Schneider Electric is the world’s largest energy management and automation leader in digital transformation. The company has tied up with One Click LCA, a leader in the sustainability software space for the sectors of construction and manufacturing to deliver accuracy in environmental assessments for both building and electrification segments.
This initiative comes at a particularly crucial time for the building industry, since buildings account for nearly 39% of the current global energy-related carbon emissions. Since 50% of the buildings in use now will still be around until 2050, a strategy to curtail such emissions through retrofitting and green upgrades is of paramount importance. Schneider Electric advocates retrofitting as an industry bedrock approach toward decarbonizing the sector, referencing studies that found such interventions can reduce lifecycle carbon emissions in a building by as much as 83 percent.
At the heart of the partnership is a commitment to resolve a long-standing challenge for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry: the availability of comprehensive environmental data on mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems. Traditionally, the scarcity of such information has restricted the ability of stakeholders to make informed decisions about sustainable building design. The partnership aims to bridge this critical data gap with the use of Schneider Electric’s broad product portfolio.
Schneider Electric will integrate the company’s rich environmental product data with One Click LCA’s industry leading tool that construction and manufacturing professionals use to carry out life cycle assessments. This will enable users to have precise environmental data on MEP systems, enhancing the accuracy of building environmental footprint calculations. Initially, it will support new buildings in Europe but is targeted to other regions later on.
This is, indeed the first time that detailed data about manufacturer MEP products for a building industry will be available at this scale. It makes One Click LCA users capable enough to assess the environmental impacts of Schneider Electric products, whether circuit breaker, electrical panel, or even energy meter, with more accuracy than anyone else does.
According to him, in speaking about the partnership, Sorouch Kheradmand, Global Head of Sustainability at Schneider Electric said, “The building industry needs reliable environmental data to make informed decisions.” Through making its MEP product data publicly available through the platform of One Click LCA, it aims at establishing a new standard of transparency in the industry.
Echoing this sentiment, Panu Pasanen, CEO and Founder of One Click LCA, highlighted the transformative potential of the collaboration. “Access to manufacturer MEP product data has been a significant gap in building life-cycle assessments,” Pasanen remarked. “This first-of-its-kind partnership with Schneider Electric marks an important step toward closing that gap. By integrating detailed electrical products data into our platform, we’re enabling AEC companies to perform more precise environmental impact calculations.”
A few concrete benefits are supposed to emanate from this tie-up. First and foremost, this would help in a better process of product choice; architects and engineers must therefore make choices of material and system based on sound design for sustainability. The agreement will pilot its offering in selected markets across Europe, particularly new building undertakings. The cooperation would thus allow stakeholders at their beginning to focus more on sustainability, as they’d receive actionable data at design stages.
This is also in line with wider trends in the construction industry: a life cycle assessment will be deemed an essential step for achieving net-zero carbon goals going forward. As governments around the world increase the expectations on the environment, utilities like One Click LCA, enhanced by Schneider Electric’s data, will be vital to holding the industry in check whilst driving innovation in design for sustainability.
For Schneider Electric, this partnership is part of its broader commitment to sustainability and innovation. The company has always been an advocate for bringing digital solutions into energy management and automation and has therefore positioned itself as a forerunner in addressing the challenges of climate change using technology. In the same way, One Click LCA also positioned itself as a significant tool in the construction industry, offering professionals a chance to evaluate and reduce their projects’ adverse environmental impacts.
Schneider Electric and One Click LCA are leading the way in collaborating in the AEC industry. By filling in critical gaps in environmental data and making such information accessible at scale, the partnership highlights the importance of transparency, innovation, and accountability in building a more sustainable future. The carbon footprint of the construction industry has always been a challenge to this sector, and such a model will likely be adopted for other collaborations in this quest for sustainability.