Multiple Benefits project partners to collaborate with businesses to improve competitive advantage and energy performance.

The EU-funded Horizon 2020 project “Valuing and Communicating the Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency” today launched its new web site. The site will serve as a platform for collaboration between project partners and businesses to make energy efficiency investments a lasting competitive advantage.

Why don’t companies invest more in energy efficiency? One answer is that efficiency projects are not viewed as strategic priorities. While energy engineers propose projects based on energy savings and payback, investment committees prioritise projects on the basis of strategic impacts to the company.

By quantifying and communicating multiple benefits of energy efficiency – like improved product quality, enhanced worker productivity, improved indoor air quality, reduced maintenance costs – energy efficiency can become strategic.

But, what does strategic mean? “An investment is strategic if it contributes to create, maintain or develop a sustainable competitive advantage” says Dr. Catherine Cooremans, a project partner from the Université de Lausanne who specialises in the strategic and cultural dimensions of investment decision-making.

Developing a training platform and toolkit with and for businesses

Starting in 2019, the project team will offer businesses a training platform and toolkit, including analysis methods and communication tools.

Partners will work directly with at least 50 businesses to analyse, communicate and evaluate the strategic impacts of energy-saving actions. In parallel, Multiple Benefits partners will compile a public evidence base of case studies, project examples and results to bolster investment proposals.

More information

The project website is now launched at the following URL: www.m-benefits.eu. Companies and others who are interested in learning more should sign up for the mailing list