How does ActiveEnergy support your ESG ratings?
Berlin. October 2021. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a popular way for investors to evaluate companies, projects, or real estate they consider investing in. These criteria are standards for investors if they want their investments to be “sustainable” in one or several ways. ActiveEnergy energy and CO2 saving solution can be a first step on the decarbonization journey of buildings and thus support the environmental criterion of ESG.
The importance of actions and consequences
In our everyday lives, our actions have consequences. There is more than one good reason for the saying: “Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions.…” The chain continues, but what is important is that our actions have consequences. And while those consequences might not always be visible, that does not mean they don’t exist. When we board a flight to go on a work trip or holiday – that emits CO2. When we heat our homes, as many of us do now that the colder months of the year have started – that emits CO2. When consuming or producing a product – it emits CO2. Our actions and their consequences contribute to climate change. We need to find ways to lower emissions fast and meet the international climate goals. Every action and solution realizing lower CO2 emissions is necessary.
Energy efficiency is one of the largest unused energy resources
This is our mission at ActiveEnergy . A
publication by the European Commission showed that 75% of the building stock in the EU is energy inefficient. Those buildings are responsible for 40% of our energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions. An article by
Nordea, a leading Nordic universal bank, showed that eco-friendly buildings have lower operating costs and an increased building value, making both environmental and financial sense.We believe that energy efficiency is one of the largest unused energy resources. In response, we offer
ActiveEnergy to achieve more energy efficiency in buildings. The scalable solution can not only be implemented in new buildings. It also updates already existing ones. It is essential to modernize older buildings to meet the climate goals.
Start to decarbonize your building portfolio With our ActiveEnergy solution, ActiveEnergy offers a way of starting a building’s decarbonization journey. We evaluate building portfolios, analyze the energy consumption, and detect potential energy-saving opportunities. ActiveEnergy also offers strategic solutions to unlock those energy-saving potentials and thus reduce the energy consumption and the carbon footprint of a building or the wider portfolio.We support our customers and help them understand every step of the journey. One of ActiveEnergy ’ key values is transparency. And this we offer unmatched – when it comes to the savings, the real-time energy consumption tracking and the
exact saving calculations. Additionally, part of our service is a customer cloud and portal, accessible anytime and from everywhere. It enables our partners to track their energy consumption and savings as well as their CO2 savings. This facilitates yearly reporting for our customers, as well as their ability to be very detailed and correct in their communications with all stakeholders involved.
ESG goals are a meaningful contribution to lower CO2 emissions
ESG criteria are Environmental, Social, and Governance criteria sustainable investors consider. The environmental criterion shows how well a company performs when it comes to “saving the environment”. Are products and services contributing to sustainability? Is sustainability a part of the company’s everyday operation and business model? Are actions taken to reduce emissions? The E-criterion usually involves the compensation of carbon emissions and minimizing the effects of emitted CO2. The social criterion: Most people see the responsibility companies have for the society around them as well as for their employees. In exchange for their time, nerves and performance, they contribute to the success of a business venture. Labor rights, wages, working conditions, and diversity are thus key concerns of the S-criterion. Additionally, the social criterion of ESG also looks into how companies handle their relationships with customers, suppliers, and the communities where they operate. And lastly, there is the governance criterion. Investors want to know that a company uses accurate and transparent accounting methods and that stockholders are allowed to vote on important issues. They may also want assurances that companies avoid conflicts of interest in their choice of board members, don’t use political contributions to obtain unduly favorable treatment and, of course, don’t engage in illegal practices.
ESG Ratings need to be considered carefully
Rating agencies like Sustainalytics, MSCI and others are responsible for the measurement of ESG criteria. But the agencies don’t always rate in comparable ways. Thus different ratings need to be considered carefully. The
Wall Street Journal has been looking into the issue a little while ago. Recently, Tariq Fancy, BlackRock’s former sustainable investing CIO, famously published an essay on ESG,
The Secret Diary of a ‘Sustainable Investor’. He compares the sustainable investment sector to “selling the public a wheatgrass placebo as a solution to the onset of cancer.”
Reach your ESG goals with ActiveEnergy
ActiveEnergy offers step-by-step, straightforward, and easily implemented saving opportunities. After a first evaluation, the company chooses a customer-specific combination of hardware and software. After installation, significant energy and CO2 savings are realized. The solution is scalable for larger portfolios.
Evidently, ActiveEnergy focuses on actions supporting the environmental criterion of ESG. We accompany businesses and owners of larger building portfolios on their decarbonization journey. We believe that every measurement that results in less CO2 emissions is a much-needed one on our way to meet the climate goals. It is necessary to combine solutions and innovations and develop them further along the way. When every supermarket, every hospital, and every hotel is an active protector of the environment and reduces emissions, we have come a long way in reducing buildings’ carbon footprint. Until then there are steps to take.
