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Case Study: Sustainable Energy Management for Automotive Manufacturers

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By ENGIE Impact

With global, energy intensive portfolios of showrooms, manufacturing plants and electric vehicle charging points, controlling energy usage and spend is a top priority for automotive companies. A decentralised approach to energy management has its benefits, but creates challenges for gathering complete datasets for internal reporting, with added concern that invoices from energy suppliers are often insufficiently monitored and incorrectly charged.

One Fortune 100 automotive company was looking for an experienced sustainability consultant with global reach matched with local expertise, in-depth experience in data acquisition, expense management and green energy procurement, as well as a robust and multi-lingual energy and sustainability platform – and selected ENGIE Impact as their partner.

ENGIE Impact’s international footprint and holistic service offering meant that the automotive company only needed to partner with one consultant for all their global energy and sustainability needs. To solve the company’s challenges, our teams carried out four main phases:
1. Data Acquisition
2. Invoice Validation
3. Supplier Consolidation
4. Green Energy Procurement.

Throughout this mission, our energy and sustainability platform provided the company with immediate visibility into their cost and consumption at the portfolio, regional and site level. Our teams managed an annual energy consumption of 2.3 TWh across more than 2,500 sites globally, processing 33,000 invoices per year received in 23 languages, of which 39% required investigation with the company’s energy suppliers. Over a 12-month period, we procured 235 GWh of renewable energy for the company in Europe. Our client is now better positioned to make data-driven decisions towards their financial and environmental objectives.

Learn more about this partnership at: https://go.engieimpact.com/manufacturer-energy-management

Four essential questions behind a credible net zero strategy

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By ENGIE Impact

The Race to Zero is on. More than 1,000 companies, including 82 Global Fortune 500 companies, have announced Net Zero targets, with many joining the race within the last 12 months alone. Yet, in the absence of finalised, widely-accepted Net Zero standards, many are questioning the credibility of corporate Net Zero pledges. Even companies demonstrating climate leadership and setting bold Paris-aligned targets are facing scrutiny. Stakeholders want to know: How real are your commitments? How will you enable change at the pace and scale required to reach Net Zero?

The questions from stakeholders are justified. Often companies don’t realise reaching Net Zero requires significant, strategic business transformation. In the Race to Zero, most companies are at the starting line, coalescing around key definitions to guide their Net Zero transition. While standards are still evolving, ENGIE Impact experts developed a clear and simple framework to help you design and deliver a credible Net Zero target. The approach revolves around asking four essential questions:

  1. Why commit to Net Zero?
  2. When should you reach Net Zero?
  3. Where are your emission boundaries?
  4. What’s your strategy to achieve Net Zero?

How you answer these questions—and disclose your Net Zero strategy and progress—will make all the difference to your credibility. Read more on: https://go.engieimpact.com/net-zero-strategy.   

A watershed moment for sustainability commitments

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By Mark Perera, CEO, Vizibl

Last month saw a landmark ruling where Royal Dutch Shell was instructed to significantly step up its 2030 climate commitments and slash absolute emissions by 45% compared to 2019 levels. This ruling represents a considerable advance on Shell’s stated aim to cut 45% of its emissions intensity compared to 2016 levels by 2035 – a target which provided leeway for increasing emissions as long as the relative carbon emitted per unit of energy produced fell.

Now, this imposes a much larger climate obligation on Shell in calling for an urgent absolute reduction.

A ruling that sent ripples through the oil, gas, and energy sector

A watershed moment, this ruling is sure to cause significant alarm amongst fellow oil and gas giants who recognise – for perhaps the first time – that national courts can compel organisations to accelerate their reduction of harmful emissions under the Paris Agreement. Not only does it have “far-reaching” consequences for Shell itself and may even curb the potential growth of the company, but the decision is also likely to set a legal precedent for other energy companies and corporations. According to Thom Wetzer from Oxford University, who heads up the sustainable law programme: “all companies in the energy industry and all heavy emitters will be put on notice and have to accelerate their decarbonisation plans.”[1]

This court mandate applies to not only the Shell group’s own operations but notably also to all the suppliers and customers of the group – strongly implying that Shell is being asked to tackle its Scope 3 emissions. Consequently, it is clear that Shell cannot meet the ruling’s demands alone; to make an impact across all carbon emissions scopes, Shell and other large businesses must immediately look towards forging new, productive partnerships with supplier stakeholders. Failing to do this not only means missed targets and mounting legislative action, but also the reputational damage that this will cause to its brand and the company.

Activist investor warns of existential business risk

Reports on the Shell ruling were almost immediately followed by news of a coup attempt in American oil and gas corporation, Exxon Mobil. Due to concerns surrounding Exxon’s strategic direction, hedge fund Engine No. 1 ousted sitting board members, stating that the climate crisis poses an “existential threat to the business” which the board has been reluctant to confront.

This small hedge fund accused Exxon of “a failure to take even initial steps towards evolution” and of “obfuscating rather than addressing long-term business risk”, partly due to a historical lack of energy industry experience in Exxon’s board. This signalled an imminent shift in the company’s sustainability strategy, which was well received by the market, with Exxon’s shares rising 1.2% the day after the event.

The drive to reduce Scope 3 emissions

And if that wasn’t enough of a shake up, this was followed by American multinational energy corporation Chevron’s shareholders voting 61% in favour of a proposal to cut Scope 3 emissions at their AGM, signalling frustration with the company’s slack approach towards climate change. Chevron has thus far failed to match its competitors’ net-zero targets with any commitments of its own.

For those less familiar, corporate emissions fall into three categories: Scope 1, 2, and 3. Scope 1 covers emissions from sources that an organisation directly owns or controls. Scope 2 refers to emissions from purchased electricity, steam, heating, and cooling that the reporting company consumes over the course of their operations. And Scope 3 is everything else – all other indirect emissions that occur within an organisation’s value chain, both up and downstream

Why is this significant? Until now, Scope 3’s heady combination of difficult-to-manage and thus far easy-to-ignore has led large companies to abdicate responsibility for their value chain and sweep its emissions under the carpet. However, the Shell ruling indicates that this approach is no longer viable for big business. With courts stepping in and dictating climate policy to corporations as well as governments, the pressure is mounting on all heavy emitters to tackle their true impact and reduce Scope 3 emissions.

As organisations like Shell, Chevron and Exxon are considered responsible for the actions of their entire ecosystems, sustainability performance becomes contingent on supplier behaviour. The clearest example of this lies in Scope 3 emissions which, for many organisations, considerably exceeds the CO2 they emit directly.

Therefore, the time for green-washing and lip service is now over as pressure mounts from all stakeholder groups for large corporates to take decisive action on sustainability in the supply chain. However, businesses cannot turn promises into concrete progress without actively collaborating with stakeholders across the value chain.

For every 5 weeks that pass, we lose 1% of the decade

2030, the deadline for achievement of UN SDG-related climate commitments, is fast looming, and with every five weeks that pass we lose 1% of the decade. The imperative to take immediate action has never been clearer. It’s now down to procurement, wider business leaders, and their associated supplier ecosystems to put sustainability strategy into action by:

  • Defining, aligning, and communicating their corporate sustainability goals to focus suppliers, partners and the wider stakeholder groups on how they can make an impact.
  • Collaborating systematically through technology using transparent processes that develop trust with suppliers and partners.
  • Harnessing the innovation and IP within the supplier ecosystem, turning ideas into projects that can be managed and reported on transparently, and adding clear value trackers to prove impact.

Working closely with stakeholders in the supply chain is an infamously complex process, but it can be made that much simpler using Supplier Collaboration & Innovation (SC&I) technology. This ensures strategic alignment between buyer and supplier and provides comprehensive relationship governance and real-time performance visibility. This allows companies and their suppliers to work on sustainability initiatives more cohesively and develop innovative ideas through collaboration.

Here at Vizibl – through our SC&I platform combined with our knowledge and expertise – we are helping large enterprise organisations in the energy sector better leverage their supplier relationships and move closer to meeting those lofty 2030 sustainability goals.

Need Accurate Sustainability Reporting? Make sure you have quality data first!

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By Bill Identity

Sustainability reporting should be a quick and easy way to understand how your business performs against best sustainability practices relating to energy, water and waste, and employee programs. Get ahead of the curve and download your free guide from Bill Identity today.

Click to Download Free Guide

New Release: The European Energy Market Report

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Wholesale energy markets throughout Europe are still volatile and complex. Between supply and demand, geopolitics and macro/micro economics, energy managers and procurement specialists find it difficult to manage the risk associated with energy purchases without a deep understanding of the markets and the many elements that affect pricing.

Developed using data from over 30 deregulated countries across Europe, this new resource offers expert analysis of the European internal energy market, including: 

  • Natural gas price breakdown at country level
  • Electricity price breakdown at country level
  • Available energy sourcing opportunities
  • Cost avoidance potential

This complimentary report provides a window into ENGIE Impact’s energy market intelligence and is available on: https://go.engieimpact.com/l/9912/2021-06-30/9ww5zh

Integrating Smart Building Technology

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Buyer beware – the marketplace for building automation, smart building, and building technology is evolving quickly and is full of new technologies, complicated integration and snazzy buzzwords.

It is so important to understand the benefits to be achieved from making a building ‘smart’, and to define what this actually means to you, the building occupier, the property manager and maintenance team? 

In short, data acquisition is a useless exercise unless you know how to read, manipulate and formulate efficiency or improvement actions from the data presented; whilst also understanding the key benefits of smart building upgrades that you’re trying to harness.

When optimally deployed, smart buildings technologies have the potential to deliver productivity and wellbeing improvements at the lowest cost and with the lowest possible environmental impact over the building lifecycle. This requires adding intelligence through a building’s useful life. There are potentially numerous systems and subsystems which can be integrated, and these have typically operated independently in the past, so in a smart environment these systems can share information to optimise total building performance. 

However, this must also be backed up by human intelligence to really understand the interactions and available opportunities for efficiency.  

Collaboration with building occupants, control specialists, building M&E maintainers combined with an understanding of human behavioural operation patterns, is paramount and all parties should be clear of their obligation to maintain or improve operational standards.

This is the psychology that we at ETS are applying with forward thinking national and international brands to install hardware and software that satisfy the clients need for visibility, control and reporting of a building and wider portfolio’s operation. 

We are employing an empowering approach to building technology which enables individual building systems to be connected and integrated. Most buildings already have some level of intelligence built in, whether HVAC, lighting, or fire safety. We are technology agnostic, and work with various manufacturers’ equipment dependent upon the client’s requirements, budget and what they want to achieve from the data outputs. Consequently, at ETS we are pushing to achieve more from building data and ultimately make better decisions.

A well-designed smart solution at any stage of a building’s life can make a property more attractive to buyers, a better letting option for tenants and occupiers, through greatly reduced cost and carbon emission, being more efficient to operate and maintain, and alignment with broader CSR agendas.

How can ETS help?

With a dedicated Smart Buildings and Automation team, ETS have the depth of knowledge and expertise to design, specify and integrate new Smart Buildings technologies into your properties, whilst also ensuring that you are getting the very best from the systems you already have in place. 

For more information please see https://energy-ts.com/technology/

To discuss your requirements, get in touch. You can contact us by calling 0117 205 0542 or drop us an email at enquiries@energy-ts.com.    

Technology company partners with ENGIE Impact to streamline energy procurement strategy on a global scale

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By ENGIE Impact

With over 100 sites — and an average yearly consumption of 64 million kWh per site — a large technology company realised that they needed to have an aggressive strategy in order to reach 100% renewable energy in Europe and the United States.

Procuring energy for multiple sites in various countries is a complex initiative which incorporates market research, negotiating cost and reviewing convoluted contracts. With several suppliers and contracts to review, the technology company knew they wanted to streamline the entire process, reduce administrative costs and expand their green energy portfolio. So, they partnered with ENGIE Impact to craft a global strategy at a local level. 

By consolidating the supplier contracts and streamlining the decision-making process, ENGIE Impact changed how the technology company procured their energy, saving over £450,000 on energy contracts and decreasing the amount of time spent through the consolidation process. As the programme continues to expand, creating visibility and consistency at a local level is key to creating a global energy strategy. 

Click here to find out more.

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT: ENGIE Impact

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By ENGIE Impact

Today, sustainability is a top priority for organisations around the globe – but while 84% have set sustainability goals, less than 30% are on pace to achieve them.

ENGIE Impact applies data analytics, multi-disciplinary expertise, and global reach to accelerate the sustainability transformation of corporations.

From strategy to implementation, actionable solutions help clients improve their bottom line, drive growth, satisfy stakeholders and meet sustainability goals.

Click here to find out more.

Flow informs to maximise energy efficiency and savings

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Being able to see how system components are performing in real-time is crucial if energy managers are to reduce costs and improve environmental performance of buildings. Without information on fluid flow, across the system, it’s difficult to diagnose and optimise efficiency. With accurate flow information, the picture changes entirely. 

Armstrong Fluid Technology has developed Active Performance Management to help optimise HVAC systems at any stage of a building’s life-cycle, responding to changing HVAC requirements. The combination of smart commissioning with real-time alerts and system transparency addresses performance drift and maintains occupant comfort. With Active Performance Management you can make annual energy savings of up to 40%.

One of Armstrong’s Active Performance Management solutions is Pump Manager, which ensures that pumps continue to operate efficiently and reliably throughout their complete lifecycles. Pump Manager is a cloud-based application that uses the embedded intelligence and connectivity of Armstrong Design Envelope pumps to provide performance reports to system operators. With this information, operators can make changes and address issues to optimise HVAC performance. 

Online trending and analysis across multiple parameters on single pumps, or on an aggregated basis for multiple pumps, assists in identifying performance degradation and facilitates a predictive and proactive approach. Pump Manager will, for example, report issues such as excessive vibration, pump in hand, risk of cavitation or a dead head should they start to occur.

Compatible with industry-standard BMS, EMS or CMMS solutions, Pump Manager helps reduce operating costs by providing data to support continuous optimisation of pump performance. Pump Manager also increases pump availability and reliability, reducing unexpected failures and providing early problem detection. Lastly it helps organisations report their energy use and environmental performance. 

To find out more about connecting your pump to gain greater visibility and control contact Armstrong Fluid Technology on tel: 08444 145 145, or email ukaftermarketsales@armstrongfluidtechnology.com.

The Heat Networks (Metering & Billing) Regulations – Action Required in 2021

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By ETS

What are the Heat Networks (Metering & Billing) Regulations?

The Heat Networks (Metering & Billing) Regulations – ‘HNMBR’ – were introduced in 2014 to drive energy efficiency and carbon reduction across heat networks which, as they represent a relatively small proportion of UK heating systems, previously went largely unregulated.

In short, the regulations promote efficiency improvements through the installation of consumer-level metering devices – i.e. leaning on the axiom that “you can’t manage what you don’t measure” – whilst also facilitating clearer and more accurate billing for end-users.

Previously, in the first incarnation of the regulations, operators of heat networks were simply required to notify the regulator (the Office for Products & Safety Standards, ‘OPSS’) of any and all heat networks under their control.

Now, since an update of the Regulations in November 2020, the evolving requirements have placed additional actions on operators of heat networks, with potentially significant financial implications for heat meter installations over the next 18 months.

What action is required and by when?

The updated HNMBR requirements essentially comprise 3 main elements, which are in addition to the ongoing requirement to complete an updated HMNBR Notification of all heat networks under an operator’s control every 4 years.

The additional actions relate to classifying buildings that contain heat networks, undertaking cost effectiveness assessments for the installation of heat meters / cost allocators, and then the installation for those meters that are deemed suitable.

As an overview:

  • 27 November 2021: Deadline to define building classes – essentially determining whether properties fall into one of the following 3 classes: Viable, Open, or Exempt.
  • 27 November 2021: Deadline to complete ‘cost effectiveness’ assessments – this will require building-specific investigations, using proprietary tools produced by BEIS / OPSS, as to whether the installation of heat meters or cost allocators is cost effective for those buildings that are in scope, based on their classification.
  • 1 September 2022: Deadline for the installation of heat meters / cost allocators that have been identified as being cost effective.

Updated notifications to the regulator will also be required, detailing building classifications and metering installations.

Clearly, depending on the outcome of cost effectiveness tests, the financial implications for landlords and property managers may be highly significant, and will need to be built into budgets for 2022 in good time.

How can ETS help?

ETS keeps fully abreast of legislative develops that affect our clients’ businesses. 

We have supported our clients through the first iterations of the HNMBR and will continue to do so across all aspects of the updated regulations – from building classification and cost effectiveness tests, to turnkey specification, tender and project management of required heat meter installation across our clients’ portfolios.

If you or your colleagues want to know what the updates to the regulations mean for your business or property portfolio, we would be happy to talk to you about your specific circumstances and how we can assist. Our expert team at ETS are always here to help; you can contact us by calling 0117 205 0542 or drop us an email at enquiries@energy-ts.com.