Acuity Brands – Acuity Brands Announces 2023 EarthLIGHT Report

EMR Analysis

More information on Acuity Brands: See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Neil Ashe (Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Acuity Brands): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Adam Handler (Director, Corporate Sustainability & Communications, Acuity Brands): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on the EarthLIGHT Report 2023 by Acuity Brands: See the full profile on EMR Executive Services 

More information on Distech Controls®: See the full profile on EMR Executive Services 

More information on Peter Han (President, Intelligent Spaces Group, Acuity Brands): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services 

More information on Martin Villeneuve (President, Distech Controls + Senior Vice President Distributed Building Technologies, Acuity Brands): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services 

More information on KE2 Therm Inc. by Acuity Brands: https://ke2therm.com/ + KE2 Therm is a developer and manufacturer of branded, intelligent refrigeration control solutions that use proprietary advanced controls algorithms, software, and controls. The company’s technology is specified by a wide range of end users, consultants and major OEM manufacturers of evaporators, walk-in freezers and coolers for both new install and retrofit refrigeration applications.

KE2 Therm seeks to save energy, preserve the environment, and improve profitability for its customers by delivering energy saving electronic solutions to the heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC-R) industry.

KE2 Therm was founded in 2009 by Patrick Holdmeyer to accelerate the penetration of smart digitized and connected refrigeration controllers in North America. The company is headquartered in Washington, Missouri. 

More information on Patrick Holdmeyer (President & Chief Executive Officer, K2Therm, Acuity Brands): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services 

More information on Atrius®: See the full profile on EMR Executive Services 

More information on the Atrius® State of Energy Management Report: https://atrius.com/state-of-energy-management/ + Smart Energy Decisions is a web-based information resource dedicated exclusively to addressing the needs of commercial, industrial, institutional, and municipal electric power customers. We deliver events, news, analysis, research and opinion to help our readers make better decisions. Our goal is to serve as a catalyst for change in support of the dramatic energy transformation taking place in the electric power market impacting large electric power customers, utilities and suppliers.

 

More information on IEA (International Energy Agency): https://www.iea.org + The IEA is at the heart of global dialogue on energy, providing authoritative analysis, data, policy recommendations, and real-world solutions to help countries provide secure and sustainable energy for all.

The IEA was created in 1974 to help co-ordinate a collective response to major disruptions in the supply of oil. While oil security this remains a key aspect of our work, the IEA has evolved and expanded significantly since its foundation.

Taking an all-fuels, all-technology approach, the IEA recommends policies that enhance the reliability, affordability and sustainability of energy. It examines the full spectrum issues including renewables, oil, gas and coal supply and demand, energy efficiency, clean energy technologies, electricity systems and markets, access to energy, demand-side management, and much more.

Since 2015, the IEA has opened its doors to major emerging countries to expand its global impact, and deepen cooperation in energy security, data and statistics, energy policy analysis, energy efficiency, and the growing use of clean energy technologies. 

More information on Net Zero: https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050 + The number of countries announcing pledges to achieve net zero emissions over the coming decades continues to grow. But the pledges by governments to date – even if fully achieved – fall well short of what is required to bring global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050 and give the world an even chance of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 °C. This special report is the world’s first comprehensive study of how to transition to a net zero energy system by 2050 while ensuring stable and affordable energy supplies, providing universal energy access, and enabling robust economic growth. It sets out a cost-effective and economically productive pathway, resulting in a clean, dynamic and resilient energy economy dominated by renewables like solar and wind instead of fossil fuels. The report also examines key uncertainties, such as the roles of bioenergy, carbon capture and behavioral changes in reaching net zero.

More information on Dr. Fatih Birol (Executive Director, International Energy Agency): https://www.iea.org/contributors/dr-fatih-birol

 

More information on The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi): https://sciencebasedtargets.org/ + The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a global body enabling businesses to set ambitious emissions reductions targets in line with the latest climate science. It is focused on accelerating companies across the world to halve emissions before 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions before 2050.

The initiative is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and one of the We Mean Business Coalition commitments. The SBTi defines and promotes best practice in science-based target setting, offers resources and guidance to reduce barriers to adoption, and independently assesses and approves companies’ targets.

• Defines and promotes best practices in emissions reductions and net-zero targets in line with climate science.
• Provides target setting methods and guidance to companies to set science-based targets in line with the latest climate science.
• Includes a team of experts to provide companies with independent assessment and validation of targets.
• Serves as the lead partner of the Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign, an urgent call to action from a global coalition of UN agencies, business and industry leaders that mobilizes companies to set net-zero science-based targets in line with a 1.5 degrees C future.

 

More information on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE): https://www.energy.gov + The mission of the Energy Department is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Budget Requests to Congress, Strategic Plan,  Agency Financial Report, and Annual Performance Plan/Reports provide information on DOE’s strategic goals and objectives, funding requested to achieve these goals and objectives, and details of DOE’s financial management and performance.

More information on Jennifer M. Granholm (Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy, USA): https://www.energy.gov/person/jennifer-m-granholm + https://www.linkedin.com/in/secgranholm/ 

 

 

 

EMR Additional Notes:

• ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance):
  • Refers to the three key factors when measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of an investment in a business or company. Most socially responsible investors check companies out using ESG criteria to screen investments.
  • ESG metrics are not commonly part of mandatory financial reporting, though companies are increasingly making disclosures in their annual report or in a standalone sustainability report.
  • There is not a standardized approach to the calculation or presentation of different ESG metrics.
    • Environmental: Conservation of the natural world
      • Climate change and carbon emissions
      • Air and water pollution
      • Biodiversity
      • Deforestation
      • Energy efficiency
      • Waste management
      • Water scarcity
      • …
    • Social: Consideration of people & relationships
      • Customer satisfaction
      • Data protection and privacy
      • Gender and diversity
      • Employee engagement
      • Community relations
      • Human rights
      • Labor standards
      • …
    • Governance: Standards for running a company
      • Board composition
      • Audit committee structure
      • Bribery and corruption
      • Executive compensation
      • Lobbying
      • Political contributions
      • Whistleblower schemes
      • …
  • Criteria are of increasing interest to companies, their investors and other stakeholders. With growing concern about he ethical status of quoted companies, these standards are the central factors that measure the ethical impact and sustainability of investment in a company.
  • Consequently, ESG analysis considers how companies serve society and how this impacts their current and future performance.
• CSR (Corporate Social Responsability):
  • Framework or business model that helps a company be socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public.
  • The purpose of CSR is to give back to the community, take part in philanthropic causes, and provide positive social value. Businesses are increasingly turning to CSR to make a difference and build a positive brand around their company.
  • CSR tends to target opinion formers – politicians, pressure groups, media. Sustainability targets the whole value chain – from suppliers to operations to partners to end-consumers.
• CSR vs. ESG:
  • CSR is a company’s framework of sustainability plans and responsible cultural influence, whereas ESG is the assessable outcome concerning a company’s overall sustainability performance.
  • The major difference between them is that CSR is a business model used by individual companies, but ESG is a criteria that investors use to assess a company and determine if they are worth investing in.

 

• Global Warming: Global warming is the long-term heating of Earth’s climate system observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere.
• Global Warming potential (GWP): 
  • The heat absorbed by any greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, as a multiple of the heat that would be absorbed by the same mass of carbon dioxide(CO2). GWP is 1 for CO2. For other gases it depends on the gas and the time frame.
  • Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e or CO2eq or CO2-e) is calculated from GWP. For any gas, it is the mass of CO2 which would warm the earth as much as the mass of that gas. Thus it provides a common scale for measuring the climate effects of different gases. It is calculated as GWP times mass of the other gas. For example, if a gas has GWP of 100, two tonnes of the gas have CO2e of 200 tonnes.
  • GWP was developed to allow comparisons of the global warming impacts of different gases.
• Greenhouse Gas (GHG):
  • A greenhouse gas is any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere. By increasing the heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases are responsible for the greenhouse effect, which ultimately leads to global warming.
  • The main gases responsible for the greenhouse effect include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor (which all occur naturally), and fluorinated gases (which are synthetic).

• Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC):
  • Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are a group of industrial chemicals primarily used for cooling and refrigeration. HFCs were developed to replace stratospheric ozone-depleting substances that are currently being phased out under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
  • Many HFCs are very powerful greenhouse gases and a substantial number are short-lived climate pollutants with a lifetime of between 15 and 29 years in the atmosphere.
• GHG Protocol Corporate Standard Scope 1, 2 and 3: https://ghgprotocol.org/ + The GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard provides requirements and guidance for companies and other organizations preparing a corporate-level GHG emissions inventory. Scope 1 and 2 are mandatory to report, whereas scope 3 is voluntary and the hardest to monitor.
  • Scope 1: Direct emissions:
    • Direct emissions from company-owned and controlled resources. In other words, emissions are released into the atmosphere as a direct result of a set of activities, at a firm level. It is divided into four categories:
      • Stationary combustion (e.g fuels, heating sources). All fuels that produce GHG emissions must be included in scope 1.
      • Mobile combustion is all vehicles owned or controlled by a firm, burning fuel (e.g. cars, vans, trucks). The increasing use of “electric” vehicles (EVs), means that some of the organisation fleets could fall into Scope 2 emissions.
      • Fugitive emissions are leaks from greenhouse gases (e.g. refrigeration, air conditioning units). It is important to note that refrigerant gases are a thousand times more dangerous than CO2 emissions. Companies are encouraged to report these emissions.
      • Process emissions are released during industrial processes, and on-site manufacturing (e.g. production of CO2 during cement manufacturing, factory fumes, chemicals).
  • Scope 2: Indirect emissions – owned:
    • Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy, from a utility provider. In other words, all GHG emissions released in the atmosphere, from the consumption of purchased electricity, steam, heat and cooling. For most organisations, electricity will be the unique source of scope 2 emissions. Simply stated, the energy consumed falls into two scopes: Scope 2 covers the electricity consumed by the end-user. Scope 3 covers the energy used by the utilities during transmission and distribution (T&D losses).
  • Scope 3: Indirect emissions – not owned:
    • Indirect emissions – not included in scope 2 – that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, including both upstream and downstream emissions. In other words, emissions are linked to the company’s operations. According to GHG protocol, scope 3 emissions are separated into 15 categories.

 

 

• HID Lamps:
  • HID stands for high-intensity discharge, which indicates that bulbs are brighter than standard headlights. An HID headlight contains an HID light bulb, which consists of two electrodes encased in a glass enclosure. This enclosure is filled with xenon gas and metal salts.
  • Unlike the broad coverage of a fluorescent lamp, HID lighting produces intense light on a small area.
  • HID bulbs are generally more powerful in the dark

 

• Business Resource Groups (BRG):
  • Business Resource Groups (BRGs) differ from Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) because they have explicit goals which are tied directly to objectives of the business. Thus, the BRG will have goals for recruiting and business development – which are monitored and regularly reported.
•  Employee Resource Groups (ERG):
  • Employee resource groups are groups of employees who join in their workplace based on shared characteristics or life experiences. ERGs are generally based on providing support, enhancing career development, and contributing to personal development in the work environment.
• Diversity Councils:
  • Diversity Councils provide insights and information that are reflected in the organization and beyond, and they are a sounding board with which managers can engage to accelerate the advancement of inclusion and diversity efforts.
  • ERGS are voluntary, employee-led groups that foster a diverse, inclusive workplace.