Being green in business makes great financial sense.  With more and more consumers becoming aware of environmental issues, it makes sense to follow the trend and not only increase your bottom line but create a positive impact on the environment. Imagine the impact if every business made a conscious decision to reduce consumption, reuse consumables and recycle waste.

The prospect of new limits on carbon emissions is driving demand for clean technology in the energy sector. But investors need to take the long view . Despite virtually assured growth of clean technology and energy industries, bets on individual stocks require more patience than investments in sectors where companies are already serving fully developed markets. In some cases, what makes a company a really compelling bet is the fact that it hasn't yet turned a profit—and is priced accordingly.

According to a report by management consulting firm McKinsey & Company and the Uptime Institute, the average data center consumes the same amount of energy as 25,000 households. Data centers in general may surpass the airline industry as a top greenhouse gas polluter by 2020. Clearly, as the global business community struggles with improving sustainability and reducing operational energy costs, data centers and the energy required to operate them should remain top of mind.

Climate policy and customer demand are spurring growth for small and medium-sized companies to supply green materials to their corporate clients. The fight against global warming has become big business. Companies ranging from German utility E.ON to global financial-services giant HSBC have launched "green" products to meet regulatory requirements and tap into growing concern among consumers over climate change. The big guys aren't the only players, though.