5 Ways Data Can Improve Your Sustainability Efforts

With an increased focus on sustainability, companies around the globe have set lofty goals to improve their carbon footprint. Sustainability efforts vary by company, region and benchmarks but one important piece to improving a company’s sustainability is the ability to track and manage progress.

Here are 5 ways that data can help companies track sustainability goals:

1. Baseline Usage

It’s crucial to sustainability efforts to know where you’re starting. From there, a company can create actionable and attainable goals for reducing its carbon footprint. Depending on current resources, you may want to improve the granularity of the data you have and isolate various high-users like HVAC equipment, refrigeration, etc. If you’re looking at electricity use, submetering various circuits can give you a better view on your consumption.

2. Find Inefficiencies

Once you’ve baselined your usage, it’s good to analyze that data and look for inefficiencies. Are there pieces of equipment that use more resources than necessary? Do you have policies in place to reduce usage when resources aren’t needed? With changing work landscapes, like COVID-19, are there ways to minimize or change the way energy is being used? Identify major inefficiencies that can have a drastic effect on your conservation efforts and your bottom line.

3. A/B Test Improvements

Now that you’ve found a few things to improve, try out different solutions to those problems. With a real-time data source, you can make assessments and adjustments often without waiting for a monthly or quarterly bill. Granular data will help you identify what’s working and what’s not.

4. Track Progress

Your company has set goals for sustainability, now follow the progress and use the data to your advantage. By continually tracking progress, you can make slight adjustments as needed as well as giving your team a better understanding of progress as you work toward success.

5. Analyze and Regroup

Your business will continue to evolve and the world will change around you. It’s important to analyze your progress and compare to your baseline often. Don’t be afraid to regroup and make changes to be more effective.

When trying to reduce or manage your utilities more efficiently, Vutility offers solutions that help you gain minute-by-minute insights on usage. The HotDrop is a versatile solution for submetering that’s easy-to-install and cost effective.

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