Compliance with environmental regulations and reducing carbon footprints are now a normal part of how companies operate. But we go much further - we actively work to protect the environment and don't just wait for EU or national government legislation. In the Czech Republic, we have a maximally digitized system in place to manage key climate parameters of our real estate operations. It has recently been launched in Slovakia, and preparations are underway for its installation in Poland.
"It is all about everyone's personal approach, not just EU regulations. It is true that many companies see them as bullying and an additional cost without any positive effect. But we have been going the green way long before such regulations came into force. Now we are continuing and expanding our activities for sustainable operations," says Daniel Knaisl, Geis Managing Director for the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.
The path to reducing the carbon footprint is not easy. It has to be a complex set of many steps to achieve a truly significant effect. As part of its sustainable approach to the environment, Geis has introduced an energy management system in the Czech Republic in the second half of 2021. Through a specific platform, Enmon, it tracks and optimally manages energy consumption, monitors fluctuations and calculates the carbon footprint of the operation of its own and leased properties over time.
Some of the features of the new system:
For example, the online system will also detect excessive consumption, warn of accidents in real time, identify risk points in the system, etc. This makes it possible to react immediately, without the delays that usually mean unnecessary extra consumption. The system also facilitates the selection of the energy supplier and allows faster calculation of the expected consumption. The latter is needed to reserve capacity with suppliers.
An important role in the effort to reduce the carbon footprint is played by an overall analysis of the energy management - an energy audit. The aim of the analysis is not only to assess the existing situation, but also to propose subsequent measures in buildings and their technical equipment or technologies. These corrective actions are aimed at saving energy and the money spent on them. The building structure (building envelope) and technological units (i.e. heating, cooling, lighting, water heating, air handling, technological processes, humidity treatment, etc.) are also assessed.
Specialists from PKV BUILD, a Brno-based company that focuses on energy savings and sustainable investment, are helping us to implement and further manage the new system. Property manager of Geis, Tereza Kirlíková, praises the cooperation: "Since the core of our business is logistics and everything related to it, we were looking for a professional in this area when preparing and implementing energy savings. PKV is not only helping us with the energy audit and the implementation of a metering system in all our branches, but also advising us on the design and implementation of measures that will lead to a reduction in the energy consumption of our operations. For example, we also consult on how to make effective use of EU subsidy programmes and the installation of photovoltaics at our branches."
We use the results and recommendations from the energy audit to make changes, improvements and ultimately reduce operating costs. This includes, for example, the aforementioned evaluation of electricity consumption in operations and a flexible response to these figures. The proposed measures are numerous and serve as a framework showing where savings can be made. Knaisl adds: "We always try to make sure that what we do in the area of environmental protection actually makes sense and helps something concrete and measurable. When we have thousands of trees planted every year or replace the original lighting in some operations with LEDs, you can see the effect immediately."
The energy management system is another one of our Group's sustainable projects that has proved its worth. That is why we have recently launched it in Slovakia and are preparing its installation in Poland. We believe that it will also help us move further along our sustainability path in these countries.
