Is a data-driven approach the best route to net zero?

Now that the UK is committed to reducing its carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, businesses will have a key role to play in addressing their own emissions in order to meet this ambitious target. For many businesses, however, trying to determine the best path to net zero is a daunting challenge.

That’s because no matter how big your organisation’s carbon footprint is, finding ways to reduce it that are both practical and cost-effective for your business can be complex. However, it doesn’t have to be – by simply using the data you are potentially already collecting on your energy usage can help you to make well-informed decisions to ensure you’re taking the optimum path to net zero.

Here’s how harnessing your energy data can help you to:

Understand your current usage

Wherever your business is in its net zero journey, it’s vital that you understand your current consumption before you take any further action. If you don’t take the time to get to grips with your typical usage levels and patterns, then you may not be taking the best approach to decarbonisation for your business.

SystemsLink’s data automation service collects your energy data from a range of sources; we are currently working with more than 90 Data Collectors, AMR Providers, Suppliers and BEMS providers, to ensure that your consumption data is available close to real time. Furthermore, SystemsLink provides you with an at-a-glance view of your usage through our simple energy reporting dashboard. With this data at your fingertips, you should be able to easily identify any areas for energy efficiency improvements and develop a greater understanding of your typical consumption. Our Dashboard provides easy to interpret visual representations of data in a variety of graphs and widgets; for those that wish to take a deeper look into their consumption we provide a customisable reporting tool.

Set realistic goals

Sustainability is now a key focus on businesses’ agendas and an increasing number of these organisations are going public with their commitments.. In doing so, they can boost their CSR credentials. Before you make any public pledge, it is important to ensure that the goal you’re setting for your business is realistic. Setting an ambitious goal is commendable but setting a target that your organisation has no hope of achieving could have a negative impact on its reputation.

You can use your energy data to determine a target that’s both practical and manageable. Compare your current consumption with your usage two or five years ago – how has it changed? If you have managed to reduce your consumption by 20% in five years, for example, then aiming to reduce it by a further 20% by 2025 seems like a reasonable target. Ensure you factor any efficiency measures you’re planning to take within that time frame into your energy reduction target to make it as accurate as possible.

Measure your success

Once you have a net zero target in place, it’s important to ensure that you’re making continuous progress towards achieving it. While implementing new measures to reduce your organisation’s carbon emissions is key, it’s just as important to constantly measure your progress, so you know whether the action you’re taking is enough to keep you on track.

SystemsLink makes it easy for you to report on your progress, with a range of options to enable you to create reports that are completely customised to your business’s goals. If you have multiple sites, you can even rank each site according to their performance, so you can create a sense of competition between your sites and motivate staff to engage with your green initiatives. Having solid data to prove the success of your current decarbonisation efforts can also provide you with the evidence you need to build a business case for future investment in carbon reduction measures.

Use data to drive decarbonisation in your business

Could your business benefit from taking a more data-driven approach to net zero? SystemsLink’s software can help you to use your data to make more well-informed decarbonisation decisions. To find out more, call us on 01234 988 855 or email us on sales@systems-link.com.