NEWS RELEASE APRIL 2009
Powerful New Tool for Corporate, Governmental and Personal Decisions
Important Event Odds, Personal Risk Odds, Life Quality Offset Values, Disability Adjusted Life Minutes (DALM) and the Tribal Value Discount are powerful factors which have been integrated into the Sustainability Universal Rating System just introduced by McIlvaine Company. The result is a tool which is highly valuable in making almost any decision.
Whether it is a decision to take a ski trip or to support global warming reduction there is an emotional as well as a rational component. It is easy to provide the insights for the rational component. The unique aspect of the new approach is that there is now a way to measure and evaluate the emotional component.
Individuals typically overestimate the risk of cataclysmic events and underestimate the familiar risks. Important Event Odds puts these risks in perspective. Individuals need a way to better measure personal risk. This is provided based on lost Disability Adjusted Life Minutes (DALM).
Life Quality Offset Values are the minutes of life willingly sacrificed for an improvement in life quality. This is a statistical solution to the emotional component. There is a 1 in 77 chance that an individual will die in an automobile accident during his lifetime. This converts to one minute of life lost for every minute of travel. An individual who drives to see a basketball game in a city 500 miles away is in effect concluding that this life quality enhancement is worth 1000 DALM.
The potential of this measurement tool is unlimited. The decision by a corporation as to whether to buy and donate a painting to an art museum can be based on the expected number of viewers and the anticipated minutes of their lives that they would sacrifice for the opportunity. This can be compared to a donation to medical research of the same amount and the lower cost per DALM chosen.
The Tribal Value Discount is a purely emotional but very important factor. Less than one-tenth of one percent of GPD in the U.S. is allocated for foreign aid. Otherwise stated Americans place a 99 plus percent discount on lives of non-Americans. Human nature dictates that the highest value is placed on the family or tribe. The World War II fire bombing of Germany and atomic bombing of Japan underline the importance placed on Nation over World.
This Tribal Value Discount is overlooked in many analyses. Decisions on global warming and fine particulate reduction are examples. The global warming reduction benefits are international and may be minimal for the U.S. On the other hand, fine particulate is identified with thousands of American deaths annually. Water pollution issues may be very local. There is no right or wrong answer regarding Tribal Value Discount. Decisions should be made on the aggregate will (national or local) determined through polling and other means.
The Present Discounted Value is another important factor. Greenhouse gas reduction benefits will be longer term whereas fine particulate reduction benefits are immediate. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Using the Present Discounted Value alternatives can be better compared.
The Universal Environmental Burden Index was introduced last year by McIlvaine. It normalizes all environmental burdens in one index. This has now been integrated with DALM so that all decisions can be compared based on a point rating system.
For details on the Sustainability Universal Rating System and a chance to provide comments, click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/SURS/subscriber/Default.htm
