Modern businesses have a few reasons to move towards sustainability. ESG and customer goodwill are one, but corporate responsibility can also be enough of a reason.
One way to make a difference, which is often overlooked, is with physical security – how you enter and exit your workplace. Here, smart technology can be the difference…
Dematerialisation
Traditional access relies on physical items like keys and plastic cards. Even though they’re far from single-use, consider the environmental toll as employees join and leave. Metal keys require mining extraction and manufacturing, along with transportation, while plastic access cards consume petrochemicals.
Lost keys and damaged cards are causing the need for constant replacements. Although this kind of environmental waste may well go unreported, it’s possible to make a difference by using smart locks, which work using NFC or Bluetooth from a smartphone. This way, nothing extra is required, as we all have smartphones. This also eliminates the need for additional batteries, which older fob systems may require.
Access control can lead to energy savings
It’s not just the key itself, but how it’s used. The greenest potential of smart locks is unlocked when you begin integrating it with the Building Management Systems. This connection is where access control turns into valuable occupancy data. When an employee uses their credential to enter an authorized area, the smart lock signals the BMS, and this then triggers environmental controls. Heating and air conditioning systems can activate only for occupied authorized zones, which means no wasted energy is used on conditioning empty rooms that the worker doesn’t even have access to.
Lighting can work in the same way, in which they turn on as one enters the room. This way, there is also an audit trail and log of when electricity is being used, and when it isn’t. You can spot irregularities with this data, as well as reconcile it with the total building energy usage to see if things line up. Of course, this data log could also be useful for compliance, or even security, in case something gets stolen or damaged.
Operational efficiency meets eco-consciousness
Operations are undoubtedly streamlined by such smart locks, showing that eco-efforts do not directly oppose improving operational efficiency (or increase cost, for that matter, as smart locks save money in the long run).
Administrators can grant or modify access permissions remotely using a centralized platform. This eliminates the need for the visitor to turn up a day before to get their credentials (wasting transport emissions), or the need for physical staff to be present in order to grant them credentials or check their ID (which requires electricity to run a reception area).
Locking in a greener future
Smart locks deliver all of the operational advantages to make it a worthwhile investment, but also come with the hugely useful eco benefit of dematerialisation and reduction of emissions. Generally, technology and automation needn’t be a burden on the environment (as is accused with AI and crypto), but instead a way to hit sustainability targets.
