Today Pace Global announced its integrated data management system, ECM Hub, which brings the worlds of energy and carbon management together like never before. The ECM Hub (short for Energy and Carbon Management Hub) combines Pace Global's proven web-based systems, Energy Zone® and ecolink®, into one seamless solution. The powerful combination of these two landmark systems means that users can efficiently manage energy and sustainability data across their enterprise.
The ECM Hub is a SaaS solution (software combined with unparalleled service) to manage costs, mitigate risk, and make informed decisions. Uncertainty in the energy markets is the only constant and the ECM Hub provides a central knowledge platform for managing this complexity. With the ECM Hub, corporate managers spend less time collecting and trying to organize information; instead freeing them to spend time developing strategies and engaging initiatives that lower cost and create sustained value.
Whoever said energy and carbon management has to be expensive and time intensive?
The ECM Hub is provided to facilities at a fraction of the cost of competing enterprise software deployments or internal ‘do it yourself' options. With over 9,000 facilities worldwide already gaining a competitive advantage through our platform and a 30-year history as trusted advisors, Pace Global understands the unique challenges faced by corporate managers responsible for energy and environmental management. Pace Global's expertise, combined with our large scale and proven data management processes, enables us to provide an unparalleled value proposition.
Now that the EPA has finalized the first-ever mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting rules (see Pace's Summary of the EPA Rule) within the U.S., it is clear that organizations must re-think their carbon accounting programs by looking to the future today. The complex GHG data and calculation requirements established by this GHG reporting regulation commence in January 2010 and current approaches implemented by most organizations are out of alignment with this rule. Here, I discuss two specific reasons to modify your current GHG accounting and energy management practices.
- Spreadsheet-based reporting will no longer be adequate: Many organizations currently track carbon and sustainability data within Excel-based spreadsheets managed by internal resources. EPA will not accept these files for annual GHG inventory reports. Rather, reporters will need to transmit GHG inventory reports, supporting data, and unit and facility information electronically via an XML format. Alternatively, reporters can manually enter completed inventory records into the EPA system, but this approach will result in duplicative efforts and is prone to error. Pace's ecolink® solution (click here: ecolink), provides the data management, GHG emission calculation, and electronic submittal capabilities organizations require to comply with the EPA GHG reporting rule.
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EPA builds an exit ramp: Facilities that reduce GHG emission through operational or energy efficiency improvements or organizational changes can avoid future reporting obligations. If a facility can prove it has reduced emissions below the 25,000 metric tonne threshold for five consecutive years or below 15,000 tonnes for three years, the owner/operator can apply to remove that facility from the program. Successful organizations will have the ability to identify, implement, and track efficiency opportunities at the rapid pace dictated by modern business conditions. Pace's ecolink® solution puts these capabilities at your fingertips in a web-enabled environment, that allows for sharing of best practices across all your facilities.
The age of regulated greenhouse gas emissions and scrutinized environmental performance is here, creating a wide range of challenges for businesses today. As organizations begin to prepare for compliance, top decision makers will quickly need to decide how best to manage these direct compliance risks along with much broader business requirements. While compliance regulation may get management's immediate attention with the advent of the EPA rule, there are strong business requirements at play from customers, investors and supply chain partners that impact every aspect of business operations. The answer: Be proactive and get a handle on your GHG emissions performance by developing an integrated carbon and energy management program that allows your organization to tie energy and carbon liabilities and opportunities to strategic business initiatives - the evolving market dynamics will demand it.
Welcome to the new ‘Energy and Carbon Management Blog' from Pace. We hope this blog will provide an informative and interactive forum for Pace's clients and the greater market. Going forward, we will provide periodic posts on a wide range of issues related to enterprise carbon, energy, and sustainability challenges that are rapidly evolving and management practices that meet these challenges head-on and provide competitive advantage. Our unique perspective will leverage Pace's insight achieved through over 30 years of providing clients with energy and carbon management and advisory services.
Energy markets continue to evolve rapidly, placing even greater challenges upon our clients at a time when businesses are reducing resources. Doing more with less requires greater leveraging of technology. Effective energy management must be informed by organized and readily accessible data. Energy Managers should spend their time using this data to drive actions and decisions, not compiling it. Pace continues to invest in and develop state-of-the-art energy and carbon management systems, such as EnergyZone® and ecolinkSM for the sole purpose of providing the most comprehensive and value-added energy services available. This enables us to focus our expertise, as well, on strategic matters and program execution to assist our clients in tackling growing energy challenges.
We look forward to sharing our insights and creating an effective, open channel for constructive dialog.
Sincerely,
Fred James
EVP, Industrial Markets