Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Presenting energy management data to the C-suite

Effective energy management is one of the building blocks of decarbonisation. Therefore, presenting accurate, comprehensive and current energy management data to the C-suite or board of directors has never been more important.

Organisations are under pressure to set and reach their net-zero goals and must showcase how they will meet their targets with a detailed plan. Backing up and championing a net-zero strategy requires meaningful data.

Why is presenting energy management data to C-suite directors important?

Amidst the UK net-zero deadline, the Paris Climate Agreement, internal pressure from employees and external pressure from rising customer and supply chain expectations, c-suite directors are required to reduce their organisation’s carbon footprint.

Many organisations must also comply with mandatory schemes, such as Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) and the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS).

Many of these reports and disclosures are based on energy and carbon emissions data and contain recommendations for consumption reduction initiatives and energy efficiency improvements.

Energy efficiency and decarbonisation are company-wide efforts, and no plan can be successful without board-level support.

What makes an effective energy management strategy?

Energy is one of the main expenditures for businesses to consider, shoulder to shoulder with personnel, premises, and equipment.

Typically, larger organisations have a procurement team that focuses on purchasing energy at the best possible price and developing a risk strategy, while energy managers usually focus on reducing consumption and improve efficiency.

However, many organisations don’t have the in-house resources to manage these, so quite often procuring and managing energy falls to facilities, operations or even finance teams.

A powerful energy management strategy not only covers buying but also reducing energy consumption over time. This should include reviewing what the organisation does well, cutting out wasteful practices, pinpointing areas for improvement, in-depth data analysis and identifying savings opportunities while tracking progress throughout.

But you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Many organisations can’t effortlessly state their current energy use to then make reductions. This is why access to accurate, up-to date and presentable energy management data is vital.

What do C-suite directors need to know?

Directors need to understand and advocate their company’s position and plan to decarbonise their operations and mitigate climate change.

To support this, internal teams must ensure the organisation utilises the most efficient ways to control, monitor and report their energy use.

Methodical energy monitoring and analysis can reveal operating issues that affect performance and quality, as well as uncover efficiency opportunities.

Regardless of whether the performance of individual assets in your organisation’s portfolio is of interest, the C-suite will want collated, comparable data sets converted into clear and engaging representations of a site’s energy profile.

These visuals should support demonstrating the impact of energy efficiency efforts, making investment decisions about consumption reduction projects and new technologies, as well as encouraging and maintaining internal behavioural change.

Once an organisation understands its energy use, cost and carbon targets and the corresponding energy management strategy have a starting point. Setting and communicating targets not only indicates an organisation’s commitment to its supply chain and customers but drives accountability and aligning teams internally.

Top tips for energy managers on how to present energy data

  • Use charts to visually display data – Excel documents can be difficult to interpret and read.
  • Dashboards on your energy software can be shared showing comparative data (league tables against multiple sites within a portfolio that can be reviewed monthly / yearly).
  • Include drill-down functionality in your reporting to allow colleagues to interrogate the data further if they wish.
  • Present the data alongside the organisation’s targets.
  • Show granularity – electricity and gas should be recorded through half-hourly meter data.
  • Demonstrate the investment and ROI of major capital items, for example LED lighting and heating and cooling systems.

This article was provided by SystemsLink, the UK’s leading provider of energy management solutions.

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