May 30, 2019
During SR Inc’s 1st quarter symposium in Denver, CO – which included the presentation of primary research on best practices in staffing and resourcing Sustainable Operations strategies as well as strategies for achieving Net Zero emissions – Amy Aves, Oracle’s Senior Director of Global Real Estate Operations, presented on Oracle’s strategy for governing and implementing its sustainability strategy for Real Estate & Facilities (RE&F).
She began with an overview of the program’s governance structure, which is overseen by Oracle CEO, Safra Catz. Amy reaffirmed what several other clients have also experienced – that the support from the top is essential to the program’s success. Jon Chorley, who leads Oracle’s product strategy related to supply chain management, also leads the company’s Environmental Steering Committee as Chief Sustainability Officer, illustrating the company’s belief that its products can help its customers be more environmentally productive. Under the CSO, Oracle has a distributed model for sustainability program management, embedding the program into each business function across the enterprise. Amy estimates spending approximately 15% of her time on energy and sustainability and has 2 direct reports dedicated to sustainability – the RE&F Global Sustainability Program Manager and a Global Energy Director.
The RE&F Global Sustainability Program is organized into 3 pillars – Energy, Water and Waste – and is missioned “to inspire learning, advance knowledge, and empower employees to find ways for Oracle to reduce its impact on the environment and local communities.” She reviewed program highlights since the program was officially established in 2011, noting that it has taken several years to grow to its current state. With a staff approximately 1,200 strong, Oracle RE&F manages all its own real estate in-house, choosing not to outsource any facilities management. Pillar leaders manage the membership and operations within each Global Sustainability Program Pillar. Pillars are comprised of individuals across all global regions where Oracle operates. Although sustainability is only a part-time responsibility for most Program members, by strategically embedding sustainability across all its business functions, Oracle has made impressive strides.
Oracle’s commitment to its global RE&F Sustainability Program has been recognized by leading standard setters, earning the company multiple awards for highly efficient, environmentally sustainable buildings and operations, including a spot on CDP’s A List for the 3rd year in a row. Oracle achieved 2 of its 5 public facing 2020 goals 3 years early, reducing absolute GHG emissions more than 20% by 2017 (from a 2015 baseline year) despite Oracle’s continued growth, and sourcing more than one-third of its energy from renewable sources. Oracle is on track to achieve its energy, water and landfill reduction goals by 2020.
Amy concluded with a review of Oracle’s Global Sustainability Initiatives Tracker, which SR Inc was glad to help her team develop to track the financial returns of Oracle’s sustainability projects enterprise-wide. Each quarter, Sustainability Program leaders submit all relevant data regarding sustainability projects they are implementing within their regions to this tracker, thus providing greater visibility into all sustainability projects occurring across the global portfolio. Additionally, this database helps Oracle to fulfill internal and external reporting requirements, analyze global environmental impacts, and calculate overall program ROI. 
SR Inc will continue to collaborate with Member-Clients throughout 2019 to identify best practices in staffing, resourcing and budgeting sustainable operations programs to enable leadership in ESG. We look forward to our next Symposium at Uber’s Headquarters in San Francisco on Thursday, June 20th. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss how we can help you develop, drive, and report on your company’s sustainability program.
As Senior Manager of Research & Consulting, Kelsey Wallace supports members of SR Inc’s confidential, strategic advisory & support service in their move to more sustainable high-performance. With several years experience at the intersection of business and sustainability, Kelsey provides specialized program assistance to clients on a one-to-one basis, supporting all aspects of strategy development and implementation for management teams overseeing corporate sustainability strategies, policies and projects. Prior to joining SR Inc, Kelsey worked for The Cadmus Group, where she provided technical support to the Environmental Protection Agency and US Green Building Council on projects to improve the sustainability of federal infrastructure. Kelsey also devoted a year to national service with the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, where she worked on team-based conservation and community development projects throughout the Southwest United States. Kelsey has her B.A. in Environmental Studies from Connecticut College.
