Digitalising sustainable revolution

Signify has changed wind for the energy industry with reformed and safer techniques to financial gains

Sustainability: A key factor that most organisations in today's society strive to achieve. But why is it so important? Why should you care? The concept of sustainability is about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. For a long time, the environmental impact had been the main focus for many organisations craving a sustainability philosophy.

But the umbrella of sustainability holds more scope than this and requires considerations on both social and economic issues. At its core, it's an approach to balancing different and quite often competing needs against the awareness of the environmental, social and economic limitations businesses face.

The principles of sustainability have long been a focus for Signify and they are continuously monitoring their business strategies to ensure managing people, planet and profit.

The leaders of hope

With the ethos of unlocking the extraordinary potential for brighter lives and better worlds, Signify has kept its business model sustainable not only for the present generation but for the future generations to come.

Speaking about embedding sustainability in business over the last decade, Eric Rondolat, CEO of Signify spoke about the transformation. He also mentioned the synopsis of his visit to Dubai after the pandemic and how the UAE market is going big on sustainable development for the future. “Everyone I met in Dubai talks about sustainability. Probably it was not the case 10 years ago. The market has seen a huge maturity because people not only talk about sustainability in terms of energy efficiency, it's much more than that. Sustainability at Signify plays a huge role of societal aspect attached because we are saving energy, improving the safety of people and productivity at work.”

Mentioning Signify’s journey of sustainable development, Rondolat highlighted the milestones achieved by the company over a decade. “Signify started 10 years ago, a real programme of sustainability. In 10 years, we have decreased our CO2 footprint by 80 per cent and we became carbon neutral, in September 2020 with the very few companies in the world. We have zero waste to landfill and have been able to source energy from renewable virtual power purchase agreements. We help our customers to invest in renewable energy. Our growth avenues are on climate change investment, clean energy investment, food security, circularity, health and well-being and safety and security.”

Futuristic innovations

Signify is the world leader in connected LED lighting systems, software and services. The company has enhanced public spaces, workplaces, and homes. Its lighting products, systems and services have demonstrated the goals of an energy-efficient future. Recently, the company has demonstrated an example of smarter technology integrated with sustainability at Expo 2020 Dubai.

“When the streetlights are connected, you can control them depending on the situation. For instance, if you go from 100 per cent capacity to 80 per cent, you will save up to 20 per cent of energy consumption.”

Speaking about the future of the connected lights and sustainability, Rondolat added:

“Our motto is not only to sell lights but to increase and improve productivity with our services. We use fewer resources on the planet, which is very important for us. We have 3d printing luminaires at Expo 2020 Dubai that can be recycled at the end of their life, supporting the circular economy. This is reinforcing the company’s position at the forefront of lighting and sustainable innovation.”

Food for all

Agri-Tech solutions are helping overcome the biggest challenge in food production: How to feed its growing population sustainably and securely while overcoming water scarcity and climate change issues. The global food system accounts for about one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, consumes the majority of all freshwater, and is the leading cause of deforestation. By 2050, there will be another two billion people on the planet increasing food demand by 70 per cent.

Working hand-in-hand with the requirements of the rising population, Signify has made significant changes creating a controlled farming environment for growing food. “Indoor farms can use less energy, water, and land than traditional farming methods and will contribute to a big part of our future food system. Signify has contributed a lot to the horticulture sector with the growing lights that can either supplement natural daylight or replace it entirely. Using them creates a controlled farming environment, which is suitable for any crop to grow in any corner of the world. This will contribute to solving a serious issue of providing food for the future generations to come,” explained Rondolat.

The commitment

anam@khaleejtimes.com