2023 Report

The State of
Corporate Sustainability

Moving Beyond Energy Optimization
on the Journey to Net Zero

Welcome to the first annual State of Corporate Sustainability Report from Atrius® and Smart Energy Decisions (SED)

Previously titled "The State of Energy Management,” this year's data suggests energy management isn't an endpoint. Instead, it is the first of many essential parts of an integrated corporate sustainability journey. Predictably, energy reduction remains a primary component of sustainability strategies. Still, new and emerging megatrends suggest managing resource consumption is the first of many crucial steps to creating smarter, safer, and greener spaces.

This year's data regarding the current state of sustainability reporting and energy management reflects the experience and insight of 300+ industry professionals working at respected organizations in multiple sectors.

The Intersection of Technology and Sustainability

Megatrends are macro-level behavior patterns and movements that influence micro-level decisions and actions. These enormous changes happen beyond our ability to affect them, reshaping national economies and neighborhood businesses. Slow to materialize, it could be decades before we see the impacts of megatrends on corporate priorities and consumer purchasing.

The 2023 State of Corporate Sustainability Report revealed the impact of two previously independent megatrends beginning to intersect. The first is sustainability initiatives focused on limiting the effects of climate change, and the second is technology-based digital transformations.

Please scroll through the following for more of this year's major findings.

Status Check: Progress on the Journey to Sustainability

Sustainability derives from the Latin word "sustinere," meaning to hold, keep, or endure over a long period.

This definition aligns perfectly with describing sustainability as a journey - rather than a destination. So, for the first time, this year's survey includes questions to help identify key characteristics of how respondents view their progress on their journey towards greener spaces.

Question: Where do you see your organization on its journey to achieving sustainability goals?

  • We are ahead of pace

  • We are on track

  • We are behind

  • We are just getting started

  • We have no goals or have not started

Table 1 - Base 334, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

“Corporate America is developing an ethos that embraces pursuing commercial success while also taking a leadership role in protecting the global environment.”

Adam Handler, Director, Corporate Sustainability & Communications

Sustainability Commitments at Various Stages of the Journey

Organizations that identified as advanced, or in the middle, of their sustainability journeys were more committed to following through on these activities than teams just beginning sustainability activities, except for reporting.

According to this year's data, 46% of respondents who considered their organizations just starting sustainability journeys were more likely to commit to reporting than last year's 34%. This increase confirms the importance of sustainability reporting at the beginning, middle, and advanced stages of organizational sustainability programs.

  • ADVANCED
  • MIDDLE
  • BEGINNING

Organizations identifying as “advanced” in their sustainability journey

Question: Which of the following sustainability or energy reduction goals is your organization committed to achieving?

  • Organization has Sustainability or Energy Reduction Goals (Net)

    100%
  • Resource reduction (including energy, water, waste)

    91%
  • Greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction

    72%
  • Renewable energy targets

    61%
  • Sustainability reporting

    65%
  • Upgrading existing building automation or IoT infrastructure

    67%
  • Carbon neutrality/Net Zero

    60%
  • None – Our organization hasn't set any goals

    0%
Table 2a - Base 334, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Industries feeling “in the middle” in their sustainability journey

Question: Which of the following sustainability or energy reduction goals is your organization committed to achieving?

  • Organization has Sustainability or Energy Reduction Goals (Net)

    100%
  • Resource reduction (including energy, water, waste)

    89%
  • Greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction

    70%
  • Renewable energy targets

    73%
  • Sustainability reporting

    52%
  • Upgrading existing building automation or IoT infrastructure

    58%
  • Carbon neutrality/Net Zero

    59%
  • None – Our organization hasn't set any goals

    0%
Table 2b - Base 334, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Industries feeling “at the beginning” in their sustainability journey

Question: Which of the following sustainability or energy reduction goals is your organization committed to achieving?

  • Organization has Sustainability or Energy Reduction Goals (Net)

    95%
  • Resource reduction (including energy, water, waste)

    78%
  • Greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction

    54%
  • Renewable energy targets

    39%
  • Sustainability reporting

    46%
  • Upgrading existing building automation or IoT infrastructure

    38%
  • Carbon neutrality/Net Zero

    34%
  • None – Our organization hasn't set any goals

    5%
Table 2c - Base 334, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Biggest Drivers at Every Stage of the Journey: Better Data and More Automation

This year, 40% of respondents saw a substantial increase in their organizations investing in real-time and automated utility data collection compared to last year at 33%.

Question: How does your organization currently collect energy and sustainability data?

  • Automated monthly utility data collection

  • Manual bill data collection

  • Real-time and automated utility data collection

  • Export trend data from BMS

  • Manual meter readings

  • Other (Net)

Table 3 - Base 316, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Data Quality Issues are a Major Barrier to Sustainability Success

Not surprisingly, data quality issues affected every stage of the sustainability journey. Organizations identifying as advanced (41%), in the middle (44%), and at the beginning (39%) hit data-related barriers to successfully implementing their sustainability strategies. Even though 50% of respondents have automated data collection, they are also using other methods, so it appears that many still lack solutions to manage the large volume of data.

Overwhelming, time-consuming data management is a giant hurdle blocking sustainability progress. Many survey respondents could drive ESG initiatives further and more efficiently with automated, high-quality data collection and analysis.

  • ADVANCED
  • MIDDLE
  • BEGINNING

Organizations identifying as “advanced” in their sustainability journey

Question: Which of the following are barriers to successfully implementing your sustainability strategy?

  • Data quality problems (gaps, incorrect meter readings)

    41%
  • Difficulty making the business case for reporting and data management solutions

    23%
  • Difficulty reporting on emission targets across value chain

    28%
  • Challenges managing data in spreadsheets

    14%
  • Don’t Know

    17%
  • Other (Net)

    19%
Table 4a - Base 321, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Industries feeling “in the middle” in their sustainability journey

Question: Which of the following are barriers to successfully implementing your sustainability strategy?

  • Data quality problems (gaps, incorrect meter readings)

    44%
  • Difficulty making the business case for reporting and data management solutions

    32%
  • Difficulty reporting on emission targets across value chain

    34%
  • Challenges managing data in spreadsheets

    21%
  • Don’t Know

    10%
  • Other (Net)

    23%
Table 4b - Base 321, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Industries feeling “at the beginning” in their sustainability journey

Question: Which of the following are barriers to successfully implementing your sustainability strategy?

  • Data quality problems (gaps, incorrect meter readings)

    39%
  • Difficulty making the business case for reporting and data management solutions

    39%
  • Difficulty reporting on emission targets across value chain

    36%
  • Challenges managing data in spreadsheets

    35%
  • Don’t Know

    13%
  • Other (Net)

    10%
Table 4c - Base 321, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Reporting Benchmarks & Priorities

It’s important to note that anyone responsible for their organization’s sustainability or energy priorities is familiar with data management and reporting. However, there is a good chance those responsible are spending more time building these reports than they should be.

Accurate, comprehensive reporting is increasingly paramount as federally mandated reporting frameworks, financial disclosure requirements, and corporate ESG programs demand verifiable accountability.

As important as these frameworks are, they are still labor-intensive processes that require large amounts of data and formatting.

Question: Which of the following best describes where your organization is in managing and reporting on your sustainability initiatives?

  • Ahead of the crowd: Fault detection and diagnostics

    7% from last year
  • Well on our way: Submetering data for greater building performance visibility

    4% from last year
  • Picking up speed: Accessing real-time data to identify anomalies and performance

    6% from last year
  • First steps: Automating utility and emissions data into a centralized system

    0% from last year
  • At the beginning: Putting manual data in a spreadsheet

    3% from last year
Table 5 - Base 315, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

How Organizations are Reporting Progress

Other than corporate annual reports, year-end sustainability reporting methods vary, at least for now. Notably, CDP is almost twice as popular as the second choice, GRI, among buyer-focused organizations - energy customers (buyers) from commercial, industrial, institutional and government organizations - and ahead of the other reporting methods. We expect this data to evolve as discussions surrounding reporting frameworks intensify. It is also reasonable to expect these numbers to change as organizations shift focus from launching sustainability programs to measuring and reporting progress. Existing and new reporting solutions will impact future responses to this question.

Question: How does your organization report on year-end sustainability progress and goals?

The charts below detail reporting frameworks for all respondents, and compare buyer-focused organizations vs. suppliers and service providers.

  • TOTAL
  • BUYER
  • SUPPLIER/SERVICE PROVIDER
  • Organization Reports Sustainability or Energy Reduction Goals (Net)

    57%
  • In my company’s annual ESG report

    32%
  • CDP

    10%
  • GRI

    4%
  • SASB

    4%
Table 6a - Base 334, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023
  • GRESB

    4%
  • TCFD

    3%
  • Sustainalytics

    3%
  • My organization doesn't report on sustainability goals

    27%
  • Don’t know

    16%
Table 6a - Base 334, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 20233
  • Organization has Sustainability or Energy Reduction Goals (Net)

    60%
  • In my company’s annual ESG report

    33%
  • CDP

    11%
  • GRI

    6%
  • SASB

    2%
Table 6b - Base 334, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023
  • GRESB

    4%
  • TCFD

    3%
  • Sustainalytics

    4%
  • My organization doesn't report on sustainability goals

    24%
  • Don’t know

    16%
Table 6b - Base 334, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023
  • Organization has Sustainability or Energy Reduction Goals (Net)

    50%
  • In my company’s annual ESG report

    33%
  • CDP

    5%
  • GRI

    4%
  • SASB

    8%
Table 6c - Base 334, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023
  • GRESB

    4%
  • TCFD

    5%
  • Sustainalytics

    0%
  • My organization doesn't report on sustainability goals

    33%
  • Don’t know

    17%
Table 6c - Base 334, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

3 Key Factors of Success: Funding, Data Centralization, and an Integrated Strategy

Energy and sustainability team members (59%) consider organizing data streams into a centralized location a higher priority than C-suite executives (34%) view this task (59% vs. 34%, respectively). The data shows similar results for external engagement and visibility of programs, both rated important to sustainability success by 52% of energy professionals and only 31% of corporate executives.

While disappointing for those looking for more urgent environmental action, these results aren't surprising. They could explain why developing business cases for the technical solutions that optimize operations is so difficult. The data also suggests how solutions providers can support energy managers in this effort.

Question: Which of the following factors are important to the success of your sustainability program?

  • Resources and funding to support sustainability initiatives

  • Utility incentives to offset costs

  • Organizing data streams into a centralized location

  • External engagement and visibility of programs and results

  • Automating the process of reporting on scope 1,2, and 3 emissions

  • None of the above

Table 7 - Base 334, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Budgeting for Sustainability Success

More of this year's respondents said they did have the budget to achieve sustainability goals set by their organization, compared to last year's data. Similarly, fewer people answered this same question with no; they did not have sufficient budgets to achieve stated ESG goals. While it's easy to dismiss initiatives by insisting "there's no budget," providing sufficient resources is necessary to reach sustainability goals.

Question: In your opinion, based on the sustainability goals set by your organization, do you have the budget needed to achieve these goals?

This Year's Data (2023)

  • No (55%)

  • Yes (45%)

No

55%

Yes

45%

Table 8a - Base 320, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Last Year's Data (2022)

  • No (58%)

  • Yes (42%)

No

58%

Yes

42%

Table 8b - Base 321, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Data Centralization and Easy Access are critical for occupant awareness

Survey respondents in higher education placed a significantly higher emphasis on occupant awareness and engagement (84%) than participants in other industries.

In addition, people working in sustainability, facility, and energy roles prioritized this tactic higher than those in C-Suite level positions. This number is surprising considering the value of C-Suite executives engaging in and celebrating company achievements.

Question: Rate how important each of the following tactics is for the success of your overall sustainability strategy. (Respondents who rated 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale.)

  • Access to building and asset level data

  • Occupant awareness & engagement in goals

  • Automating utility data management

  • Automating emissions reporting

Table 9 - Base 324, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Leading Organizations are Integrating Sustainability Initiatives in Every Aspect of Business

The across-the-board increase in the degree to which organizations integrated sustainability into their business strategies is a big win. Many of us probably remember when sustainability was more of a "check box" activity for organizations.

But this year's results show people taking their corporate sustainability and energy management goals seriously.

Hopefully, this positive trend will continue, so these numbers rise as more business leaders launch sustainability journeys with the necessary resources to accelerate success.

Question: How are ESG goals integrated into your organization's business strategy?

  • Social impact and community engagement

  • Stakeholder engagement

  • Financial reporting

  • Supplier management and selection

  • Corporate investments

  • ESG goals are not integrated into our strategy

  • Compensation structure

  • Other (Net)

Table 10 - Base 283, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Survey methodology

Smart Energy Decisions deployed an online survey on behalf of Atrius to energy, facility, and sustainability leaders in organizations across a variety of industries. The general survey was completed by 334 respondents.

  • INDUSTRIES
  • HEADCOUNT
  • ROLE
  • JOB TITLE

Survey respondents by industry

  • Supplier/Service Provider

    22%
  • Higher Education

    19%
  • Commercial (includes commercial, retail, and aviation)

    16%
  • Government (cities, municipalities, etc)

    13%
  • K-12

    10%
  • Industrial/Manufacturing (majority of load from manufacturing)

    9%
  • Software/Technology

    5%
  • Other (healthcare, consultants, non-profits)

    6%
Table 11 - Base 303, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Survey respondents by organization size (number of employees)

  • Under 100

    25%
  • 100-499

    20%
  • 500-999

    6%
  • 1,000-9,999

    26%
  • 10,000+

    23%
  • Not sure

    1%
Table 12 - Base 303, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Survey respondents by role

To better understand the influence respondents had on sustainability, we asked them to identify what role they played in their company’s sustainability initiatives.

  • I participate in creating and executing our initiatives

    56%
  • I make recommendations to those responsible for our initiatives

    25%
  • I am the final decision maker

    16%
  • I am not involved

    4%
Table 13 - Base 303, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

Survey respondents by job title

  • Energy Manager

    28%
  • Sustainability Officer

    23%
  • Facilities Manager

    21%
  • Company officer (President, Principal, COO)

    10%
  • Other (specify)

    18%
Table 14 - Base 303, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2023

You made it all this way, why not get to know us a little bit?

Atrius delviers edge-to-cloud solutions enabling buildings to become smarter, safer, and greener. Check out some highlights from our resources section to learn more about what we do: