Google App to Reduce Environmental Footprints

Tech giant Google plans to collect and analyze data to help companies reduce their environmental footprints and make it all available through a new app. According to Proudgreenbuilding.com, the new database, called “Portico, the Healthy Materials Tool,” collects data on the composition and environmental impact of building materials and an app released last week makes the data available to the public. The app will enable easy access to data for companies aiming at LEED certifications or other green building certifications and help them understand the material properties and potential impacts on human health of building materials. The plan is one of Google’s sustainability projects and will be designed to enable businesses to use more sustainable materials and reduce greenhouse gases emissions. The tech giant is already the world’s largest corporate renewable energy buyer—not including utilities, having massively reduced energy usage at its data centers, as well as signed 2.5 gigawatts worth of contracts around the world in wind and solar energy, and committed to invest $2.5 billion in renewable energy.