Sustainability | TRIRIGA Study Reveals Key Strategies To Achieve Sustainability Goals

While most large organizations measure energy and environmental performance, only one-third of organizations have successfully "crossed the sustainability chasm" to achieve their sustainability objectives, according to a new report titled " Crossing the Sustainability Chasm: Strategies and Tactics to Achieve Sustainability Goals "¹ by TRIRIGA and in collaboration with Gartner, Inc.

The study identifies key strategies and tactics used by organizations who achieved their sustainability goals based on a thorough analysis of a recent wide-ranging survey of 130 professionals responsible for the planning and implementation of sustainability initiatives across large corporations and government agencies.
"The findings in TRIRIGA's report usefully highlight the strategies and tactics that leaders in more sustainable real estate have prioritized and implemented," according to the Sustainability Roundtable, Inc.'s CEO, Jim Boyle, and EVP of Research and Consulting, Michael Gresty. "The report corroborates what member-clients served by the Sustainability Roundtable, Inc. know, which is that executives who develop and implement a portfolio strategy for greater sustainability focused on energy efficiency as the foundation of their sustainability efforts and who measure and manage for results can achieve their objectives while they create enterprise value."

From a strategy perspective, 91 percent of Achievers -- those organizations that successfully achieved their targeted reduction goals -- invest in improved facility energy efficiency and plan to continue and expand this over the next 3 to 5 years. Other key strategies prioritized by Achievers included improved equipment servicing and maintenance (77 percent) and improved space utilization (75 percent). Surprisingly, implementation of alternative or renewal energy, management of greenhouse gas emissions and trading within carbon initiatives were undertaken by only a small number of survey respondents.

For 55 percent of Achievers, energy and environmental performance ranked as a top-five priority within their organization's real estate and facilities priorities and a top-ten priority for 89 percent. This finding makes sense when the impact of facilities is understood -- facilities consume more than 70 percent of electricity, more than 13 percent of potable water and generate approximately 40 percent of carbon emissions².

When asked which tactics were used to reduce energy use in facilities, a majority of Achievers identified three key tactics as priorities: operational improvements to reduce maintenance downtime and costs (73 percent); investment in building retrofit projects to improve efficiency of existing assets (61 percent); and implementation of space management programs to improve space utilization (55 percent).

When asked which factor is most important when prioritizing energy and environmental efficiency projects, Achievers ranked increasing efficiency of worst performing facilities as their priority. To support this analysis, 36 percent of Achievers said their organizations collect energy information for all buildings in the portfolio, while 25 percent of Planners and 9 percent of Stragglers said they collect the same. To overcome this and other reported challenges, many organizations that plan to achieve their sustainability goals will require IT investments in enterprise sustainability software, with strong facility management capabilities.

"This study validates the business need for a single technology platform to achieve sustainability goals within large organizations," said George Ahn, President and CEO of TRIRIGA. "TRIRIGA remains focused on helping its customers achieve their sustainability goals through the delivery of an integrated system for energy use analysis, project management, facility maintenance and space management."
What is the "Sustainability Chasm"?
The "sustainability chasm" refers to the gap that exists between two distinct groups of organizations as they seek to achieve their sustainability goals -- the first, a group of Achievers who successfully achieved their energy and environmental goals through the implementation of energy and environmental programs, and the second a mainstream group of Planners and Stragglers who have yet to achieve their goals.