This weblog is a part of our deal with Cisco workers who’re “Striving for Sustainability” by discovering alternatives to combine sustainability of their day-to-day work.
We’re seeing sustainability evolve into an area the place science, sensible enterprise selections, and environmental influence intersect. That’s the place Mike King, who leads Carbon Accounting and Analytics from Cisco’s Chief Sustainability Workplace, is available in.
Mike believes sustainability is an extremely attention-grabbing engineering downside, and in his view, there isn’t a greater difficulty to sort out. Study extra about his method:
How did your engineering background form the way in which you method your work in sustainability?
Mike: Having that technical basis, together with time spent within the provide chain as a mechanical engineer at Cisco, taught me to see sustainability as a techniques downside. Understanding how Cisco designs, builds, and ships merchandise offers me a stable grasp of the entire course of, which is particularly useful after we’re making an attempt to quantify our sustainability impacts. I really feel assured in understanding what the method appears to be like like and what we’re coping with at every stage.
From an engineering perspective, I have a tendency to interrupt issues down into steps. I naturally transfer by way of the method step-by-step however at all times hold the massive image in thoughts. The engineering design course of is inherently iterative. For instance, I educate an engineering class at Arizona State College, and we undergo cycles of developing with an thought, constructing it, testing it, seeing what labored and what didn’t, after which refining it. I convey that very same method to our sustainability tasks, reminiscent of our Product Carbon Footprint course of. It doesn’t need to be good on the primary attempt; it’s about constructing, discovering points, and bettering every iteration.
Why is high-quality knowledge so essential to creating sustainability efforts credible and actionable?
Mike: Knowledge is what grounds sustainability in actuality. When you’ll be able to clearly see the place impacts are concentrated, whether or not in elements, manufacturing, or power use, it helps groups deal with actions that may drive significant change.
Excessive-quality knowledge allows everybody to make extra knowledgeable and assured selections. For instance, an engineer can join environmental influence to product price, whereas a buyer can search for methods to decrease the electrical energy prices of working our merchandise.
With our Sustainability Knowledge Basis (SDF), Cisco goals to offer a single supply of high-quality knowledge for each inside groups and prospects. Given the rising complexity and demand for environmental sustainability knowledge, it’s essential that we consolidate datasets and make the info simple to entry and perceive. The SDF brings collectively a spread of knowledge, from product data and provide chain particulars to buyer utilization and third-party emission elements, so that everybody has the info they should help credible and actionable sustainability efforts.
How can massive corporations steadiness the rising demand for synthetic intelligence (AI) and digitalization with the necessity to enhance power effectivity?
Mike: AI and digitalization provide alternatives for effectivity, however additionally they convey growing power calls for. The bottom line is to be intentional about how we design and deploy expertise. Some corporations, like Cisco, are prioritizing power effectivity proper from the beginning, making it a core a part of how new options and instruments are developed. It’s also necessary to think about the broader system’s impacts in order that innovation and sustainability can transfer ahead collectively.
Machine studying (ML), a core subset of AI, is only one space the place we’ve got already seen actual, optimistic impacts. For instance, ML algorithms can optimize buildings and amenities through the use of predictive analytics to handle power use extra effectively. These sorts of functions have been round for many years and are confirmed to assist corporations scale back their environmental footprint.
Primarily based in your expertise constructing Cisco’s Life Cycle Evaluation (LCA) program, how can LCAs drive innovation and assist companies make higher sustainability selections?
Mike: LCAs assist make environmental impacts seen throughout the complete life cycle of a product, which frequently results in higher design conversations. For instance, in case you are designing a product, LCAs can present whether or not switching to recycled supplies or decreasing the power depth of a provider’s location will make a much bigger distinction.
At Cisco, LCAs have helped us pinpoint environmental “hotspots” in several life cycle phases, like manufacturing, transportation, or use. With out LCAs, it might be arduous to know the place to focus. They offer engineers the insights wanted to optimize elements and provides prospects the info to decide on extra sustainable merchandise. LCAs additionally transcend simply carbon, highlighting different impacts like water use and materials decisions. This helps groups perceive trade-offs and make knowledgeable design adjustments with out unintentionally growing different impacts.
Wanting forward, the place do you see sustainability creating the best enterprise worth for giant organizations?
Mike: The best worth comes when sustainability is embedded into on a regular basis enterprise and expertise selections. Firms that use sustainability knowledge to information design, sourcing, and innovation are typically extra resilient, extra environment friendly, and higher ready for the long run.
On the upstream aspect, this implies discovering methods to cut back prices by way of smarter materials decisions, growing product longevity, or boosting reusability. These methods can assist an organization lower your expenses whereas decreasing environmental influence. Downstream, it’s about delivering worth to prospects and companions. Which may imply serving to prospects obtain power financial savings or deal with emissions discount targets.
At Cisco, I see my workforce sitting proper in the course of that equation, serving to to drive advantages for each the enterprise and our prospects by making sustainability a core a part of our decision-making course of.
What do you would like extra individuals understood about sustainability?
Mike: It’s not about discovering an ideal reply. Actual progress comes from making higher selections over time, studying from trade-offs, and specializing in what issues most. It’s about utilizing knowledge to information enhancements, fairly than ready for good options.
