Smart Technology Supports ESG Strategies

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) has gained a greater deal of traction and awareness over the last decade. It is increasingly a focus for building owners and operators of large commercial buildings as they face pressure to make their buildings more environmentally friendly and remain competitive. There is a need to maintain tenants and hit criteria around strong corporate management to satisfy shareholders. It is also more frequently on the agenda of investors; they want to invest in companies with strong ESG scores as they are viewed as low risk and more equipped to take advantage of opportunities.

Outside of investment, ESG ratings are also a highly valuable internal benchmarking tool for end clients. They can aid with decision making, boost sustainability performance, and reveal an organisation’s competitive position (Smart Spaces).

Smart technology supports ESG strategies by reducing energy usage and wastage through IoT devices, improving occupant health and wellbeing by optimising environments improving comfort and providing clear data insight, converging siloed systems and presenting data in a useable format. This, therefore, allows business owners to make informed decisions, improves audit processes and delivers cost savings.

Using smart technology in retrofits and new builds makes good business sense for all areas of ESG criteria.

How can smart technology support the ‘E’ in ESG?

The Environmental part of ESG is probably the most widely understood, it involves the company’s impact on the planet. This is a topic that is often discussed in the industry and there is pressure from the government for the built environment to hit net-zero carbon targets. The recent COP26 conference in Glasgow highlighted AI and Digital Twins as two technologies that could support the decarbonisation of buildings.

Smart-city solutions such as air quality monitoring, energy use optimization, and electricity, water, and waste tracking can produce results such as 10-15% fewer GHG emissions, 30-130 fewer kilograms of solid waste per person per year, and 25-80 litres of water saved per person per day (Climate Foresight).

A network of connected devices, sensors and systems that collect data continuously are required. This data should then be fed into an analysis platform that translates the raw data into actionable insights by utilising AI and Machine Learning. Alerts can be used to notify building managers if something requires human intervention and other more simplistic actions can be automated.

How can smart technology support the S in ESG?

The Social element contains many aspects surrounding people and reputation. It is viewed as the ‘softer’ part of ESG but in recent times it has been taken more seriously by building owners and landlords. COVID has accelerated focus on health and wellbeing and the impact of a building on occupant’s safety.  

 Smart technology such as IoT devices, sensors and AI can improve working environments, optimising the lighting, temperature, acoustics, etc. depending on the task being carried out. This, in turn, can improve productivity, mood and create a more pleasant working environment that is catered to individual needs.

 In addition, air quality, water quality, occupancy, cleaning schedules and more can be monitored for safety.  Real-time data can also provide feedback on things like preventative maintenance, allowing issues to be fixed ahead of time and faults such as leaks to be quickly identified - further improving the safety of people within the building.

How can smart technology support the ‘G’ in ESG?

Governance is often overlooked when people talk broadly about ESG, however, it is obviously hugely important when it comes to aspects such as ethics, equality, diversity, cybersecurity, reporting and policy.

S&P Global assesses companies’ governance performance by assessing four factors: structure and oversight, code and values, transparency and reporting, and cyber risk and systems (SP Global).

Smart technology probably has the least to offer this category of the framework, but it can still add value in terms of transparency of data, accuracy, convergence of data from multiple systems and sending it to the cloud or a central single source such as a BMS or Smart Building IoT Platform. Having quality data that can be utilised effectively, combined with AI for automated decisions and alerts and providing user-friendly reports allows informed decisions to be made. This also feeds into preventative maintenance and cybersecurity.

We have more devices connected to the internet than ever before, which inevitably leaves us more vulnerable to cyberattacks. But smart tech companies are clamping down on this and certification is also ensuring cybersecurity is taken seriously.

How can amBX SmartCore support ESG strategies?

At amBX, we design and develop software solutions for smart buildings and smart lighting. The aim is to improve the smart building industry with open, interoperable solutions. Our software platform, SmartCore, is a flexible solution that is used to empower our partners, enabling them to deliver advanced integration, connectivity and data visualisation within buildings.

We support ESG strategies by converging building data, unifying siloed systems, connecting buildings to the cloud, a third-party analytics platform or integrating with a BMS or Smart Building IoT platform. We also offer a range of user interfaces to allow building owners to view and interact with data, in addition, we develop custom solutions to support our customers and partners further.

We have spent many years developing our circadian lighting algorithms. They provide fine-tuned, granular, spectrum-controlled support, replicating natural light as closely as possible - providing maximum support to occupant’s natural circadian rhythms. This leads to improvements in mood, sleep/wake cycles, productivity and cognitive function – dramatically improving wellbeing. This is coupled with the ability to provide feedback on air quality, temperature, occupancy, etc. Our software can be easily embedded into other platforms to provide additional functionality and added value for our partners and their customers.

Request a demo of our software today or contact us to understand more about how we can support your business.