Extreme price volatility, government pressure to reduce consumption and shifting social attitude towards energy and environmental issues are all driving organizations worldwide to make significant changes in their approach to facility management.
Adding to these pressures is that the entire spectrum of stakeholders (employees, consumers, communities and investors) are demanding the adoption of corporate social responsibility and energy awareness from the government and business communities. Managing and controlling energy usage and cost within any organization under these types of conditions has now become a monumental task. Both government and commercial organizations are now faced with reducing operating costs, while addressing energy security concerns and managing facilities in a more environmentally sensitive manner. This translates directly to the bottom line for both government and commercial organizations, especially those working to redefine their image in this new marketplace.
But acting for the sole purpose of promoting environmental stewardship alone will raise questions about the financial viability in a struggling economy. For many organizations, the cost of goods sold is rising due to growing global demands for raw materials and increasing direct labor and overhead expenses. In order to compete (without cutting labor, reducing quality, or eliminating technological investments), organizations must drive down energy usage and costs as well as reduce carbon emissions.
In response to this need, Trane and The Plan Consulting Group have developed an Energy Optimization and Sustainability approach that enables business and government organizations to design and implement programs that achieve their goals of cutting energy usage and costs and reducing carbon emissions. Equally important, this approach enables organizations to institutionalize policies, processes and a culture for responsible and efficient energy consumption.
Three Steps for Energy Optimization
President Barack Obama is calling for aggressive energy and environment management that will dramatically alter energy consumption in the United States. In addition to investing heavily in the creation of clean energy sources and technology, President Obama is asking American businesses and manufacturers to modernize their offices and facilities with advanced clean technologies. Within government, the President said he wants to make “the federal government a leader in the green building market, achieving a 40 percent increase in efficiency in all new federal buildings within five years and ensuring that all new federal buildings are zero emissions by 2025.”
Meeting these new challenges represents a unique opportunity for organizations. For most organizations, reducing carbon emissions can be one of the welcomed by-products of effective energy management. But creating an energy management strategy that achieves both bottom-line and “green” objectives requires a fully integrated (Supply and Demand) and well managed effort.
We have worked with numerous public and private sector organizations to build Energy Optimization and Sutainability Programs that address each organization’s unique energy and carbon reduction requirements.
Creating the Energy Optimization roadmap requires three main steps:
- Collecting the organization’s energy data, such as utility bills and energy usage;
- Analyzing the data and identifying inefficiencies or gaps in energy consumption and carbon emissions; and
- Closing gaps and improving energy efficiency and carbon footprint goals. We help organizations build a data information platform and a project dashboard that enables them to view their separate energy initiatives as part of an integrated, organization-wide strategy. This approach facilitates a collaborative work environment that combines people, processes and technology to maximize returns.
For more information on how Trane and TPCG can help you, please contact Brad Allen at 317-255-8777 or at bradley.allen@trane.com. |
