Achieving Sustainability Goals Through Carbon, Energy and Water Audits

A leading global textile and consumer goods logistics group, committed to minimizing its environmental impact, embarked on a journey to aggressively reduce its carbon footprint. Aligned with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) target, the group aimed to achieve a 42% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to a 2021 baseline.

Recognizing the significant contribution of their global office portfolio to overall emissions, the group partnered with TERAO to conduct comprehensive carbon, energy, and water audits, focusing initially on key office locations with high environmental impact. This case study details the audit process, key findings, and the resulting carbon improvement plan, demonstrating how TERAO helped the group take concrete steps to achieve its ambitious sustainability goals.

With a large and diverse global portfolio of assets, the group faces the challenge of standardizing and implementing effective carbon reduction measures across all locations. Different building systems, varying operational practices, and a lack of detailed data make it difficult to identify the most impactful areas for improvement and develop a cohesive strategy. The group needs to have a clear understanding of its current emissions profile and the roadmap to achieving the SBTi targets.

TERAO conducted comprehensive carbon, energy, and water audits across the group’s offices in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and India. Our approach combined:

• Working closely with facility teams to collect accurate data on energy and water consumption, building systems, and operational practices.
• Conducting thorough site visits to analyze building systems, identify inefficiencies, and understand operational nuances.
• Using building energy modeling tools and in-depth analysis to reveal potential optimization opportunities.

Data analysis showed that electricity consumption accounted for 92% of total emissions, with refrigerants contributing 7.5% and water use less than 0.5%. Energy consumption is closely correlated with power usage, higher power usage leads to greater energy demand. Offices using chiller systems for cooling have significantly higher energy consumption than those using VRV systems.

The audits revealed significant variations in energy consumption and emissions profiles across the audited locations. Key areas for improvement included:

• Energy Efficiency: Opportunities were identified to enhance the performance of building systems, including lighting, HVAC, and equipment through advanced strategies and appropriate operating procedures.

Office area with fluorescent tubes

• Resource Management: Assessed potential for reducing water consumption and minimizing waste generation through targeted conservation measures and optimized resource management practices.
• Refrigerant Management: The audits highlighted the need for a strategic approach to refrigerant selection, management, and leak detection to minimize fugitive emissions and their associated environmental impacts.
• Optimizing operations: There are opportunities to improve operational practices and raise sustainability awareness within facility teams.

TERAO developed a comprehensive carbon improvement plan, categorizing Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs) by action type and investment level. Refrigerant and water are not relevant in terms of CO2eq compared to energy. A total of 53 ECMs were identified across the audited offices, averaging 8.8 ECMs per building. These measures targeted energy and water conservation, lighting upgrades, HVAC optimization, refrigerant management, and improved monitoring through submetering. 40% of the actions do not require any investment and would lead to 8.3% of CO2 emission reductions.

The implementation of the recommended ECMs has the potential to achieve a 36% reduction in CO2 emissions across the audited office locations. Notably, operational improvements, requiring minimal capital investment are projected to deliver a significant portion of the overall emissions reduction potential.

Key recommendations:

• Implement scheduling for HVAC and lighting systems to optimize energy usage based on occupancy and operational needs.

• Maximize the use of natural lighting.
• Provided guidance on refrigerant management strategies, considering both environmental impact and cost-effectiveness, to minimize fugitive emissions.

Terao’s building energy modeling tools enable detailed analysis of energy consumption, revealing previously unidentified optimization opportunities. Our experience and understanding of best practices in sustainable building management ensure that our clients receive comprehensive solutions that maximize impact and minimize disruption.

Ready to accelerate your sustainability journey? Contact TERAO today to schedule a consultation to discuss your sustainability challenges and learn how we can help you achieve your environmental goals.