering enterprise carbon accounting software, up from about 40 vendors in mid 2008. The report estimates that the number of organizations using such software will increase 600 percent by 2011.