Sanlam Achieves 31% Energy Reduction with Multi-Year Program
How Augos helped Sanlam exceed sustainability targets through a strategic multi-year program that funded capital projects (Chiller/Lighting Retrofits) with behavioral savings, achieving cumulative baseline savings exceeding 31.3% by Year 2.
The Challenge: Meeting Aggressive Sustainability Targets
Sanlam approached Augos with a highly strategic, ambitious goal: to meet challenging sustainability targets through significant electricity savings over a three-year timeframe. The challenge was to achieve aggressive long-term reduction targets while managing capital expenditure constraints.
Traditional approaches would require substantial upfront capital investment in major retrofits, creating financial risk and delaying measurable results. Sanlam needed a strategy that could deliver immediate savings while building momentum toward comprehensive capital improvements.
The Augos Solution: Self-Funding Strategy Through Behavioral Savings
The Augos proposal focused on a self-funding strategy: using verifiable savings generated from immediate, low-to-no-cost behavioral changes to finance subsequent, larger capital projects. A core element was the upfront realization of R3.2 million in Tariff Optimisation savings achieved in the first year.
This strategic adjustment, identified and implemented by Augos, provided an immediate, substantial influx of capital, effectively de-risking the entire three-year energy efficiency program. The initial phase focused on operational changes guided by energy data: Off-Peak Load Optimisation through fine-tuning Building Management System settings, adjusting chiller set-points, and investigating the energy-saving impact of transitioning from desktop computers to laptops. This delivered an impressive 11.8% reduction in Year 1 through low-to-no-cost interventions.
The Result: 31.3% Savings Exceeding Long-Term Targets
The momentum established by the initial savings was used to move into the capital expenditure phases, which delivered massive sustained reductions. The Lighting Retrofit project was successfully completed in Year 2, delivering a substantial saving of 6.2 million kWh for that year compared to the baseline.
The continuous program saw cumulative baseline savings exceeding 31.3% by the close of Year 2, far surpassing the initial long-term goal. The new target of a 10% reduction by Year 8 was already surpassed, securing the long-term energy efficiency of the Sanlam portfolio and demonstrating the success of integrating behavioral, tariff, and capital strategies.
Key Takeaways
Self-funding strategy using behavioral savings to finance capital projects minimizes financial risk
R3.2M tariff optimization in Year 1 de-risked the entire three-year program by providing immediate capital
11.8% Year 1 reduction through low-cost behavioral changes built momentum for capital improvements
31.3% cumulative savings by Year 2 far exceeded long-term targets through integrated strategy