P&G's Latest Innovation: Smart Buildings, Smart Energy Use

CHICAGO, Sept. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Procter & Gamble (P&G) is no stranger to setting aggressive, data-driven efficiency, sustainability and profitability goals, but it is the company's unique participation in a new smart building technology program that is driving proven performance gains with first-year average energy cost savings of 10 percent. After deploying Jones Lang LaSalle's (JLL) IntelliCommand™ smart building management technology in a test group of laboratories, offices and manufacturing facilities, P&G's initial investment in the technology was returned within the first three months of energy cost savings.

"By converting to a smart building system that uses predictive analytics to detect building performance abnormalities before they occur, we not only achieved energy savings in our corporate real estate portfolio, but we also improved building equipment reliability and the physical comfort of our employees," said Larry Bridge, Global Facilities and Real Estate Governance Manager at P&G. "This pilot program confirmed that by using IntelliCommand, we can significantly improve the productivity of our buildings and employees."

IntelliCommand^™ is a smart building management platform that offers 24-hour, seven days per week real-time remote facility monitoring and control across multiple locations, combined with the JLL integrated facilities management operations. Powered by Pacific Controls technology, the system includes continuous building commissioning, automatic work order generation, seamless smart grid integration and compatibility with all major brands of automated building system censors.

"Procter & Gamble is a pioneer in making its smart buildings even smarter," said Joe Stolarski, JLL's Global Account Executive for P&G. "This pilot program exemplifies P&G's leadership in applying innovation and advanced analytics to its real estate operations—just as in its products."

Smart Buildings, Smart People

In 2011, JLL proposed that P&G become the first company to test IntelliCommand, in support of the two companies' mutual goal of identifying innovative new approaches to achieving energy efficiency, cost savings and building performance management goals. P&G's immediate goal was to apply IntelliCommand's proprietary data analytics capabilities to inform its real estate decisions and produce significant energy cost savings within one year. The premise was that IntelliCommand's combination of cloud-based smart-building management technology with JLL's team of facilities management professionals would provide P&G with 24/7, real-time facilities management.

With these goals in mind, P&G deployed IntelliCommand across 12 buildings totalling 3.2 million square feet of real estate. The pilot sites included P&G's global headquarters campus in Cincinnati; its global healthcare headquarters facilities, including numerous laboratories; a key technical center; and a major mixed-used complex including offices and manufacturing operations. 

Return on Investment

Where buildings may be "commissioned," or tested for maximum energy efficiency, every few years, IntelliCommand enables continuous commissioning and performance adjustments that would dramatically reduce energy consumption and costs.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130909/CL76615-INFO )
Figure 1: P&G's IntelliCommand results (click to view full-size version)

In fact, within 11 months, P&G had achieved overall pilot portfolio savings of 10 percent, or 4,400,000 kilowatt hours—with the demonstrated potential to achieve additional savings. Results were particularly strong at P&G's technical center pilot site, where energy costs were reduced by 16 percent. Equally important, P&G's initial investment in the IntelliCommand deployment was returned in the first three months.

"P&G was able to achieve energy savings and performance improvements, even though some of the pilot facilities were older and did not feature fully-automated systems," said Dan Probst, JLL Chairman of Energy and Sustainability Services. "Smart buildings do not need to be new buildings."

"We are committed to becoming the most data-driven, technology-enabled company in the world, as well as one of the most sustainable, in every area of our operations—not just those that are consumer-facing," said Bridge. "IntelliCommand is helping us achieve our departmental goal of reducing our energy usage by 20 percent by 2020."

A leader in the real estate outsourcing field, Jones Lang LaSalle helps corporations improve productivity in the cost, efficiency and performance of their national, regional or global real estate portfolios by creating outsourcing partnerships to manage and execute a range of corporate real estate services. This service delivery capability helps corporations improve business performance, particularly as companies turn to the outsourcing of their real estate activity as a way to manage expenses and enhance profitability.

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About Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) is a professional services and investment management firm offering specialized real estate services to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying and investing in real estate. With annual revenue of $3.9 billion, Jones Lang LaSalle operates in 70 countries from more than 1,000 locations worldwide. On behalf of its clients, the firm provides management and real estate outsourcing services to a property portfolio of 2.6 billion square feet and completed $63 billion in sales, acquisitions and finance transactions in 2012. Its investment management business, LaSalle Investment Management, has $46.3 billion of real estate assets under management. For further information, visit www.jll.com.

SOURCE Jones Lang LaSalle