Acuity Brands – Acuity Brands Announces 2024 EarthLIGHT Report
ATLANTA, Dec. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI) (“Acuity,” “Company”), a market-leading industrial technology company, released its annual EarthLIGHT Report highlighting many of its Fiscal Year 2024 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) accomplishments and sharing progress on certain strategic priorities.
“Our strategy is manifested through EarthLIGHT. The EarthLIGHT Report is a way for us to show how building a stronger business and helping to have a positive environmental impact go hand in hand,” said Neil M. Ashe, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Acuity Brands.
Key highlights included in the 2024 EarthLIGHT Report:
- Achieved improved operating performance in fiscal 2024 that delivered end-user satisfaction and improved financial results.
- Achieved year-over-year progress in the Company’s Associate Engagement Survey, placing Acuity in the top 5% high-performing normative group of participating companies for exceptional financial performance and HR engagement practices.
- Enabled an estimated 34 million metric tons of greenhouse gas avoidance from fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2024 through the use of the Company’s put-in-place products and services.
- Continued to invest in operational energy efficiency by installing a Tesla Megapack at the Santa Rosa Production Facility, which helps to optimize existing power infrastructure and reduce energy costs.
- Implemented water saving practices at the Guadalupe and Santa Rosa Production Facilities in Mexico.
For more information and to download a copy of the Fiscal 2024 EarthLIGHT Report, click here.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to the Company’s plans, initiatives, projections, vision, goals, targets, commitments, expectations, objectives, prospects, strategies, or financial outlook, and the assumptions underlying or relating thereto. Our strategies for addressing ESG-related risks and opportunities and their potential effectiveness, our strategies and execution against our ESG priorities, and the potential impact of current and future applicable climate-related or other ESG-related regulations also constitute “forward‑looking statements.” In some cases, we may use words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “commit,” “target,” “seek,” “strive,” “believe,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “forecast,” “project,” “objectives,” “positioned,” or “plan” and words of similar meaning to identify forward-looking statements. We intend these forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Act. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Our forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions, which may not prove to be accurate, and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, assumptions, and other important factors, many of which are outside of our control and any of which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are discussed above and in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K (including, but not limited to, the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made. This report is not comprehensive, and for that reason, should be read in conjunction with such filings. Historical, current and forward-looking information included in this Report may be based on standards, methodology and practices for measuring progress that are still developing, internal controls and processes that continue to evolve, and assumptions that are subject to change. Accordingly, such historical, current and forward-looking information, including goals, targets and commitments and underlying assumptions and data, may be subject to modifications in future reports due to such developing standards, methodology, practices and controls and processes. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect any events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
SourceAcuity Brands
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 the Acuity Brands Sustainability Strategy, Performance and EarthLIGHT Report 2024: See full profile on EMR Executive Services
More information on Tesla: https://www.tesla.com/ + Accelerating the World’s Transition to Sustainable Energy. We design, develop, manufacture, sell and lease high-performance fully electric vehicles and energy generation and storage systems, and offer services related to our products. We generally sell our products directly to customers, and continue to grow our customer-facing infrastructure through a global network of vehicle showrooms and service centers, Mobile Service, body shops, Supercharger stations and Destination Chargers to accelerate the widespread adoption of our products. We emphasize performance, attractive styling and the safety of our users and workforce in the design and manufacture of our products and are continuing to develop full self-driving technology for improved safety. We also strive to lower the cost of ownership for our customers through continuous efforts to reduce manufacturing costs and by offering financial and other services tailored to our products.
Our mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. We believe that this mission, along with our engineering expertise, vertically integrated business model and focus on user experience differentiate us from other companies.
- 100k+ Employees
- One Mission
- 20.4 Mmt1 CO2e Avoided in 2023 (1 20.4 million metric tons is equivalent to over 48 billion miles of driving)
In 2023, we produced 1,845,985 consumer vehicles and delivered 1,808,581 consumer vehicles. In 2023, we deployed 14.72 GWh of energy storage products and 223 megawatts of solar energy systems. In 2023, we recognized total revenues of $96.77 billion, representing an increase of $15.31 billion, compared to the prior year.
More information on Elon Musk (Chief Executive Officer and DIrector, Tesla): https://ir.tesla.com/corporate
More information on Megapack by Tesla: https://www.tesla.com/megapack + Megapack stores energy for the grid reliably and safely, eliminating the need for gas peaker plants and helping to avoid outages. Each unit can store over 3.9 MWh of energy—that’s enough energy to power an average of 3,600 homes for one hour. Each battery module is paired with its own inverter for improved efficiency and increased safety. With over-the-air software updates, Megapack gets better over time.
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
- …
- Environmental: Conservation of the natural world
- 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 Responsibility):
- 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 here 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, while 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).
- 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).
- 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:
- 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.
- Scope 1: Direct emissions:
