© Mahesh Shantaram/Fotogloria

How Capgemini saves energy and costs thanks to data

Global busi­ness and tech­nology trans­for­ma­tion partner Capgemini is working ambi­tiously on its sustain­ability goals. The Energy Command Center at the company’s Banga­lore site in India is central to achieving savings in all areas, along­side the many retro­fits that Capgemini is working on with ebm-papst. The focus is entirely on data and the added value it gener­ates.


Retro­fitting fans

Rising costs, legally required reduc­tion of CO2 emis­sions – retro­fits provide a solu­tion.

Banga­lore, often referred to as the Silicon Valley of India, is the beating heart of the country’s high-tech industry. It goes without saying that, as one of the world’s leading busi­ness and tech­nology trans­for­ma­tion part­ners, Capgemini has a pres­ence in the southern Indian metrop­olis of 15 million people. With its exten­sive lawns and lush gardens, the state-of-the-art EPIP campus stands out among Capgemini’s loca­tions. The green exte­rior is continued, in a figu­ra­tive sense, in the inte­rior of the campus. This is where the Energy Command Center (ECC) is located ‒ the nerve center of sustain­able oper­a­tions at Capgemini India.

Increased sustain­ability using data

Around the clock, the ECC receives and processes all the key energy consump­tion data for the build­ings ‒ from the cooling tower energy require­ments to the air quality in confer­ence rooms. This makes it possible to control venti­lation on the basis of demand. If the ECC’s smart algo­rithms detect the need for opti­miza­tion, adjust­ments are made auto­mat­i­cally. If an office is empty and unused, the ECC shuts down the venti­lation system. If the CO₂ ­content of the air increases due to a high number of employees on site, it ensures the supply of fresh air. The ECC moni­tors the output of the rooftop solar units and, where neces­sary, either feeds the energy into the system or exports any unused energy.

The Energy Command Center brings together all impor­tant perfor­mance and consump­tion data from the build­ings. This allows Capgemini India to keep an eye on the energy-savings poten­tial of its facil­i­ties.

From preci­sion air condi­tioning units for data centers to cooling towers: The ECC enables access to the oper­ating data of the venti­lation and air condi­tioning systems.

In short, the Energy Command Center ensures the optimum oper­a­tion of the entire infra­struc­ture of Capgemini India, from one central loca­tion, day and night. This makes it central to achieving the company’s ambi­tious global sustain­ability goals, including the carbon neutrality of its own oper­a­tions by 2025.

As a company, we have set ourselves strict and ambi­tious targets. That’s why we have been consis­tently retro­fitting all areas and have part­nered with ebm-papst.

Viswanathan Rajen­dran, Capgemini

Although the ECC opti­mizes infra­struc­ture manage­ment, Capgemini is also moni­toring the effi­ciency of indi­vidual systems. From heating, venti­lation and cooling systems, to cooling towers and units in data centers ‒ they all harbor huge poten­tial for savings and are there­fore the respon­si­bility of Viswanathan Rajen­dran, Vice Pres­i­dent of Engi­neering Services & Sustain­ability for Corpo­rate Real Estate Services. “My main task is to opti­mize the energy effi­ciency of our prop­er­ties. The Energy Command Center is their nerve center. We use it to gain added value, action­able insights and oppor­tu­ni­ties to opti­mize energy consump­tion,” says Rajen­dran. “It is partic­u­larly impor­tant to develop strate­gies that opti­mize energy consump­tion through deep retro­fits. To plan these, we use the data collected in the Energy Command Center.”

Focus on IT compa­nies

The opti­miza­tion of existing prop­er­ties is central, espe­cially for energy-inten­sive infra­struc­ture. World­wide, a lot of energy is consumed by data centers in partic­ular because they require perfect cooling around the clock to ensure their oper­a­tional reli­a­bility. And with growing demand ‒ also due to advances in arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence ‒ consump­tion is contin­uing to increase. The need for savings is corre­spond­ingly high. “As a company, we have set ourselves strict and ambi­tious targets,” explains Viswanathan Rajen­dran. “We aim to achieve net zero by 2040, with a 90-percent reduc­tion in Scope 1, 2 and 3 emis­sions. That’s why, for some time, we have been consis­tently retro­fitting all areas, in addi­tion to estab­lishing the Energy Command Center. To achieve this, we have part­nered with ebm-papst.”

Viswanathan Rajendran’s main task is to opti­mize the energy effi­ciency of Capgemini’s prop­er­ties.

Every­thing started with a retrofit

A close part­ner­ship has evolved between Viswanathan Rajen­dran and Atul Tripathi, Managing Director of ebm-papst India, over the eight years of their collab­o­ra­tion. “Capgemini wanted to save energy, and we were eager to bring them on board as a new customer,” shares Atul Tripathi with a smile. “In 2016, we were given an air handling unit as a pilot to demon­strate energy savings and return on invest­ment with our EC fans.

Viswanathan Rajen­dran (right) and Atul Tripathi, Managing Director ebm-papst India, have been working in close part­ner­ship for eight years to achieve maximum effi­ciency. (Photo | Mahesh Shantaram/Fotogloria)

The major retrofit project started in 2016 with an HVAC unit. (Photo | Mahesh Shantaram/Fotogloria)

Capgemini achieves average savings of 30 percent with retro­fits thanks to more effi­cient fans with better air flow. (Photo | Mahesh Shantaram/Fotogloria)

The savings were remark­able, and the begin­ning of a long and successful journey of retro­fits with Cap­gemini India.” The wide range of systems and appli­ca­tions that were retro­fitted include air handling units, cooling towers with open and closed-loop circuits, preci­sion air condi­tioning units for data centers, and even venti­lation and extrac­tion hoods in kitchens. Across these appli­ca­tions, well over 1,000 units of ebm-papst EC fans have been installed. Thanks to the fans’ effi­ciency and opti­mized airflow, these retro­fits alone have enabled Capgemini to achieve energy savings of around 30 percent in fan oper­a­tions. Impressed by these results, Capgemini plans to use ebm-papst prod­ucts in all its new projects and appli­ca­tions.

In the first ten months since its inau­gu­ra­tion, the ECC has helped reduce energy consump­tion at the eight main Indian sites by 29 percent.

Viswanathan Rajen­dran, Capgemini

EC fans as an impor­tant compo­nent

“We have a long catalog of criteria for the different fans that ebm-papst was able to satisfy every time,” explains Viswanathan Rajen­dran. “In addi­tion to the effi­ciency level and oper­a­tional reli­a­bility, digital connec­tivity is a key aspect because the Energy Command Center must receive the data in order to control the fans accord­ingly.” This digital compo­nent enabled Capgemini to reduce energy consump­tion by a further 29 percent per annum since estab­lishing the Energy Command Center in 2022. For a global company of this size, the scale of this reduc­tion has a corre­sponding signif­i­cance ‒ and a truly posi­tive impact on the envi­ron­ment.

29%

Savings in energy consump­tion at Capgemini’s eight main loca­tions since 2022

25GWh

Elec­tricity savings in 2023 compared to 2019

And that’s not the end of it: Gener­a­tive arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence is likely to facil­i­tate even greater reduc­tions in the future. Viswanathan Rajen­dran and Atul Tripathi are also working closely in this area. “Capgemini is an absolute dream customer,” says Tripathi. “They are always open to new ideas and tech­nolo­gies. Beyond the savings achieved through the retro­fits, they are also keen to explore the poten­tial of our digital and IoT solu­tions. We are thrilled to continue this part­ner­ship into the future.” Viswanathan Rajen­dran under­scores: “For more than eight years, ebm-papst has impressed us with its tech­nical excel­lence and commit­ment to effi­ciency ‒ not only when it comes to making fans more econom­ical, but also with its new tech­nolo­gies. That’s why, as two inno­v­a­tive compa­nies, we are seeking to push the bound­aries of inno­va­tion in our indus­tries.”

How the Energy Command Center works

Capgemini inau­gu­rated the Energy Command Center (ECC) at its Banga­lore site in 2022. Among other things, it moni­tors and manages elec­tricity and water consump­tion, the perfor­mance data of various venti­lation systems and the air quality of the indoor spaces in real time for all Capgemini sites in India. Moni­toring enables Capgemini to achieve signif­i­cant energy savings and increase the oper­a­tional reli­a­bility of the systems.

It also provides reli­able data that Capgemini can use to verify the sustain­ability of its oper­a­tions. The Energy Command Center has helped drive a 29-percent reduc­tion in energy consump­tion across Capgemini’s eight main campuses in India, with a saving of 25 GWh of elec­tricity in 2023 vs. 2019.

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