Energy savings climb the corporate ladder

Energy savings and business opportunities are driving sustainability inside major corporate organisations rather than carbon emissions and concerns about public profile.

Major corporations, who spoke at the most recent meeting of the Green Monday network for corporate sustainability heads, said the European economic crisis was driving cost cuts making energy efficiency attractive to business leaders.

The HVCA is a sponsor of the network and hosted a roundtable discussion on the Green Deal at the meeting, which was held at the headquarters of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Head of Sustainability David Frise chaired a session where local authority; retail and industry representatives expressed serious reservations about the Government’s flagship energy saving policy. 

End users are suspicious about the promise of future energy savings, the roundtable heard. Green Monday members were concerned this would make them reluctant to commit to repay grants secured under the Green Deal and based on predicted reductions in their energy bills.

Delegates were more persuaded by the arguments of the corporate sustainability chiefs who say the potential bottom line financial savings are more likely to shape the future energy saving market.

Broadband
For example, BT’s director of energy and carbon Richard Tarboton told the meeting that his company had saved £60m in three years from basic energy efficiency measures, and had simultaneously created a whole new revenue stream by offering energy saving services via its broadband networks.

BT, which accounts for 0.7% of the total energy supply in the UK, installed 22,000 smart meters across its estate, which created £13m worth of savings; variable speed drives cut another £12m from its bill and simply switching equipment off cut another £10m from its annual £250m energy costs.

‘You must get in front of the CEO with a solid business case for energy efficiency and sustainability,’ said Tarboton, whose carbon and energy team has grown from three to 28 people in three years. ‘There are £6bn worth of energy savings to be had in the UK – that is a big opportunity.’

However, sustainability initiatives will only be successful if they gave companies a competitive edge said Kersten Barth from Siemens, which made 37% of its revenues last year in environmental products. The company has also set up a bank to finance energy efficiency projects.

Jerry Hardcastle of Nissan said his company was taking on the challenge of reshaping the internal combustion engine and expected to reap the benefits of an electric car market that would be up to one million vehicles by 2016.

Doug Johnston, director of climate change and sustainability at Ernst & Young, said the businesses he was advising insist that any sustainability strategy has to make their companies more successful by improving value for money. ‘This is no longer an optional, nice to have – it is something that helps the business perform better during a recession.’

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