When it comes to facility energy usage, conservation used to mean that lights and appliances were turned off or on as necessary. Now, high-end software helps run all the facilities in your commercial real estate portfolio as efficiently as possible—and that includes keeping on top of conservation and sustainability issues. The right software can help your organization track waste streams, energy usage and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and identify areas in need of improvement, all of which leads you toward a leaner and more efficient operation. Every organization wants to run as efficiently as possible; every budget dollar saved is one that can help further your mission, achieve your goals and reward the people who make it all happen.

Achieving your organization’s sustainability goals goes above and beyond saving money, however. You’ll also maintain regulatory compliance, which will keep your board and shareholders happy; you’ll also reduce your organization’s negative environmental impact, which will keep eco-conscious consumers happy. In a recent episode of HBR IdeaCast, a podcast produced by the Harvard Business Review, Dominic Barton, the global managing partner of consulting firm McKinsey & Company, commented upon the changing attitudes of corporations toward the issue of sustainability: When initially surveyed in 2012, most organizations viewed sustainability as an extension of existing cost-saving and efficiency efforts; by 2018, that view had switched, and most CEOs reported that their sustainability efforts were now part of their corporate values.

Corporate Sustainability Reporting Made Easy

Regardless of the drivers behind your corporate sustainability efforts, an Integrated Workplace Management System—an IWMS—will help you achieve your goals. Energy management requires sustained usage tracking. If you’re tracking CO2 and other GHG emissions, your IWMS will ensure that all your facilities and assets are included in your calculations. For enterprises with corporate real estate portfolios extending to dozens or even hundreds of buildings, the ability to monitor all energy usage from within a single integrated system is vital. You’ll be able to make decisions at the asset and portfolio level that can reduce waste and save energy and money.

Does It Make Financial and Environmental Sense?

If you’re considering replacing inefficient appliances with more modern ones, you’ll be able to run the numbers beforehand to see if it’s worth it. Today’s software lets you compare financial and environmental data points like energy savings and carbon footprint reduction. That side-by-side analysis lets you make the right decisions for your organization.

As sustainability tracking gets more detailed and encompasses more data points, an IWMS will adapt to handle it. An IWMS is designed to track, record and analyze all the information you need in a single database. Whether you’re tracking energy usage, waste streams, water usage, travel impact or carbon or other GHG measurements, your IWMS will be able to give you all the necessary information at your fingertips.

Smarter Buildings Lead to Greater Sustainability

Buildings are getting smarter all the time, as more and more Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled devices, when used in combination with a powerful IWMS, provide companies with massive volumes of data that may be used to streamline operations and move toward greater sustainability. Sensors in smart buildings monitor such aspects as room temperature, lighting and carbon dioxide emissions, providing you with an accurate and up-to-date picture of your overall energy usage. Your IWMS will use that information to pinpoint areas where improvements may be made. By working together, your smart buildings and your IWMS will cut costs and increase sustainability throughout your entire organization.

LEED Requirement Tracking

The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system is globally recognized as a standard of green building design, operation and maintenance. LEED certification may bring certain benefits in the form of tax and zoning incentives; in addition, LEED-certified buildings typically retain higher property values and lease and sell at faster rates than non-certified buildings.  If you’re managing capital projects that involve LEED certification, an IWMS will help you track corporate sustainability impacts and keep you on the path toward LEED-related goals, such as energy conservation and proper usage of green building materials. Your IWMS will also help you bring those projects in on time and within budget.

Getting Started

IBM TRIRIGA® is an IWMS geared toward organizations with millions of square feet in commercial real estate holdings. TRIRIGA’s Energy Manager module helps track GHG emissions, utility usage and waste; it can also help you achieve and maintain LEED certification and identify other areas where conservation may be useful. If corporate sustainability is important to you, TRIRIGA will help you make the best data-driven decisions to conserve energy, reduce waste and save money.

eCIFM, a certified value-added TRIRIGA reseller and premier IBM business partner, has helped hundreds of organizations get TRIRIGA up and running. We can help you customize TRIRIGA to suit your organization’s specific needs and help you achieve all your sustainability goals; we can also train you and your workers on TRIRIGA and upgrade you to the latest version, regardless of who originally installed it. If you’d like to learn more about what TRIRIGA can do for you, contact us to schedule a demo.