Energy Manager Brings Decarbonization to Homes

The ability to control and manage home energy consumption is crucial to energy efficiency and decarbonization.

Digital energy management giant Schneider Electric has taken a residential decarbonization approach with its Square D Energy Center, designed to help consumers take control of and make better choices about their energy usage. Square D, a modular, compact energy manager, combines utility, solar, backup generator power, and battery storage, then pairs them with a single app providing streamlined control and insight into power usage and costs.

Schneider Electric’s emissions-reducing efforts include energy-efficient lighting throughout its buildings, something other companies can learn from. Courtesy Schneider Electric

Users can easily determine where their home is spending energy and make data-based decisions about how and when to reduce energy usage to save money and be green, the company notes. Doing so will typically cut a homeowner’s monthly energy costs by 8 percent to 15 percent. The app also allows users to seamlessly switch from grid, to battery, to generator to optimize their power sourcing, the company adds.

One Square D unit, with its sleek, innovative design, replaces the five to seven power boxes typically placed in a garage wall. The product’s feature-rich design and ease of install benefit the builder, electrical contractor, and solar installer by reducing installation times and the materials needed to install, connect, and program each individual device, Schneider Electric notes. 

Under the Zero Carbon Project, Schneider Electric will work with suppliers to cut their CO2e by 50 percent by 2025 via digital tools and decarbonization initiatives. Courtesy Schneider Electric

“Residential homes are expected to become the single-largest greenhouse gas emitters over the next decade,” says Manish Pant, executive vice president of Schneider Electric’s Home and Distribution Division. “As consumers equip their homes with more connected devices, the ability to control and manage home energy consumption will be non-negotiable. A secure, interoperable power management system is key to ensuring consumers live sustainably even at home, by keeping energy cost and CO2 emissions to a minimum.”

On the commercial front, Schneider Electric has unveiled the Zero Carbon Project, in which the company is partnering with its top 1,000 suppliers—responsible for 70 percent of Schneider’s carbon emissions (CO2e)—to halve their operations’ CO2 output by 2025. The initiative is part of Schneider’s 2021-2025 sustainability goals and is a concrete step towards limiting the rise in average global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius or less by 2100, as targeted by the Paris Agreement, the company notes.

Schneider Electric has a history of leadership when it comes to managing a business or working with customers in a sustainable fashion. This year, the company has two more decarbonization efforts on its to-do list. Courtesy Schneider Electric

Under the program, Schneider will provide tools and resources to program participants to help them set and achieve their own carbon reduction targets. Suppliers will be encouraged to achieve their CO2e reduction goals by using digital tools. They will then use that data to set goals and strategies for emissions reduction. Suppliers will also work toward their goals through decarbonization initiatives such as energy efficiency or renewables.

The program is supported by Schneider’s Energy & Sustainability Services division, which has partnered on similar supply chain decarbonization initiatives with corporate clients such as Walmart, GSK, and the global Sustainable Apparel Coalition.

“The challenges posed by climate change are something we urgently need to tackle together,” says Olivier Blum, Schneider Electric’s chief strategy and sustainability officer. “Schneider aims to reduce scope 3 emissions—ones resulting from activities from assets not owned or controlled by ourselves—by 35 percent by 2030, but we can’t make this journey alone. We encourage suppliers to join us, as they are an integral part of our ecosystem.”

Schneider Electric is a 2021 Green Builder Media Eco-Leaders award winner. Download the 2021 Eco-Leaders issue to read profiles of other winners of this prestigious award.