Buildings are costly – for your bottom line and for the environment. Optimizing their efficiency solves both issues

Boost building efficiency, save money, and reduce carbon emissions with Capgemini’s Energy Command Center

The US is home to approximately six million commercial buildings – all of which consume large amounts of energy, draw on company budgets, and create carbon emissions that contribute to the environmental pollution and resource depletion that is accelerating climate change.

In spite of global efforts to increase the sustainability of buildings and construction, the built environment continues to account for a staggering 37 percent of global carbon emissions. For organizations that invest heavily in land and commercial real estate – whether for office space, manufacturing and distribution facilities, or commercial storefronts – ensuring buildings are energy-efficient not only helps to keep global carbon emissions in check, but also reduces budgetary impact at a time when every dollar counts.

But benchmarking and tracking your buildings’ energy consumption and emissions can be difficult. The challenge is in getting a clear picture of emissions and consumption across multiple assets – and often numerous regions. It takes just the right integrated datasets along with robust and actionable insights to optimize efficiency and reduce energy consumption.

Our new tool is making that happen by helping companies effectively reduce energy consumption by up to 30 percent – and qualify for Energy Star certification.

Reducing energy use is about data management

Whether your organization operates a handful of commercial real estate assets or hundreds of facilities around the globe, optimizing for efficiency is an exercise in data management.

Most building owners simply don’t have the ability to see, gather, and consolidate the data they need to understand the problems – and solutions. Capturing data around energy consumption and emissions from disparate building systems such as heating and cooling, lighting, and ventilation requires a platform that can integrate inputs from diverse sources and systems, analyze them, and provide intelligent insights on how to optimize operations.

Capgemini’s Energy Command Center (ECC) is a unique new smart building management system that brings data together from various sources to offer a comprehensive view of the energy consumption of a building or a portfolio of assets. This control tower not only monitors existing systems, it also offers guidance on how to optimize them and layer in investments in renewables. It even suggests optimal locations and potential geographic moves based on costs and consumption patterns.

Data insights are key to Energy Star certification

With expense mitigation a top priority for companies in many sectors, every dollar saved on energy costs has the potential to increase operational margins. But energy savings are also proof positive that companies are taking measurable steps toward sustainability, which can be critical when it comes to regulatory compliance and marketability to customer segments.

The Energy Star program was designed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help organizations adopt cost-saving energy efficiency solutions that protect the climate. It’s also a stamp of approval with wide recognition. Energy Star-certified buildings use 35 percent less energy than average buildings, and enjoy lower utility bills. This enables asset owners to secure better financing terms. Their buildings often have higher property values, and can command a sales price of one to five percent more than average. 

Commercial asset owners that get their buildings qualified for Energy Star certification not only save money, but also have more leverage when it comes to attracting tenants, building rental income, and meeting compliance requirements. Within the federal government, for example, tenants are only allowed to occupy Energy Star-certified buildings.

At Capgemini, we’re working on ensuring our properties and those of our clients meet these stringent standards, too. And Energy Command Center is playing a key role, enabling companies to boost their Energy Star score by 25 points.

Walking the walk on sustainability

When we first developed Energy Command Center, piloting it with our own assets was the obvious choice. We shaped and deployed the tool with in-house engineering expertise and rigor, and tested it across our large footprint in India.

Thanks to our long history of systems integration, along with our expertise in utilities and building infrastructure, we designed a comprehensive and partner-agnostic system that works. And by collaborating with certification agencies like Energy Star, we were able to align ECC with climate strategies and sustainability goals in a bid to transform our physical environment.

This unique tool is now helping our clients and partners reduce their energy consumption and their carbon footprint – and we’re proud to envision its potential for creating positive global change. After all, acting on climate change is at the heart of our corporate priorities, and helping clients to reduce inefficiencies, build strong value propositions, and create the kind of future we all want is ultimately why we do what we do.

Learn more about how Capgemini is leading sustainability.