Companies have been reporting their compliance with social and ethical standards for some time. The movement for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting has gained momentum since it first appeared in annual reports around 2002. IT companies now routinely face questions about the ethics of their business practices.

This year, many companies will report on adherence to green standards in addition to ethical standards. While many will adopt green IT to cut costs, some will adopt "triple bottom line" reporting, which segments the ledger into three sections – economic, environmental, and social and ethical – according to Michael Juergens, a principle at Deliotte & Touche, speaking at the ISACA CACS audit and compliance conference today.

With triple bottom line reporting, CSR becomes Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CR&S) as companies try to do three things: what's right, make a profit, and help save the environment.

Green IT isn't just about PR, although it does deliver positive press and mitigate the risk of bad publicity from potential pollution, Juergens said. Green IT delivers a real ROI by lowering energy costs and assists in complying with government regulations, both local and federal.

He added that an enterprise green IT strategy takes into account every aspect of corporate IT. It's about managing the datacenter and the entire IT infrastructure for efficiency. It's about green sourcing in the procurement process. It's about creating a green audit and due diligence process.

The speaker, an auditor himself, said that auditors can play an important role in this strategy. Auditors can identify opportunities for CR&S and also for cost reduction. They can bring upper management into the initiative.

Once a process is established, auditors can assure compliance with green IT initiatives and investigate any alleged fraud or violation of guidelines.

Juergens noted that the audit provides value by adding a green component to any assessment in the cost and risk tradeoffs that a business will inevitably make.

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For example, when a company is building a new datacenter, the auditor should be able to ensure that the datacenter achieves LEED certification, which may be required in some areas. In addition, state and federal governments may offer tax breaks for LEED certified buildings -- information that's useful early in the planning process.

In office buildings, the latest in energy control systems can ensure that lights and HVAC systems operate only when offices are occupied, delivering green energy savings and real money savings too.

Recycling programs can meet green goals and also aid compliance with local laws. This is especially true in the case of the disposal of batteries and of office equipment that has reached the end of its useful life.

When rolling out a new program, make sure that each individual's responsibilities are clearly communicated.

In summary, green IT initiatives will help a company look good by producing positive press coverage and mitigating negative coverage, make a company feel good by helping individuals do the right thing, and will also save money by lowering energy costs.