Energy consumes a significant portion of a company’s expenses; it’s the energy your company uses, converts, and discharges that produces its profits. Getting a handle on how you use energy, how much energy costs you, and how much energy you waste can be a real eye-opener. Small changes in energy usage can have dramatic effects on a business.
Analytics
Many business intelligence providers offer sustainability management tools designed to measure, manage, and provide data on key energy, environmental, economic, and social indicators. In addition to helping you meet your company’s green goals, sustainability management tools can also help you use your resources more economically.
Automating reporting will ensure end-to-end data gathering and presentation to those who need the analytical data. Performance monitoring can be used to look at how energy is used within your business and makes you aware of how various areas are
meeting planned goals.
Real-time energy monitoring can help to reduce a company’s overall energy consumption pinpointing where energy is being used with no real benefit, such as leaving production machinery running when workloads are low, heating areas when not in use, or fully lighting areas that only need a minimum amount of light. Real-time energy monitoring lets you identify which facilities are underutilized or operating at peak usage, allowing you to make production decisions on the fly.
Supply chain monitoring may seem counterintuitive, but not paying attention to a supplier’s energy use could result in higher production costs for your company. It can also help companies uncover anomalies early, signaling possible production delays.
The ability of business analytics to consolidate data into quickly understood information can be applied to the greening process. By monitoring current usage against desired goals, and tracking your usage over time, you can use business analytics to increase your overall efficiency, as well as to document any compliance goals you need to meet.
The Cloud
The average business PC only uses up to 20% of its computing capacity. Most of the time, corporate PCs sit idle, consuming energy but not accomplishing much of anything. We’ll get to that point later.
Cloud computing is promoted as a way to store data so that it’s available to any device, anytime, anywhere a connection to the cloud (Internet) is available. Although that’s true, that’s only half the picture. The cloud is also a post-effective way to provide software services, virtualization, and scalable computing resources. Instead of purchasing new, faster desktop computers for everyone, you can grab the necessary computing power from the cloud. Remember that 20% usage rate? Move to cloud-based services and you extend the life of your PCs. You obtain a green benefit by reducing short-term recycling needs; an economic benefit by reducing short-term PC purchases; and a long-term green effect by concentrating your computing needs into a more easily manageable central site.
There are powerful economic factors pushing us toward cloud computing. One of the major reasons is the more efficient use of power by cloud computing providers. Spreading computing loads across many users as well as time zones improves hardware utilization, while at the same time spreading fixed costs over more servers and users.
Cloud-based services aren’t limited to classic office productivity applications. A wide range of commercial services is available to address almost the entire range of business needs. By moving these applications to the cloud, you also open up the possibility of true mobility. Some of your staff may be able to perform some or all of their work from home, reducing the overall energy footprint at the office. And of course the cloud keeps everyone connected when they’re traveling.
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