How does sustainability help businesses save costs?

Sustainability has become one of the “must-haves” in today’s business context. Customers and investors are increasingly looking at a company’s environmental and social impacts when evaluating a product or service, and governments are setting ambitious carbon-reduction targets for as soon as 2030. But that doesn’t mean sustainability must be a cost center. Sustainability is often seen as creating an extra layer of costs and investment in equipment or raw materials. In reality, it’s possible to reduce business costs with sustainability after an initial investment that will pay for itself in the long run.

Sustainability is a driver of energy efficiency, because a more efficient energy consumption means lower emissions of greenhouse gases that are responsible for global warming. With the recent electricity price rise for high voltage energy users, businesses have an additional reason to re-evaluate their operations as they adapt to a new scenario ofunpredictable and rising energy costs. Energy efficiency therefore brings twin benefits: reducing costs, and creating a more sustainable business. 

Increasing energy efficiency is an important and immediate step that businesses can take to help save money during the renewable energy transition. This will deliver future savings after the initial investment is recouped. Because of its potential for cost savings, energy efficiency is taking on more importance in the drive to reach net-zero targets. Clean energy and efficient energy use are objectives that go hand in hand. 

Technology is a fundamental part of any strategy for businesses to save money on energy bills by becoming more sustainable through energy efficiency. When thinking about sustainability, the first question that comes to mind is often “How much will this cost?”. Sustainability is not necessarily a direct business cost. Along with social and environmental benefits, sustainability can help deliver bottom-line economic savings from making your operations more efficient. Different ways to become sustainable include:

• Reducing and making energy use more efficient
• Self-producing and storing clean energy (with things like Solar PV and Battery Storage), to reduce and eliminate carbon emissions
• Adopting models of circular economy
• Paying more attention to energy sources

Reducing and moving toward more efficient energy consumption has moved to the top of the list, because it means saving money on energy bills at a time when prices are rising or protecting your business from sudden spikes in energy costs. This could be realized by joining Enel X’s Virtual Power Plant and participating in the energy market via Taiwan Power Company’s Energy Trading Platform.

Don’t let sustainability be the last item on your check-list, use it to help you save today.

_{- Learn more about how Taipei 101 practices sustainability by joining our VPP: https://bit.ly/3PI7nKb}