Partners crucial for progressing sustainability plans: Schneider Electric

As Australian businesses increasingly integrate technology into their operations, channel partners are crucial in guiding clients towards more sustainable solutions to help them meet sustainability targets.

Lisa Zembrodt, principal and senior director of sustainability business for Schneider Electric, told ARN that as the technology landscape evolves with the internet of things and artificial intelligence (AI), so does the industry’s power consumption.

“Partners must equip their customers with the information to quantify both the environmental and financial impacts of their solutions, enabling them to make sustainable choices,” she said to ARN. “While new standards are a welcome development, companies must adopt new technological practices to comply.

“Embracing regulatory changes is crucial to achieving long-term sustainability and corporate responsibility. Channel partners and customers who lead in sustainability set industry standards and contribute significantly to the global fight against climate change.”

Zembrodt’s comments come as Schneider Electric releases its Sustainability Index report for 2024, which out of 544 respondents, most Australians, at 71 per cent, agree that the benefits of sustainable technology outweigh the costs.

However, what’s standing in the way of adopting sustainable solutions is not one specific barrier, which include a lack of resources and expertise, government support and difficulty getting started.

According to the report, this suggests there is not a single ‘silver bullet’ for change. Each company has its own barriers and its business partners and service providers need to help identify these and work collaboratively to overcome them. For companies focused on reaching their emissions reduction goals, it is imperative to get the energy mix right.

In recent years, energy supply and management have faced an unprecedented number of challenges, with energy generation and grid issues, rapidly rising costs, and geopolitical turmoil disrupting supply.

The report showed that there is still “good news”; investing in energy management solutions delivers benefits to reliability and sustainability goals. Reducing energy demand, moving to renewables and enhancing monitoring systems, for example, deliver on both fronts.

Schneider also said cyber security breaches were among respondents’ top concerns about energy and resource supply risk. Other issues included supply shortages, grid disruption and the impact of climate change.

However, only the most progressive companies have a proactive risk management approach in place, while others are considering it. A concerning proportion, 20 per cent, are not aware of their options in this respect.

“Companies have a wide range of options for identifying and mitigating the risks around energy volatility,” the report said. “Examples include diversifying energy sources, deploying technology to monitor real-time usage, and considering onsite generation or microgrids.”

The key is to understand the scope of these solutions and assess which is most appropriate for the business.

Looking more broadly at energy management, companies have access to a wide range of tools and technologies to monitor, automate, control and reduce their energy usage and move to cleaner or renewable sources.

The majority of respondents (87 per cent) said they are already investing or are likely to invest in at least one initiative in the next two years, which points to solid momentum.

Most companies (53 per cent) invest more in digital transformation than three years ago. While technology spending is not directly related to sustainability, it can be a valuable tool, and the high proportion of companies acknowledging its crucial role is significant.

Using AI for decarbonisation

Given the rapid development and adoption of AI, it’s not surprising that many companies are attracting additional investment in this technology alongside data analytics. Fewer respondents, at around 20 per cent, are making additional investments in climate governance, risk and reporting, but those who are may be motivated by upcoming climate-related financial disclosures.

The report said this is crucial given that the survey lacked data on climate emissions, which is impeding decision-making in this area for two out of three companies.

A large portion of respondents still rely on utility bills (39 per cent) and spreadsheets (28 per cent) to collect energy data. In the context of mandatory reporting requirements, a lack of data in one industry can have a domino effect on others.

“The intersection of digital and sustainability is a question that needs to be solved, with the AI-implemented world at the centre of the answer,” the report continued.

Schneider said AI can be used to push forward with sustainability-focused goals in a myriad of ways, including energy management, energy use optimisation, smart building monitoring and controlling and building condition monitoring.

The vendor also said that technology utilising AI algorithms and machine learning, applied to all data from a building to generate models, is available for usage and also evolving.

“It collects and analyses building data and then, based on these predictions, optimised control signals are sent back to the building management system,” stated Schneider. “This continuous loop of internal and external data can save energy and greenhouse gas emissions.”

The report said AI can help break down barriers to the widespread adoption of energy-efficient technologies. AI can streamline processes such as grid topology discovery, panel insights, and electric equipment AI-based services, thereby facilitating the seamless integration of sustainable solutions at scale.

“By implementing AI in these ways, companies can realise a transformative shift towards sustainability,” Schneider said. “AI not only empowers organisations to minimise their environmental footprint, it also drives operational efficiencies, cost savings and a competitive edge in an increasingly conscious market. Artificial intelligence can help power climate action.”

Data for insights

Schneider Electric claimed it is seeing “firsthand how transformative it can be for companies to access detailed data about energy and emissions through technology.” However, the Index said data is only helpful if companies can effectively interrogate it and draw insights about how to move forward.

“AI is proving to be critical to this equation, allowing business leaders to gain insights from complex data sets across a range of operations, increasing efficiency and contributing to sustainability,” the company said. “The economics of sustainable transformation are improving and a positive trend identified in the research is that some financial barriers are shrinking over time.”

The percentage of respondents citing a lack of financial resources or government support has fallen significantly since the survey began, as has the need to prove a return on investment. This is likely due to multiple factors, including falling technology costs, greater access to ‘green’ funding sources, and greater government support for climate change.

Data is at the heart of managing climate change risk and data remains the key to managing climate risk – without it, companies don’t have insights into what’s driving their emissions.

“If companies have access to data as it is generated, they can respond to emerging issues, identify inefficiencies, and pivot where possible. Information is power, and real-time information is even more powerful,” Schneider added.