This weblog is a part of our Individuals Behind Function at Cisco collection that focuses on workers driving Cisco’s function to Energy an Inclusive Future for All. Every weblog highlights a unique Cisco worker whose work positively impacts folks, communities, or the planet. The collection was previously generally known as folks behind Company Social Accountability (CSR) at Cisco.
Cisco’s World Power Administration and Sustainability (GEMS) workforce is chargeable for vitality and sustainability initiatives throughout our international actual property portfolio with targets to scale back vitality use and greenhouse gasoline (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 workforce and manages the EnergyOps program, which focuses on figuring out and implementing vitality effectivity and onsite photo voltaic tasks throughout our buildings worldwide. He shares extra about his background and expertise, and what he seems to be ahead to sooner or later.
Are you able to inform me a bit about your path to working at Cisco?
Ned: Following my electronics trainer’s recommendation in highschool, I joined the US Navy as a result of he informed me they’d a wonderful electronics program. Engaged on shipboard electrical, digital, and safety techniques ready me for my future within the job market, the place I specialised in constructing course of management techniques, primarily for manufacturing services. That advanced into specializing in troubleshooting and designing giant company bodily safety techniques.
Later, I joined Cisco as a contractor in company safety, and, after a short while, I turned a full-time worker. I labored on high-visibility tasks, like our Bangalore, India, campus safety, earthquake early warning techniques in San Jose, California, and the company safety command middle in considered one of our San Jose campus buildings, to call just a few.
I joined Cisco’s GEMS workforce 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 subsequent 5 years, I managed two tracks of our EnergyOps program, and, in 2017, I started managing all the program.
Are you able to clarify what the EnergyOps program does?
Ned: EnergyOps is our program to scale back the environmental affect of our services. Our method to decreasing GHG emissions related to our actual property is to extend the vitality effectivity of our buildings, whereas investing in renewable vitality. This mixed method has allowed us to keep away from will increase in total constructing vitality consumption, regardless of will increase in lab hundreds and gear vitality consumption, whereas decreasing carbon emissions related to our actual property.
By the EnergyOps program and our investments in renewable vitality, we had been capable of obtain (one 12 months early) our earlier objective to scale back Cisco’s whole 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 supplied 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 relatively than construct new ones, so, there are sometimes vitality effectivity alternatives in our constructing portfolio. We additionally advise our broader actual property workforce on energy-efficient choices once we replace our buildings or when gear is changed.
We start the undertaking growth course of by performing detailed analyses to know 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 modifications, reminiscent of adjusting constructing setpoints for optimum effectivity, or including variable frequency drives that modify to the present gear load and eat much less vitality. Different kinds of tasks we pursue are energy-efficient upgrades to lighting techniques and enormous mechanical gear, reminiscent of chillers and boilers. We’ve put in economizers that use outdoors air to assist cool our buildings when outside temperatures allow. Moreover, we have now put in chilly/scorching air containment techniques that assist handle warmth and cut back scorching spots in our energy-intensive labs and information facilities.
Our tasks additionally assist us pursue inexperienced constructing certifications at our websites, reminiscent of U.S. Inexperienced Constructing Council’s Management in Power and Environmental Design (LEED) and the WELL Constructing Commonplace.
Favourite tasks you labored on over the past 12 months?
I’m engaged on an Synthetic Intelligence (AI) undertaking at our Allen, Texas, information middle. The target of the undertaking is to make use of AI to raised perceive how the present constructing automation system operates and to optimize its sequence of operations. This undertaking is estimated to scale back vitality 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 undertaking we accomplished at our campus in Ottawa, Canada. Through the undertaking, we changed all the cooling plant and added quite a few ice-storage tanks. The system makes ice at evening when vitality 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 middle for six+ hours a day. This undertaking helps us get monetary savings, reduces our carbon footprint and reduces pressure on the native electrical grid. We’re now replicating this modern undertaking and design at just a few of our different places.
What’s subsequent for the GEMS workforce and the EnergyOps program?
We’re very targeted on making progress in direction of our FY 2025 Scope 1 and a couple of GHG emissions discount objective. We plan to speculate roughly US$39 million from FY 2023 to FY 2025 in three areas: vitality effectivity, renewable vitality, and electrification. Over the subsequent few years, we hope to transform a lot of our pure gasoline heating techniques to electrical and set up new onsite photo voltaic photovoltaic (PV) techniques at a number of campuses. We additionally plan to broaden our funding in offsite renewable vitality by executing over 500 megawatts (MW) of recent, long-term renewable vitality contracts by the tip of FY 2025.
We’re excited to proceed our work, figuring out that our efforts contribute in direction of Cisco’s function to Energy an Inclusive Future for All.
[1] Cisco has set a objective to achieve internet zero throughout its worth chain (Scopes 1, 2, and three) by 2040. Our net-zero objective contains 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.
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