Written by Jean-Pascal Tricoire, CEO Schneider Electric,  and Francesco Starace, CEO and General Manager, Enel.

At Schneider Electric, we provide energy and automation digital solutions for efficiency and sustainability.  We combine world-leading energy technologies, real-time automation, software and services into integrated solutions for homes, data centers, infrastructure and industries.  We make process and energy safe and reliable, efficient and sustainable, open and connected. Learn more about Schneider Electric at se.com/ca.

Why is it so important to decarbonize cities? And how can we do it?

The first question is easy to answer: The cities in which more than half of us live account for nearly two-thirds of the CO2 emissions that lie at the root of our planet’s looming climate crisis. Skyscrapers in megalopolises, shopping malls, SUVs in the streets, air conditioners in a growing number of places throughout the globe – all consume a vast amount of high CO2-content energy.

The answer to the second question is to take an integrated approach: leveraging clean electrification and digital technology to harmonize urban energy systems, while also thinking beyond individual projects to consider their impact within the surrounding communities and the built environment.

In fact, urban energy, transport and building infrastructures are gradually becoming greener: There are more electric vehicles on city streets, better water treatment and recycling schemes, and more solar panels on rooftops around the globe. According to International Energy Agency estimates, renewables like solar and wind are set to become the largest source of electricity generation worldwide by 2025, supplying one-third of the world’s electricity and ending coal’s decades-long dominance of the global power mix.

All this is, of course, welcome.

But with climate change accelerating, we need more comprehensive decarbonization actions on three fronts. First, we need even more energy to come from renewable sources. Second, we need more cars, heating and other activity to be powered by clean electricity. Third, we need everything from factories, to office buildings, homes, transport systems and consumer devices to become more energy-efficient.

This third lever might not as headline-grabbing as the rise of solar panels or electric vehicles. But it is a big piece of the decarbonization puzzle, with an even larger potential enabled by digital technologies.

Consider, for example, the technologies that make buildings more energy-efficient, by automatically adapting the amount of cooling, heating or lighting to occupancy levels at any given moment. Or digital tools that allow the operators of a manufacturing site in Sweden or a public utility in India to run their operations or distribution systems more efficiently and even remotely, rather than in person (a feature that has proved critical in these times of social distancing and lockdowns).

The integrated approach would dramatically accelerate efforts to decarbonize cities. Source: WEF

Imagine how much more we could achieve if we digitally integrate ultra-efficient buildings, public services – e.g. transport or lighting – and electric vehicle charging stations into a wider, highly efficient urban system, delivering better quality services for citizens and accompanying benefits such as local job creation, health, and well-being. Integration and interaction between assets are the key to disrupt the traditional equation of energy and efficiency in cities. An EV battery can store power not only for just one car, but, while a car is not in use, also for the surrounding community thanks to smart-charging infrastructures. Excess power generated by an office building’s or warehouse’s rooftop solar panels might be used to help power the wider neighbourhood.

The technologies, digital tools and data analytics capabilities to enable this efficient urban system already exist, as do concrete examples of such an integrated approach. Therefore, integration and collaboration of systems and stakeholders are the fundamental drivers to accelerate and scale the transition in cities.

Integration of energy, buildings and mobility requires cross-cutting industry collaboration, ranging from utilities and real estate, to technology companies and financial institutions. City- and state-level administration can enable and facilitate such collaboration through public-private cooperation. The public sector can drive on governance, policy and licensing, while the private sector provides agility, technology and resources. This cooperation can share and balance risks and liability between stakeholders for mutual gains and value creation for the broader community.

All of this comes against a backdrop of great urgency. Epidemics, climate and economic pain have all created unique challenges in 2020. But combating climate change must remain top of mind. Cities lie at the heart of this fight and have now the chance to build back better. We have joined the World Economic Forum in the effort to promote dialogue and mobilize action together with a group of global leaders. As co-chairs of the Net Zero Carbon Cities initiative, our ambition is to accelerate a sustainable transition in cities, supporting mayors in creating value for their communities. It is up to all of us to ensure we become part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

This article was originally published on the World Economic Forum. 

Connect with Schneider Electric to learn more. 

This opinion piece has been shared as part of the  Clean Recovery Breakthrough Series. 

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Federal stimulus funding is a massive opportunity to address energy efficiency shortfalls in our current, taxpayer-owned buildings. Investing in these small-to-medium sized renewal and expansion projects can create jobs for the greatest number of construction companies in Canada, while simultaneously improving our environmental footprint and leaving a positive social impact.

It’s good government policy to invest in infrastructure in Canada. For the most part, Canadians expect this as an approach most relevant in the face of an economic downturn. In the past, governments have focused stimulus with an eye on job creation. In 2020 and beyond, we need to focus efforts on what kind of jobs are being created and who we are putting to work. If governments are committing billions of dollars, we need to be generating economic, environmental and social benefits.

One may assume that the best way to stimulate the economy through infrastructure spending would be to hit ‘go’ on mega-projects like a new public transit line, bridges, and the packaging of projects like this into a larger initiative such as Toronto’s $11 billion Ontario Line Transit Expansion project. This is  an important project for the long-term benefit of the city, the biggest infrastructure project on the books in Ontario, but we must not lose sight on how stimulus funds can make the greatest impact in the immediate future with long-term gains.

According to Natural Resources Canada, greenhouse gas emissions from the built-environment account for 17 per cent of Canada’s overall emissions. There is an overabundance of 1980’s era buildings owned by taxpayer funded entities. Many of those buildings are large emitters that are contributing heavily to the climate crisis; they are structurally sound but have failed exteriors and mechanical systems that are at the end of their lifecycle. These upgrades can be replaced while the building is occupied, meaning this work can proceed very quickly, especially if the building’s use does not change. It also gives owners a chance to modernize interior space configurations at the same time to improve the health, productivity and efficiency of workers.

These projects also support keeping stimulus funds local. According to the Canadian Construction Association, 70 per cent of the construction industry consists of small and medium-sized enterprises. The average company is family-owned with less than a hundred employees. This means that most of the industry is not equipped to build mega-sized infrastructure projects.

If project contract values are too large, most of the construction industry will be excluded. This will result in tremendous concentration of benefits that will diminish the Canadian economic and employment multiplier of the infrastructure investment in the first place. If funding is directed to an average project size of $10 to $50 million, they can be managed by these typical-sized trades companies. This allows the broadest segment of the Canadian construction industry to participate in stimulus projects, spreading dollars around Canadian society as opposed to concentrating the wealth.

Let me offer a few examples. Think about getting a 1970’s era fire hall retrofitted to be net zero. Imagine a 40-year-old library falling into disrepair being reimagined as a community centre with a library, a hockey rink and pool.

Aging buildings can negatively impact the health of people within them, what if a not-for-profit seniors housing operator could apply for a grant to upgrade a mechanical system that would lead to an improved quality of life for the seniors living in their facilities? I imagine how we could transition Indigenous-infrastructure beyond pieced-together facilities to contribute to reconciliation.

As we look at awarding stimulus funding to projects, governments need to make social procurement—at no premium capital cost—a significant selection criterion. Contractors should look like the society they operate in, and funding criteria for stimulus projects has a chance to influence that.

There is no denying the construction industry has a labour crisis. When was the last time you heard a 13-year-old talk about becoming a plumber? We have the chance to change this trend by hiring at risk youth, Indigenous peoples, women and new Canadians.

Business needs to be a force for good. You can hire anyone to for an entry-level position—office staff or labourers—for $19 an hour. But being thoughtful about who we are hiring and why can make a significant impact. Bringing aboard a young adult working two minimum wage jobs to provide for a brother or a sister because a parent isn’t around can lead to a lifetime of opportunity. Putting them through an apprenticeship program can take them even farther.

Our industry can reverse a potential path towards crime and poverty by giving people a chance. This reduces strain on the social system and creates local jobs. And it costs us nothing to do this because we need to hire people where limited experience is required anyway.

What we get in return is a highly motivated and loyal workforce. We also develop a more diverse talent pool that is desperately needed in an industry which has suffered from decreasing enrollment and, in many instances, social stigma. It also creates mid-to-high earning taxpayers as doors open to larger opportunities for these team members.

We need stimulus funding to have the greatest impact economically, environmentally and socially.

The opportunities from investments of this magnitude require us to be more thoughtful about what and how we build. Building retrofits has huge potential, specifically in expanding existing provincial and municipal programs to enhance energy efficiency and climate resiliency. This can be a big win—for our economy, the environment, Canadian contractors and the communities they operate in.

Tim Coldwell is President of Chandos Construction Ltd. the largest B-Corp Certified commercial builder in North America. They are a national construction company interested in doing social good at scale.

This article is “sponsored content” as defined by Corporate Knights’ content disclosure policy

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