Customer story
Brightly Software
“Don’t be afraid of reporting your carbon. As an organisation you have to live it, and if you do, it permeates through everything you do.”
Introduction
Brightly, a Siemens company, is the global leader in intelligent asset management solutions. They offer a suite of software including CMMS, EAM, Strategic Asset Management, IoT Remote Monitoring, Sustainability and Community Engagement – all paired with award winning support services including training and consulting.
The team at Brightly have been using the notch carbon accounting platform for the last two years to measure their carbon emissions under the guidance of notch partner, Net Zero International.
We spoke with Hannah Winstanley, General Manager and Country Lead, UK about Brightly’s motivations and ambitions for a Net Zero future.
Why did you start Carbon Accounting?
“About 3 years ago we were seeing more of our customers including social value questions into their frameworks for tendering for contracts. Many of our customers are local authorities, but we also deliver the asset delivery model software for National Highways and they wanted evidence of how we measured our carbon footprint and what our carbon reduction plan is. While we had started working on our social value proposition, we weren’t measuring our carbon and we needed to address this.”
Why did you choose notch?
“I met David Hawes from Net Zero International at an event, and he explained that he had been using notch carbon accounting software to successfully measure, track and report carbon emissions for his other customers. Within a few weeks, he had helped us gather some basic information and input it into the software. We collated business mileage, applied home working calculations, and energy usage and very quickly we had solved our problem for including this in our tenders.
We had a very good response to this, and we have continued to develop it and extend it, considering what we are doing with our waste and how we can incorporate our supply chain.
I particularly like the regularity of updating the information monthly. I believe that if we were just looking at the data annually, we wouldn’t generate as many ideas for making changes.
The guidance from David has been absolutely key for us. He produces an annual report to include in our tenders, but we also use the software dashboard when we have our ISO14000 audits to show where we currently are and it demonstrates how ahead we are compared to other organisations. David has also been able to provide examples from other organisations who are using notch to share best practice and give us examples of where we should be focusing next.
What benefits have you seen?
“Focus on carbon reduction has to make business sense but I can see it’s generating a cultural shift in our organisation. I am hoping that the initiatives we are doing in the UK will permeate across the company and internationally too. We designed a carbon pledge in the UK and initiatives have included:
- Team Christmas presents were fleeces made out of recyclable bottles.
- At our events we have reduced the amount of merchandise we give away –giving away less to avoid generating more waste down the line.
- Encouraging the use of public transport and lift sharing among employees.
- More non-meat lunch options.
- Introducing waste recycling throughout the offices and in meeting rooms; and
- Reducing air travel by attending quarterly international meetings virtually.
I think these small steps start normalising behaviour to be more sustainable.”
What are your next steps?
“I would like to do more in terms of talking about what we are doing and publishing our data onto our website. We have our monthly and quarterly town hall meetings throughout the organisation, and we need to discuss our carbon metrics in line with other important measures such as our customer NPS.
What would be your advice to another company considering carbon accounting?
“I would say, get a few enthusiastic people onboard with what you are trying to do. They will be willing to put the time in and be tenacious about gathering the data initially. When you’ve got the initial data, you are over the first hump and from then on it becomes a habit and it doesn’t seem so overbearing anymore. They will then help influence others in your organisation.
16%
reduction in carbon emissions from the benchmark
20%
reduction in business travel
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