COFES Engineering Technology Event Sustainability

Sustainability actions include funding of offsets to compensate for carbon impact of travel to the event

Bethesda, MD, March 4, 2008 – Cyon Research Corporation, the host of COFES: the Congress on the Future of Engineering Software, has announced that it has partnered with TerraPass to balance out the carbon dioxide emissions of attendees’ travel to and from this year’s event. TerraPass works by funding verified clean energy and greenhouse-gas reduction projects throughout the U.S., including wind farms and biomass energy.

“We used TerraPass’ carbon calculator (http://terrapass.com/flight) to calculate the amount of carbon generated by each attendee’s flight. At six weeks out, we’re at 80% of our capacity and we’ve calculated that our attendees already registered will have a direct impact of 160 tons of carbon,” reports Cyon Research CEO Brad Holtz. “Teaming with TerraPass has allowed us to mitigate that impact.”

“The theme for COFES 2008 is ‘Innovation and Sustainability for Design and Engineering’ and we take it seriously. Our goal is to make a tangible contribution to sustainability and we believe that taking advantage of TerraPass’ innovative service is a good start,” says Holtz. “In addition to the carbon offsets, we’ve initiated more than 20 specific actions in this direction. While the effect of any one of them is small, together they can make an impact.”

TerraPass’ carbon offset program provides money to projects that are directly involved in reducing the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere. “Two things impressed us about the TerraPass program,” said Dr. Joel Orr, Cyon Research’s vice-president and chief visionary. “First, their carbon offsets are current-year offsets – that is, the capture of carbon that will take place during the current year, rather than, say, over a 40-year period for a planted tree. Second, they have put in place a rigorous auditing system to guarantee that the offsets are real.”

In addition to purchasing the offsets, Cyon Research will be notifying each attendee of the amount of carbon generated by his/her travel. According to Holtz, “purchasing the offset is just the first step. The real impact will come when our attendees start considering the impact they have on the world.” 

COFES 2008 is an invitation-only event and offers unparalleled opportunities for in-depth, open discussion among influential participants representing the engineering, design, manufacturing, architecture, and software industries. Information about COFES can be found at www.cofes.com.

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About TerraPass
Launched in 2004, TerraPass is the leading consumer retailer and marketer of greenhouse-gas reduction offsets. Over 100,000 TerraPasses have been sold to individuals, families and businesses to balance out the global warming impact of their flying, driving, and home energy use. Together, TerraPass customers have reduced more than 700 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, the primary cause of climate change. TerraPass works by funding clean energy and greenhouse gas reduction projects throughout the U.S., including wind farms and biomass energy. Every TerraPass offset purchase and marketing claim is verified by an independent auditor under the standards set forth by the nonprofit Center for Resources Solutions, creator of Green-e, the nation’s leading renewable energy certification program.

To learn more about TerraPass, please visit www.terrapass.com

About Cyon Research
Cyon Research Corporation is a provider of analysis and consulting for engineering technology markets. Cyon Research provides key information, research, analysis, and consulting to its clients worldwide. COFES: The Congress on the Future of Engineering Software is Cyon Research's primary event, and explores investments necessary today to take advantage of — and profit from — future technologies. For more information about this year’s scheduled events and speakers, please visit www.cofes.com.

Cyon Research is a trademark of Cyon Research Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Press Contact
Rachael Dalton-Taggart
Strategic Reach
+1-303-487-7406
rachael@strategicreachpr.com

Published: Tuesday, March 04, 2008

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