EcoEnergy Insights provide customized solutions and services in efficiency, maintenance, comfort and safety. TimesTech in an interaction with HAPS Dhillon, General Manager & Global Practice Head, EcoEnergy Insights tried to learn more about the EcoEnergy Insights, benefits of predictive maintenance, Sustainability and more.
Read the full interview here:
TimesTech: Tell us about EcoEnergy Insights and its core business?
Dhillon: EcoEnergy Insights began its journey in 2008 with a focus on energy management and sustainability. We were early to understand that if physical assets like HVAC, refrigeration, ovens, grills, diesel generator sets, etc. can be data enabled, there is a tremendous value creation opportunity in the domains of energy efficiency, maintenance management, sustainability, environmental benefits and more.
Recognizing the significance of data, we started investing in developing Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. For nearly a decade, we have built capabilities around energy management and sustainability solutions that help leading global enterprises achieve their energy efficiency targets and contribute to a better environment. Our focused approach has led us to where we stand today– a pioneer in the field of building IoT space, driving digital transformation to achieve comfortable living via efficiency, maintenance and safety.
Today a core part of our business is our award-winning CORTIX platform – an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and IoT platform that offers predictive insights, prescriptive recommendations, and autonomous actions to optimize equipment performance and building operations. We have world-class analysts and experts in our command centers who work with facility teams to implement the insights delivered from CORTIX.
Businesses, equipment manufacturers and service providers use our platform for ease of operations while simultaneously contributing to sustainability goals. Our continuous work in this vertical has led us to receive yet another prestigious award recently where we have been named IoT Innovator in the smart buildings category at the 2022 IoT Innovator Awards.
TimesTech: What are the economic and ecological benefits of predictive maintenance, and the critical part that technology (AI and IoT) plays in it?
Dhillon: Operations for businesses can come to a standstill due to unanticipated downtime or issues that occur. This can lead not only to revenue loss, but unmonitored equipment can result in unnecessary energy or material consumption. Moreover, buildings today can be generating millions of data points annually and AI and IoT-backed platforms can harness this data and generate precise actionable and predictive intelligence. Further, constant analysis of the data generated enables predicting issues even before they occur. And with predictive maintenance, there are fewer chances of such occurrences.
According to a report published by McKinsey, there is potential for some companies to improve equipment availability by 5-15% and reduce maintenance costs by 18-25% by adopting fully digitized predictive maintenance. A market study by ARC Advisory Group says maintenance spending can be reduced by 50%. Considering that usually, 18% of equipment has an age-related failure, operation failures in the remaining 82% of equipment can be prevented with the help of predictive maintenance. This helps reduce costs, and with the help of predictive maintenance, there is more we can do to help make infrastructure more environmentally responsible and drive sustainability.
For example using our CORTIX platform, a retail chain with stores in over 250 locations in India was able to reduce energy wastage incidents by 34% for connected pieces of equipment. The result was a 50% reduction in monthly maintenance visits per store.
TimesTech: Where does India stand in terms of energy management and renewable energy use?
Dhillon: Energy management and the use of renewable energy in India has received a big boost from the government and its agencies in the past few years. The adoption of energy management systems and tools for renewable energy is at the cusp. The evidence of this is the installation and commission of our 1,000th third-generation CORTIXedge controller in India. Public and private enterprises are pushing towards the adoption of solutions that help address energy management. In terms of usage and generation of renewable energy, from electric vehicles to solar panels, India has been a major player and contributor.
A study ‘Powering India’s Energy Vision 2030’ says India needs an additional investment of over $300 billion to achieve 500GW of clean energy by 2030. And in the recently held G20 summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India aims to produce 50% of its energy from renewables by 2030. India is certainly catching up with many other countries in terms of energy management and renewable energy use, which could help to move the country toward the stated renewables goal.
TimesTech: How will sustainability be the core of businesses going further?
Dhillon: Sustainability is increasingly becoming a part of many enterprises’ focus. A report from IBM Institute states that more than 80% of consumers consider sustainability to be important. We remotely have more than 51,000 sites and 300,000+ pieces of connected equipment, enabling enterprises to reduce their environmental impact and lower energy costs. Naturally, businesses that adopt more sustainable practices can increase their brand value in the public forum. Further, sustainability goals, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, avoiding CO2 emissions and decreasing natural gas consumption will benefit the retail and manufacturing industry environmentally, with reduced consumption and economically with reduced costs. In various ways, sustainability and business now go hand-in-hand, and in the long run, sustainability will become a key factor driving many verticals.
