Folks Behind Objective at Cisco: Lowering the environmental impacts of our services by means of the EnergyOps Program

This weblog is a part of our Folks Behind Objective at Cisco sequence that focuses on workers driving Cisco’s objective to Energy an Inclusive Future for All. Every weblog highlights a unique Cisco worker whose work positively impacts individuals, communities, or the planet. The sequence was previously often known as individuals behind Company Social Accountability (CSR) at Cisco.

Cisco’s International Vitality Administration and Sustainability (GEMS) staff is accountable for power and sustainability initiatives throughout our international actual property portfolio with aims to scale back power use and greenhouse fuel (GHG) emissions.  Learn extra about our sustainability efforts in our actual property operations on Cisco’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) Reporting Hub.

Ned Bagno is on the GEMS staff and manages the EnergyOps program, which focuses on figuring out and implementing power effectivity and onsite photo voltaic tasks throughout our buildings worldwide. He shares extra about his background and expertise, and what he seems ahead to sooner or later.

Are you able to inform me a bit about your path to working at Cisco?

Ned: Following my electronics instructor’s recommendation in highschool, I joined the US Navy as a result of he instructed me they’d a superb electronics program. Engaged on shipboard electrical, digital, and safety programs ready me for my future within the job market, the place I specialised in constructing course of management programs, primarily for manufacturing services. That developed into specializing in troubleshooting and designing massive company bodily safety programs.

Later, I joined Cisco as a contractor in company safety, and, after a short while, I grew to become a full-time worker. I labored on high-visibility tasks, like our Bangalore, India, campus safety, earthquake early warning programs in San Jose, California, and the company safety command heart in one in every of our San Jose campus buildings, to call just a few.

I joined Cisco’s GEMS staff ten years in the past. On the time, we had been setting our earlier Scope 1 and a couple of GHG emissions discount targets. Over the following 5 years, I managed two tracks of our EnergyOps program, and, in 2017, I started managing the complete program.

Are you able to clarify what the EnergyOps program does?

Ned: EnergyOps is our program to scale back the environmental impression of our services. Our strategy to decreasing GHG emissions related to our actual property is to extend the power effectivity of our buildings, whereas investing in renewable power. This mixed strategy has allowed us to keep away from will increase in total constructing power consumption, regardless of will increase in lab masses and gear power consumption, whereas decreasing carbon emissions related to our actual property.

By the EnergyOps program and our investments in renewable power, we had been capable of  obtain (one 12 months early) our earlier objective  to scale back Cisco’s complete Scope 1 and a couple of GHG emissions worldwide by 60% absolute by fiscal 12 months (FY) 2022 (in comparison with a FY 2007 base 12 months). These successes additionally offered a basis on which to set our present broader net-zero objective and near-term targets[1].

What sort of tasks do you do?

We’ve accomplished lots of of tasks, from easy retrofits to intensive gear replacements. We sometimes buy or lease present buildings somewhat than construct new ones, so, there are sometimes power effectivity alternatives in our constructing portfolio. We additionally advise our broader actual property staff on energy-efficient choices after we replace our buildings or when gear is changed.

We start the mission improvement course of by performing detailed analyses to grasp how the constructing system is working, and to determine alternatives to enhance effectivity. By our analyses, we discover areas the place we are able to make adjustments, similar to adjusting constructing setpoints for optimum effectivity, or including variable frequency drives that alter to the present gear load and eat much less power.  Different forms of tasks we pursue are energy-efficient upgrades to lighting programs and huge mechanical gear, similar to chillers and boilers. We’ve put in economizers that use exterior air to assist cool our buildings when outside temperatures allow. Moreover, we’ve got put in chilly/sizzling air containment programs that assist handle warmth and scale back sizzling spots in our energy-intensive labs and information facilities.

Our tasks additionally assist us pursue inexperienced constructing certifications at our websites, similar to U.S. Inexperienced Constructing Council’s Management in Vitality and Environmental Design (LEED) and the WELL Constructing Normal.

 Favourite tasks you labored on during the last 12 months?

I’m engaged on an Synthetic Intelligence (AI) mission at our Allen, Texas, information heart. The target of the mission is to make use of AI to higher perceive how the prevailing constructing automation system operates and to optimize its sequence of operations. This mission is estimated to scale back power consumption within the chiller plant by greater than 30%. There’s undoubtedly a studying curve for the people utilizing the AI as nicely!

One other attention-grabbing set up was a chiller and ice storage mission we accomplished at our campus in Ottawa, Canada. Through the mission, we changed the complete cooling plant and added quite a few ice-storage tanks. The system makes ice at evening when power is each decrease value and fewer carbon intensive. Through the day, we use the ice, as a substitute of the chillers, to chill the constructing and our information heart for six+ hours a day. This mission helps us lower your expenses, reduces our carbon footprint and reduces pressure on the native electrical grid. We’re now replicating this modern mission and design at just a few of our different places.

What’s subsequent for the GEMS staff and the EnergyOps program?

We’re very centered on making progress in the direction of our FY 2025 Scope 1 and a couple of GHG emissions discount objective. We plan to take a position roughly US$39 million from FY 2023 to FY 2025 in three areas: power effectivity, renewable power, and electrification. Over the following few years, we hope to transform a lot of our pure fuel heating programs to electrical and set up new onsite photo voltaic photovoltaic (PV) programs at a number of campuses. We additionally plan to broaden our funding in offsite renewable power by executing over 500 megawatts (MW) of latest, long-term renewable power contracts by the tip of FY 2025.

We’re excited to proceed our work, realizing that our efforts contribute in the direction of Cisco’s objective to Energy an Inclusive Future for All.

[1] Cisco has set a objective to succeed in internet zero throughout its worth chain (Scopes 1, 2, and three) by 2040. Our net-zero objective consists of two near-term targets:

• To cut back absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions 90% and neutralizing any remaining emissions by eradicating an equal quantity from the ambiance by FY 2025 in comparison with our 2019 FY;
• To cut back absolute Scope 3 emissions from bought items and providers, upstream transportation and distribution, and use of bought merchandise 30% by FY 2030 in comparison with our 2019 FY.

Share: