The Role IoT Is Playing In The Sustainable Transformation Of The Workplace
In the past few years, IoT has transformed the home design process, the healthcare industry, and even the home and corporate security world. Now, technology is changing another landscape: the workplace. By 2025, IoT will aid in streamlining business operations and supporting economies, saving $11 trillion annually. According to recent research by Inmarsat, almost 95 percent of companies are actively trying to improve their environmental impact and sustainability using the Internet of Things. Transportation companies are reducing their carbon footprint, workplaces are managing their energy usage more effectively, and companies are even experiencing the cost benefits of being environmentally friendly.
Here are a few ways IoT has become a foundational element in helping companies go green:
Predict And Adjust Their Pollution Response
IoT technology can be used in the fight against air pollution from industrial plants. Industrial plants currently account for 34 percent of greenhouse gases that are emitted, and manufacturing plants are not that far behind. Companies can harness IoT by using continuous machine learning sensors to monitor their CO2 levels in real-time. In addition, they can use this information as an alert mechanism with the help of preset pollution limits. For factories and manufacturing companies, this is an essential first step in addressing the companies controlling almost 71 percent of global emissions, and in tackling the USA’s status as the leading country in pollution.
IoT Helping Companies Manage Industrial Usage
Incorporating IoT in waste management is not necessarily a new concept, but its use in the corporate landscape is. Thanks to IoT, water usage and wastage in the workplace can be dramatically reduced. Over 1 trillion gallons of water are wasted each year by Americans. For companies, this does not just mean wasted resources, but also an unnecessary hike in costs. Also, IoT can help businesses transform into a digitalized environment. A paper-free office relies heavily on digital documents instead of printed ones, and often equates to cost savings for the company and higher efficiency on the part of employees and the company’s record-keeping abilities. In the end, companies save money on material costs, and with the help of automated filing software, the need for clerical staff can be reduced.
Companies Can Track And Respond To Their Energy Usage In Real-Time
With the help of smart energy solutions (powered by IoT) companies are now able to monitor, track and forecast their energy usage. Not only does this mean reduced energy costs for the company but it also results in a more efficient operating process, and can encourage productivity in their employees. With a real-time monitoring system, workplaces can pinpoint periods of high energy usage, and then implement strategies to tackle the energy inefficiencies raised. While energy consumption monitoring and conservation are possible with traditional energy systems, incorporating IoT into your energy management system allows for additional features, including constant system alerts for energy usage spikes.
Redesign Their Supply System To Be More Efficient
The decentralization of product and manufacturing data is often an issue for companies with multiple locations and warehouses. IoT can solve this by allowing employees to remotely track, monitor, control and coordinate the movement of their goods and their fleet in a more efficient way. This maximizes the use of the company’s assets (both physical and human). It also means that the carbon footprint generated by a company’s supply chain is lowered.
The move to become more sustainable in the workplace is certainly not a new topic, but the introduction of IoT into the mix is. With its help, not only will IoT transform business processes as we know them, but it will essentially redefine the image of the workplace to a more environmentally conscious and responsible one.
