Sustainability & Facilities/Operations in 2022
A convergence of forces is driving the need for companies to rethink what sustainability means to their business and facilities operations. From increased regulations for the health and safety of customers and employees, to economic factors such as rising energy costs and advanced smart building technologies becoming more affordable. Those same forces are changing the role of Operations Technology (OT) professionals. Most OT professionals have always been under pressure to deliver savings or efficiencies, but now they need to deliver increased sustainability while also protecting the company’s reputation. Many well recognized companies are pledging to be carbon negative within a decade, such as Microsoft who details their commitment in this blog here.
Where do OT professionals stand on Sustainability?
As I talk to OT professionals, I have seen cases of needing to push back on sustainability goals, but NOT due to a lack of support for our planet and environment! The push back is often based upon lack of budget support and already strained OT resources, especially during the pandemic! We all know OT professionals are deeply practical professionals, focused on operational excellence and saving money to the company’s bottom line. Sustainability leaders can be perceived by some to have their head in the clouds or responding to pressure from public relations teams. Sustainability goals are going to continue to take front and center in 2022 and the advances in technology have finally arrived to affordably connect and optimize the efficiency across all facilities areas, including HVAC, Refrigeration, Lighting, Energy/Utilities, and Solar to name a few. In fact, according to KPMG, 80% of top companies now report on sustainability and the depth and breadth of reporting continues to grow.
What are your 2022 goals for energy efficiencies, clean energy use and decarbonization?
Often the bottom line for energy professionals is cost savings measured by reduced utility bills, while Sustainability is often measured with data collected and reported from all the energy and emissions produced by the company. Most facilities vendors and OT service providers now provide more intelligent software and hardware tools to monitor and optimize energy usage across all building and facilities systems. Is it that easy, no way! Gaining access to OT systems through corporate IT networks has been a significant challenge for most companies before NuOz began offering dedicated OT networks!
What challenges are you facing with connecting all your facilities systems?
- One or more OT vendors were grandfathered on IT networks, but NO new vendors
- 3rd party vendor remote access or monitoring of systems is denied for security reasons
- Legacy software & end of life systems have vulnerabilities that create security holes
- Building dedicated OT networks or managing fleets of modems is more full time work
- Installing dedicated last-mile connectivity can take months and very high monthly costs
- Your OT vendors use networking technologies unfamiliar to IT – BacNet, Echelon, etc
- Troubleshooting OT technology is taking up more and more of your time!
These and many more challenges are facing OT professionals every day. NuOz is dedicated to improving the lives of OT teams and enabling them to achieve the best business results along with the evolving sustainability goals! NuOz has specialized experience with medium to large enterprises with industry-leading affordable dedicated OT networks that solve these common challenges.
