THOUGHT LEADER
Strategise
• Create decarbonisation roadmap
Digitise
• Track embodied carbon
• Measure and monitor energy and carbon
Decarbonise
• Reduce energy and carbon through automation
• Purchase offsite renewables
• Electrify transportation
• Upgrade building systems and electrical infrastructure
• Install onsite renewables
• Limit embodies carbon
• Offset residual carbon emissions
So there ’ s clearly quite a bit to do , but let ’ s look specifically at reducing energy and carbon through automation .
Reducing energy and carbon through automation Buildings feel pretty static but they ’ re living breathing entities . Air conditioning , heating , ventilation , security , access management – utilising modern building and power management systems is essential to have control of facilities .
Space utilisation data is typically underutilised in buildings . Very few of us go to an office now every day at eight in the morning and leave it at five . Buildings are very dynamic , unpredictable and challenging to manage at times , given the kind of mixed use environment and hybrid work style . If you can extend the life of assets or
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make them run more efficiently , you ’ re helping both operational efficiency and reducing the carbon that would be required to refresh that equipment .
Applying AI to automate and control it has a significant impact on the operations and carbon intensity of the building .
How much do each of these steps impact a given building ? How much does automation and AI actually make a difference , compared to all of the other potential retrofits that you can do for a building ?
108 February 2025