This weblog is a part of our Individuals Behind Function at Cisco collection that focuses on staff driving Cisco’s objective to Energy an Inclusive Future for All. Every weblog highlights a special Cisco worker whose work positively impacts individuals, communities, or the planet. The collection was previously often known as individuals behind Company Social Accountability (CSR) at Cisco.

Cisco’s World Power Administration and Sustainability (GEMS) staff is answerable for power and sustainability initiatives throughout our international actual property portfolio with goals to cut back power use and greenhouse fuel (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 staff and manages the EnergyOps program, which focuses on figuring out and implementing power effectivity and onsite photo voltaic tasks throughout our buildings worldwide. He shares extra about his background and expertise, and what he appears to be like ahead to sooner or later.

Are you able to inform me a bit about your path to working at Cisco?

Ned: Following my electronics instructor’s recommendation in highschool, I joined the US Navy as a result of he advised me that they had a superb 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 developed into specializing in troubleshooting and designing massive 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 one among our San Jose campus buildings, to call a couple of.

I joined Cisco’s GEMS staff ten years in the past. On the time, we have been setting our earlier Scope 1 and a pair of GHG emissions discount objectives. Over the subsequent 5 years, I managed two tracks of our EnergyOps program, and, in 2017, I started managing the complete program.

Are you able to clarify what the EnergyOps program does?

Ned: EnergyOps is our program to cut back the environmental affect of our services. Our strategy to lowering GHG emissions related to our actual property is to extend the power effectivity of our buildings, whereas investing in renewable power. This mixed strategy has allowed us to keep away from will increase in general constructing power consumption, regardless of will increase in lab masses and gear power consumption, whereas lowering carbon emissions related to our actual property.

By means of the EnergyOps program and our investments in renewable power, we have been capable of  obtain (one 12 months early) our earlier aim  to cut back Cisco’s complete Scope 1 and a pair 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 aim and near-term targets[1].

What sort of tasks do you do?

We’ve accomplished tons of of tasks, from easy retrofits to in depth gear replacements. We sometimes buy or lease present buildings moderately than construct new ones, so, there are sometimes power effectivity alternatives in our constructing portfolio. We additionally advise our broader actual property staff on energy-efficient choices after we replace our buildings or when gear is changed.

We start the challenge growth course of by performing detailed analyses to grasp how the constructing system is working, and to determine alternatives to enhance effectivity. By means of our analyses, we discover areas the place we are able to make adjustments, corresponding to adjusting constructing setpoints for optimum effectivity, or including variable frequency drives that regulate to the present gear load and eat much less power.  Different varieties of tasks we pursue are energy-efficient upgrades to lighting techniques and enormous mechanical gear, corresponding to 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 scale back scorching spots in our energy-intensive labs and information facilities.

Our tasks additionally assist us pursue inexperienced constructing certifications at our websites, corresponding to U.S. Inexperienced Constructing Council’s Management in Power and Environmental Design (LEED) and the WELL Constructing Commonplace.

 Favourite tasks you labored on during the last 12 months?

I’m engaged on an Synthetic Intelligence (AI) challenge at our Allen, Texas, information middle. The target of the challenge is to make use of AI to higher perceive how the present constructing automation system operates and to optimize its sequence of operations. This challenge is estimated to cut back power consumption within the chiller plant by greater than 30%. There’s positively a studying curve for the people utilizing the AI as effectively!

One other attention-grabbing set up was a chiller and ice storage challenge we accomplished at our campus in Ottawa, Canada. Through the challenge, we changed the complete cooling plant and added quite a few ice-storage tanks. The system makes ice at night time when power is each decrease price 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 challenge helps us get monetary savings, reduces our carbon footprint and reduces pressure on the native electrical grid. We’re now replicating this progressive challenge and design at a couple of of our different areas.

What’s subsequent for the GEMS staff and the EnergyOps program?

We’re very targeted on making progress in the direction of our FY 2025 Scope 1 and a pair of GHG emissions discount aim. We plan to speculate roughly US$39 million from FY 2023 to FY 2025 in three areas: power effectivity, renewable power, and electrification. Over the subsequent few years, we hope to transform lots of our pure fuel heating techniques to electrical and set up new onsite photo voltaic photovoltaic (PV) techniques at a number of campuses. We additionally plan to develop our funding in offsite renewable power by executing over 500 megawatts (MW) of latest, long-term renewable power contracts by the tip of FY 2025.

We’re excited to proceed our work, understanding that our efforts contribute in the direction of Cisco’s objective to Energy an Inclusive Future for All.

[1] Cisco has set a aim to succeed in web zero throughout its worth chain (Scopes 1, 2, and three) by 2040. Our net-zero aim contains two near-term targets:

• To scale 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 scale 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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