Energy efficiency is in our DNA

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This blog series is about the Energy Action Program through which Schneider Electric has reduced its energy consumption by 9.2% since 2011. The blog series will focus on the energy efficiency solutions and the delivery model that were implemented in order to achieve these savings. 

Schneider Electric has been consistently committed to sustainable development. Sustainability is part of our business strategy and the way we go about our day to day work. From our commitment to reduce energy spend across the globe to encouraging employees to ride their bikes to work we are actively and loudly passionate about doing everything we can to contribute to building a sustainable and very green future.

Through this passion the Energy Action Program was born. Very simply, the Energy Action Program is about focusing on reducing our energy consumption and spend in Schneider Electric sites across the globe by implementing our energy management solutions, including ISO 50001 certification of our sites.

We have set up a model, which I will take you through in later posts in this series, which solidifies this commitment and passion in the form of a global contract between Energy and Sustainability Services (the Schneider Electric team that provides solutions and services that impact the entire energy management life cycle) and Schneider Electric Global Supply Chain who are responsible for our sites. With this arrangement we are following the same supplier-customer model that we follow with our external customers. Obviously in the case of the Energy Action Program Schneider Electric’s customer is another part of the Schneider Electric organization.

We’ve put a program in place to reduce our energy spend, what’s novel about this? A lot of companies have put energy efficiency programs in place. What’s different? The Energy Action Program wasn’t created to save us cash. Our energy spend is less that 1% of our total operating costs so, in theory, there are a number of other areas we could target before energy in order to reduce these costs. We are driving this focus around energy efficiency because we fundamentally believe that we should be a role model of world-class energy management in our own backyard; Schneider Electric sites. We want the world to know we care about the planet, contributing to a sustainable and green future, and that our energy management solutions are helping us to align our walk with our talk.

The Energy Action Program sits under our three year company program called Connect and is hosted under the Connect Everywhere component of this program. Results from the Energy Action Program also contribute to the Planet & Society Barometer, which is the way we as an organisation measure our performance against our sustainable development objectives. Some of the key achievements of the Energy Action Program since it was kicked off in 2011 include:

•  79 Schneider Electric sites have received ISO 50001 certification
• 9.2% energy consumption savings
• 263 Schneider Electric sites connected to StruxureWare Resource Advisor. Resource Advisor provides our site facility and energy managers with secure access to data, reports and summaries in order for them to drive energy and sustainability programs in their site.
• 347 Schneider Electric sites connected to StruxureWare Energy Operation. Energy Operation provides our site facility and energy managers with energy consumption information to help them and their organization optimize energy use and reduce operating expenses.

The Energy Action Program has started to become ‘business as usual’ for us. As the three year company program Connect draws to a close at the end of 2014, the focus on our energy efficiency through the Energy Action Program will become part of our daily operations- another sustainable practice embedded into our culture and the way we do business.

Because energy efficiency is in our DNA.