Rob Bernard inside one of the company's new environmentally friendly buildings. (Stephen Brashear/Puget Sound Business Journal.)

Rob Bernard developed a love for the outdoors while hiking New England’s White Mountains in his youth. Nowadays, he’s so attuned to the environment that he installed a device in his Microsoft office to monitor, in real time, his precise energy usage.

And his vehicle? A 2001 Volvo.

No, it’s definitely not the latest hybrid. But the story behind Bernard’s choice of car demonstrates the analytical approach he applies to the environment — and to his role as the Redmond software company’s first chief environmental strategist.

Bernard spent hours crunching numbers and talking with experts to decide whether to buy a more fuel-efficient car. Going with a hybrid might seem the most logical choice, on the surface. But Bernard doesn’t drive much, expecting to log fewer than 5,000 miles this year. Because of that, he determined that the environmental impact of making a new car would be more than the impact of driving his old one for now.

That personal experience demonstrates the complexity of the environmental issues that Bernard is also grappling with in his Microsoft job. Those analytical skills will come in handy as Bernard and his team try to boost the energy efficiency of Windows PCs, reduce Microsoft’s environmental impact, and improve the lowly environmental ranking Greenpeace recently bestowed on its consumer electronics products.

“Even when you're well-intentioned and want to do things that help the environment, the decisions are often very difficult,” Bernard said. “That’s one of the big societal challenges that we see across all aspects of the environment.”

Bernard, 43, sees technology helping people sort through that complexity — automatically analyzing the trade-offs involved in a purchase, for example.

But more than that, Microsoft’s position at the center of the software industry gives the company a big opportunity to affect the environment — in negative and potentially positive ways. The company cited its desire for the latter when it named Bernard its first chief environmental strategist in November 2007.

Bernard’s team spent much of its first year exploring ways to use Microsoft’s software expertise and role to improve the environment. For example, the team has been encouraging use of new energy-saving features in the next Windows version, helping to implement new approaches in power-hungry data centers, and educating people about how to make their existing PCs more energy efficient.

The team is also working to reduce the environmental impact of Microsoft’s operations. For example, the company is now using compostable dishware and cutlery in the dining facilities on the main Redmond campus. Microsoft uses many hybrid vehicles as shuttles. It has expanded the Connector bus service that transports employees around the region, reducing or eliminating the need for many of them to drive their cars to work.

That’s in addition to partnerships with such groups as the Clinton Foundation and the European Environment Agency, designed to help cities and people monitor — and ultimately improve —  environmental conditions in their areas.

But the company isn’t getting universally high marks. Greenpeace, for example, last year gave Microsoft a score of 2.2 out of 10 for the environmental impact of its Xbox and Zune devices. The “miserable score” from the environmental group was based primarily on the use of toxic chemicals such as PVCs and flame retardants, which can be dangerous when released into the environment.

Microsoft has promised to phase out toxins and says it is at a disadvantage in the rankings, because it only dabbles in hardware, and game consoles are power hungry by nature. For example, Sony has TVs and other products to help boost its score, in spite of the PlayStation 3, whereas Microsoft doesn’t have other consumer electronics to balance out the Xbox 360.

Bernard noted that the company has cut in half the amount of power used by its game console over the past three years.

Still, he said he’s taking seriously the Greenpeace ranking, and hoping to improve it. Bernard and others met recently with Greenpeace to discuss the issue.

“I think he’s the real deal,” said Casey Harrell, the Greenpeace International organizer who was involved in that meeting. “It’s not unique, really, to see different people at these companies who are true believers.”

At the same time, Harrell saw evidence at the meeting of challenges that Bernard may face as he pushes for environmental improvements internally. The Microsoft product teams weren’t as well-versed in the issues, Harrell said. And the sheer size and complexity of the company became apparent when some people from Microsoft introduced themselves to each other during the session — meeting for the first time.

Nor does Microsoft’s top management seem to be as focused on environmental issues. Harrell cited, as an example, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer’s recent keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show.

“There was absolutely nothing in his speech about the environment. Nothing,” Harrell said. “We need more bold leadership.”

On a local level, Microsoft’s environmental impact is seen primarily in areas such as transportation. While software development itself doesn’t weigh heavily on the environment, heavy commuting does, said Alan Durning, executive director of the Sightline Institute environmental think tank, based in Seattle.

“I wish they’d put more of their offices in center cities, like Seattle and Bellevue,” Durning said via email. “They’ve done some of that. … Still, their real estate strategy has largely been sprawling office campuses, which yields lots of driving.”

Addressing that topic, Bernard points to programs such as the Connector bus service, which has removed more than 9 million vehicle miles from Seattle-area roads since its inception in September 2007. (To be precise, it’s 9,079,848.27 miles as of Jan. 26, according to company estimates.)

So far, at least, Bernard said he hasn’t had any trouble enacting environmental initiatives from inside the company. He has been at the company for more than a decade, in a variety of roles, and he acknowledged that his experience working in Microsoft product groups has helped him navigate them in his new role.

Bernard’s immediate group consists of 10 people, but they work with many others across the company who focus on environmental issues, inside the product groups and elsewhere. Bernard’s group wasn’t affected by the layoffs and cutbacks Microsoft recently announced, a company representative said.

His environmental organization was established as part of the Trustworthy Computing division led by Microsoft executive Scott Charney. That might seem an odd place for it, but Bernard cites parallels between issues of computer security and the environment.

“Like security or trust or engineering excellence, these are issues that need to be embedded in the way we do business across the organization — embedded into our day-to-day operations,” Bernard explained.

For example, Microsoft previously charged its product groups for data center usage based on servers and floor space consumed. Now, it focuses on energy consumption.

Down the road, Bernard’s group is hoping to give individual groups inside the company a better idea of their environmental impact, to help them lower that impact over time. Examples include data showing carbon footprint based on travel and other factors.

On a companywide level, Microsoft’s carbon footprint is 550,000 tons of CO2 — reflecting the impact of such factors as corporate travel and energy usage. (Note: Unit of measure corrected since original post.) That’s less than some other technology companies of similar size, in part because Microsoft focuses on software and doesn’t have as many manufacturing operations.

Still, the company says it’s looking to reduce its carbon footprint overall. Bernard declined to give specifics, hinting that more details may emerge in the coming months.

But he’ll still be driving that 2001 Volvo – for now.

Bernard’s analysis showed the environmental benefits of a new car kicking in for him when the auto industry comes out with the next wave of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. That’s when he plans to buy a more environmentally friendly car.