Deloitte Boosts Green Cred with Purchase of ClearCarbon, Domani

More evidence that corporate sustainability efforts are advancing, despite government inaction: Deloitte, one of the Big Four accounting and consulting firms, said Monday that it has acquired two sustainability consulting firms, ClearCarbon Consulting and Domani Sustainability Consulting.

ClearCarbon and its principal, Kyle Tanger, have focused on measuring and mitigating greenhouse gas footprints, while Domani and its founder and CEO, Will Sarni, have focused on water, energy and resource reduction. Will’s been a moderator and speaker at FORTUNE’s Brainstorm Green.

I spoke with Chris Park on Monday, a principal at Deloitte Consulting who leads the firm’s sustainability services. He told me that clients are asking for more help in dealing with sustainability issues, and that demand has perked up particularly during the last 90 to 120 days as companies emerge from the recession.

Sustainability is “one of our top growth areas,” Park said. He’s seeing demand across industry sectors, including the federal government, consumer products, retailers and traditional oil, gas, utility and energy companies. “Sustainability will be a major driver of business transformation in upcoming years,” he said.

Deloitte will add 30 to 40 professionals to its staff as a result of the acquisition. Clear Carbon was based in Arlington, Va., while Domani was based in Denver.

Sustainability consulting is becoming a crowded business. Ernst & Young, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and KPMG are all building practices around sustainability and climate change, and traditional consulting firms McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group and Accenture see sustainability as a growth business as well.

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