The Greening of Autodesk

Autodesk's CEO Carl Bass flew in to address the press and analysts assembled for the manufacturing division's press event in Paris But he wasn't just here to talk about Inventor, though it may be Autodesk's biggest success since AutoCAD, or the manufacturing division's stellar sales ($99 million last quarter). His was a bigger mission. Carl was there to save the planet.

I should have known Autodesk was turning green. The evening before, I had cruised down the Seine where even the beauty of Paris at night could not dissuade Buzz Kross, head of Autodesk's manufacturing division, from a discussion of the greater good, all the way from conserving paper by printing on both sides at his office to determining the carbon footprint of a part made in Inventor.

As it turns out, Autodesk now has a Sustainability Czar, and judging by speed at which a Corvette-driving senior VP has turned green, this person has a lot of clout. I couldn't find a lot of details (Carl was whisked away after his talk faster than a rock star after a concert) but judging from Carl's zeal on the subject, I'd guess the Sustainability Czar was Carl's idea.

A CEO with a conscience are always welcome as far as I'm concerned, and should serve as a model for others.

Some highlights of Carl's discussion.

• Paper or plastic? That oft asked question at the grocery store presupposes that there are only 2 choices. What about bringing your own reuseable bag?
• A PBS program (which Autodesk sponsored) showed a how many farmers in Minnesota now run wind mills on their land. Calling themselves wind farmers, they treat the wind as a cash crop. Though not cheap (one wind turbine costs $2 million), once functional, each wind mill can generate enough power for 3,500 homes. State assistance and a complicated financing scheme (companies buy the machine, and pay the farmers to maintain the machines for 10 years, and then transfer the ownership of the machines to the farmers all in return for government tax credits) have allowed even some down-and-out farmers to make money from wind. According to the program, this shows promise of reviving many small towns that have been depopulated by urbanization and mass farming. Not only that, the maker of the windmills (Suzlon) has decided to manufacture in Minnesota, creating 300 much need jobs.