Editor’s Note: Luisa Groher has a professional background in the non-profit sector and a master’s degree from Dartmouth College’s Globalization Program. She enjoys writing about entrepreneurship because she gets a real rush from hanging out with geeks who are on the verge of developing bizarre, far-reaching and life-altering inventions, and she’s particularly fascinated by the clean tech sector because the complicated political nature of the field draws out her natural tendency to have paradoxical views on just about everything.

Salem-based Groom Energy hosted the event

What are the biggest issues facing corporations in terms of green responsibility? Which local companies are leading the charge by making changes before their hands are forced?

I went to Green Enterprise Conference 2010 on Thursday to find out.

Corporate energy, sustainability and marketing execs gathered at the Embassy Suites Hotel near Boston Logan Airport to attend the conference. Attendees showcased the latest developments in carbon disclosure software, lighting technology, and energy efficiency solutions. Guest speakers from Akamai, Alcatel-Lucent, Autodesk, Ernst and Young, Nixon-Peabody, Raytheon, SAP, Seventh Generation, and Staples tackled a broad number of issues, including: trends in green branding, carbon reporting requirements, and new SEC requirements on carbon disclosure.

The Conference was sponsored by Groom Energy, a local company that provides sustainability retro-fits to retail spaces, parking garages, hospitals, universities, and industrial sites. Groom replaces outmoded light, heat, and ventilation systems with leaner, greener and more sophisticated systems that reduce carbon emissions and cut costs. Just to give you an idea of how young the green tech space is, Groom has become a kind of superstar in the energy engineering in only four years time. Over that period the company skyrocketed from startup to respected industry thought-leader. (more…)