Locus Introduces Worldwide Accreditation of Analytical Laboratories Electronic Data Delivery

Locus Introduces Worldwide Accreditation of Analytical Laboratories Electronic Data Delivery

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 28, 2010 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in web-based environmental compliance and information management software, has introduced an accreditation process for analytical laboratories to deliver analytical data into Locus’ award winning, cloud-based Environmental Information Management (EIM) system. A growing need exists for a standardized format for transmitting environmental electronic data. There are more than 15 different standards in use in the U.S. alone, most of which are antiquated. Standards in the rest of the world also lack consistency leading to increased processing costs by all consumers of analytical data. The Locus EDD accreditation process is intended to help industry and analytical laboratories drive standards, consolidation, and ultimately, the creation of error-free defendable datasets.

The formal process includes the generation and upload of test EDDs to ensure that each Laboratory Information Management System or LIMS can deliver data according to Locus EIM and customer requirements. This testing is followed up by a training session that covers how to upload EDDs into EIM and resolve common errors that may be automatically flagged as the EDDs are evaluated for errors. The objective of the accreditation process is to have laboratories gain the necessary experience and expertise to routinely deliver error-free submittals of analytical results to EIM, thus allowing the data to become actionable and consumed by consultants and site owners almost immediately.

There is a nominal accreditation processing fee and annual renewal that is easily recovered through gained efficiency. Laboratories that would like to become accredited and meet certain criteria can apply at Locus’ web site. The accreditation process may take up to 90 days. Once accredited, the labs are added to the list of accredited labs on the Locus web site. During the initial round, Locus accredited the following laboratories: US: TestAmerica (TN and CA), Accutest (NJ and MA), Calscience (CA), Lancaster Labs (PA), Columbia Analytical, Air Toxics, BC Laboratories, Del Mar Analytical, Merit Labs, Xenco Labs, and Oilfield Environmental and Compliance, Inc; Worldwide: Maxxam, Canada; BMG Engineering, Switzerland, ALS Environmental, Australia, Wessling Laboratory, France, Eurofins (Analytis), Germany, CHELAB s.r.l., Italy, LAV s.r.l., Italy, Analytico Milieu n.v., Netherlands, Pace Labs, Puerto Rico, and Pro Analysis, Argentina.

In 2007 Locus introduced a set of standard Electronic Data Deliverable (EDD) formats for the reporting of environmental laboratory analytical data. Since that time, Locus has witnessed exponential growth in the number of EDDs submitted from the laboratories directly into the company’s flagship product, EIM™. Locus customers, analytical laboratories, and consulting companies have benefited from the standardized format and automated workflow process for transmitting EDDs directly into EIM via the web, bypassing the manual email-based approach, thus significantly reducing processing and rework costs.

The contents and flexibility of the Locus EDD formats permit data to be validated on arrival into EIM to EPA’s Level II, if a customer so desires. Locus envisions its formats to be transitional for the companies and laboratories that are not yet ready to adopt XML-based technology, but are tired of dealing with multiple and antiquated file formats, which only serve to increase costs. In addition, some of the old format “standards” suffer from the requirement that data be submitted in multiple files, while other formats have antiquated requirements related to field lengths or valid values that originated at a time when hard disk space was at a premium. Locus’ EDDs eliminate these requirements.

“Locus believes that the promulgation of a standardized single-file format will allow laboratories to reduce the costs of creating EDDs, minimize errors in the transmission and reporting of data, and more quickly support new EIM clients while reducing processing costs,” said Locus’ president and CEO, Neno Duplan.

TestAmerica President and CEO Rachel Brydon Jannetta offered, “Our clients are acutely focused on data management and deliverables challenges and it is key to our mission to provide solutions in this regard. Whenever we can work with a firm such as Locus to enhance the link from the lab data to environmental decision making, we know we have added value to our client’s objectives.”

“As the leader in environmental data management software, Locus strives to provide guidance, direction, and endorsement to the best ideas in an effort to standardize data management processes. Such efforts are sorely needed in an industry that is experiencing explosive growth in the volume of analytical testing. Currently, there are more than 15 different standards for analytical data submittals, and this needs to change. We believe that the standards that Locus has introduced and that much of the industry now follows, coupled with our accreditation program, will help drive greater uniformity, lower overall costs, and lead to better and faster reporting of environmental data,” added Neno Duplan.

Locus’ flexible EDD processing tool will continue to support all major regulatory driven standards such as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) based Staged Electronic Data Deliverable (SEDD) format and the State of California’s Water Resources Control Board AB2886 reporting requirements also known as EDF.

 

ABOUT TESTAMERICA
TestAmerica is the leading environmental testing firm in the United States, including 36 laboratories and 33 service centers. TestAmerica provides innovative technical expertise and comprehensive analytical testing services. Specialty analyses include source and ambient air, aquatic toxicity, explosives, specialty organics, dioxins, drinking water, sediments and tissues, emerging contaminants, radiochemistry and mixed waste testing.

For more information, visit www.testamericainc.com or contact Mr. James H. Miller, Vice President, at 716.691.2600

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Locus Again Recognized as Carbon Software Leader

Groom Energy Research Study Reveals Carbon Software Growth

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., January 25, 2010 — Locus Technologies was recognized as one of the leaders in software for greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and reporting by Massachusetts-based research firm Groom Energy Solutions. Their Enterprise Carbon Accounting (ECA) report is titled “2010 Enterprise Carbon Accounting: An Analysis of Corporate-Level Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Reporting and a Review of GHG Software Products.” This report comes only weeks after UtiliPoint International, Inc., a key utility and energy industry analysis and consulting firm, in a similar report recognized Locus as one of the oldest and most comprehensive providers of GHG software.

“We are very pleased that some of the leading industry analysts, first UtiliPoint, followed by IDC, and now Groom Energy, have recognized Locus as one of the most established and versatile companies in the sustainability and environmental software space,” said Dr. Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.

Founded in 1997, Locus pioneered the use of the Internet’s power to manage all aspects of environmental business, focusing on environmental information management (EIM) developed on a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform and delivered through Cloud Computing. In addition, ePortal, the Locus environmental executive dashboard, brings key environmental information to the user’s desktop in a Yahoo!-style single sign-on (SSO) interface, providing the ability to drill into the data when a more in-depth view is needed.

“With our suite of diverse but well integrated products offered through an SSO, along with our stellar client list who manage environmental information in real time using Locus Cloud Computing software at over 36,000 sites around the world, Locus is well positioned to continue to lead the environmental software market,” added Dr. Duplan.

Thirteen years after Locus’ founding, environmental software has become a multi-billion dollar industry with new players entering almost daily. In its report, Groom Energy stated that more than $46 million in venture capital was invested in ECA startup companies in 2009, while large software companies like Microsoft and SAP also entered the market. The research also confirmed that the number of corporations disclosing GHGs increased significantly in 2009 and predicts that ECA software purchases will increase 600 percent by 2011. To distinguish Locus from competition, Locus offers a proven track record of delivering complex environmental information management and compliance solutions over the Internet for over 10 years.

The New York Times, in commenting on the Groom Energy Study, reports that the current ECA industry leaders are a mix of longtime software players and startups. The newspaper predicts that winners will be the companies that can integrate various applications that not only manage GHGs but also provide management of other, mission-critical environmental data and information, such as water quality and consumption management.

The analyst reports highlight Locus’ experience in Cloud Computing, not only for the company’s GHG emissions management, but also for its general leadership in the complex space of environmental sustainability software, including water quality management.

Locus is an industry leader in providing Web-based Cloud Computing information technology to help manage data and information related to water supply and quality to meet the growing need for clean water.

Any climate bill before the U.S. Congress is almost certainly to be delayed after the 19 January 2010 special election of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown to fill the U.S. Senate seat of the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last December declared greenhouse gases a danger to public health. The “endangerment finding” announced by EPA will allow EPA to manage GHG emissions under the 1970 Clean Air Act, and opens up large emitters such as power plants, oil refineries, chemical plants and metal smelters to regulations that limit their output of carbon dioxide and other gases. Managing GHG under the Clean Air Act will be more costly to the industry. The biggest threat of huge new energy taxes and government controls right now comes not from cap-and-trade legislation, but from the existing regulation such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. As a result, the industry will focus on the broad spectrum of existing environmental compliance issues, all of which require specialized software and a deep knowledge of regulations, all of which Locus developed and deployed over the last 13 years.

Requirements for environmental compliance have existed for years. The Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule of September 2009 represents yet another element (and a relatively small one at that) in a long list of environmental compliance activities to which U.S. companies are subject. In particular, oil and gas companies are facing increased regulation and enforcement by the EPA.

As a result, many companies are revisiting their environmental, health and safety (EH&S) strategies and are looking for software applications not only to manage GHG or environmental data, but also to improve operational efficiency and reduce operating costs.

“Locus has served this market exceptionally well since 1997, and maintains the leading position in many of its segments,” noted Dr. Duplan.

ZDNet GreenTech Pastures | Need to verify your greenhouse gas emissions? Locus Tech has your back

Environmental software developer Locus Technologies has earned the right to provider greenhouse gas emissions verification services by the California Air Resources Board.

Locus Technologies Offers Greenhouse Gas Emissions Verification Services

Locus is one of only a few California Air Resources Board certified GHG verification organizations

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., January 18, 2010 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in web-based environmental compliance and information management software, has been accredited by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to provide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions verification services. Locus is one of just a few companies to obtain this accreditation.

The accreditation allows Locus to provide verification services for GHG emissions reports. The verification team at Locus consists of experts in all reporting requirements. Locus’ in-house Lead Verifiers are certified in all sectors including refineries, cement production and electricity transactions to provide verification services for all reporting scopes.

On December 6, 2007, pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, the CARB approved the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions regulation. The regulation requires the mandatory reporting and verification of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Facilities subject to GHG reporting are mandated to have their greenhouse gas emissions verified beginning in 2010, for their 2009 reported emissions. Facilities will be subject to either annual or triennial verification. Only CARB accredited verification bodies and verifiers may provide GHG emissions reporting verification.

“GHG emissions are becoming important parameters to accurately measure and report. Locus is excited to offer services to aid clients in meeting the new GHG reporting requirements,” stated Dr. Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.

Locus has also developed a cloud computing based software program to collect, manage, and report GHG emissions. “With the training and certification in validation, we are confident that the emissions data in our software can be quickly and easily verified by a third party,” said Dr. Duplan.

ZDNet GreenTech Pastures | Need to verify your greenhouse gas emissions? LocusTec has your back

Environmental software developer Locus Technologies has earned the right to provider greenhouse gas emissions verification services by the California Air Resources Board.