We have two Greens in government, Al Gore was in Dublin last week offering advice to business people and the EU directive requiring buildings to guzzle less energy is hot on our heels. As a result, businesspeople (and homeowners) are finally lifting their heads out of the sand and facing up to global warming.

And sitting before me in the Westin Hotel, dressed in a smart, well-cut suit, is the new face of sustainability in Ireland. Judging by the professional appearance of Dave Connolly of 4Front Energy and Environmental, eco-friendliness is shedding its hippy dippy image.

It's a battle being ahead of your time, because conventional society will snigger and point, as the many architects and engineers who have consistently created sustainable buildings over the years may testify.

4Front Energy and Environmental itself has evolved into providing energy efficiency advice to businesses, having had a good track record, as 4Front Project Management, in helping companies manage and maintain their building services.

"Industry and business are going to have to pick up the cost of carbon emissions," says Connolly, a director of the company, along with Fintan Lyons.

"The Government will spend €40 million on carbon credits, and that is expected to grow, and directly, or indirectly, Irish industry will pay for those."

And the costs will be passed on to the consumer, says Connolly, who was formerly an accountant with KPMG before going into the oil and LPG business, and now, moving with the times, into new forms of energy.

"Business and government has to take this more seriously. We are strategically out of sync with our European neighbours and it will affect inward investment."

4Front's energy arm helps companies to reduce their mechanical and electrical services costs in a number of ways: by advising them on the design of energy efficient buildings; by helping companies that are in fuel leaching "legacy buildings" to reduce energy output; and then providing on-going service maintenance and advice (it has a 24-hour call centre). It also deals with waste management.

"We will do everything, this is a turnkey business. We look at the type of plant a company is using and advise whether it is sustainable in the long run and what type of footprint is it likely to leave.

"We can then make the case for investment in technology and systems at the low end (lighting for instance) and high end," says Connolly.

The company is keen on combined heat and power plants (in which "waste" heat output is reused as power) which, it says, can reduce a company's energy costs substantially. Wood-chip boilers, wind energy, bio fuels and solar energy are other areas they advise on, as well as the updating of energy wasting plant to more efficient systems.

"About 92 per cent of Ireland's primary energy use is through fossil fuels which is significantly above the European average," says Connolly. "Ireland is at the end of the oil pipelines which makes us vulnerable. Oil prices are now $100 a barrel and they will stay close to this. We believe that there are better ways of generating heat and power and Ireland needs to adopt a more Continental approach.

"Ireland has always demonstrated that it can be innovative and has the business tools so I think we can pick up on lost time."

Another issue for companies is the energy rating of buildings, coming down the line, which CBRE has said will affect capital values. "We feel we have a role in helping property owners to get a higher rating," says Connolly, who has engineers, and energy specialists and technicians on his team.

4Front will propose site specific solutions and, apart from tackling the air-conditioning, heating, lifts and other services, Connolly also says that cost savings can start at a less technical level, with humans.

"Never underestimate the role of the management of the building, such as turning off lights and PCs. Low level changes can lead to great savings, so we look at the management sides first," says Connolly who points out that being an eco-friendly company can be good for marketing too. "The time is right for this and I think attitudes will change quite quickly."