When Henry Kravis and his business partner George Roberts established Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) in the mid-seventies with the assistance of the First Chicago Corporation, the company’s focus was in “bootstrap” buyouts. Lately aiming to make their acquisitions have less of an ecological impact, KKR have launched an unusual green proposal which has dramatically changed the way business concerns and environmental agencies work together, forever. Green business practices went mainstream last year when Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co’s Henry Kravis and the New York based Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) joined forces. Their goals include encouraging their associated businesses to tackle operations which may harm the environment like greenhouse gas emissions not to forget any unrestrained consumption of water resources. In order to implement these goals, they use eco-efficiency which uses down-to-earth techniques such as optimizing data centers for efficiency, increasing the durability of products, and reducing the waste of resources. Irrespective of the fact that the project was a tremendous success, no-one understood how extensive the results were until Ken Mehlman, the head of the program and global public affairs, reviewed the numbers for the first year.

Only then did Ken Mehlman realize that applying eco-efficiency was not merely reducing their impact on the planet, but it was also helping to save business concerns a substantial sum of money, making the program almost an instant success. Almost all of the commercial organizations held by KKR and Ken Mehlman at present participate in the Green Portfolio Project. Seeing that the group is worth almost one hundred billion USD, you can see what a feat this actually is.

Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co with the EDF in association with Ken Mehlman are expanding the original program. To illustrate, KKR got together with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program that instructs MBA students how to encourage cost-effective, green techniques. KKR and Ken Mehlman have been formulating a variety of metrics and other relevant systems which evaluate and manage resources. Tools like these can track a company’s environmental impact and discover any problem areas.

Henry Kravis, the KKR, and the Environmental Defense Fund are genuine trailblazers in the business community. So, in conclusion, the work of these organizations has made ecologically friendly business practice not only viable, but commercially desirable, and their novel ideas are setting a new standard in today’s business community.