Benefits of implementing energy efficiencies consistently surpass forecasts

Use behavioural nudges – such as automatic heat shut-off based on misuse of technology – to move staff towards adoption of energy-saving behaviours. The use of energy monitoring technology to pinpoint where to “focus our next resources in terms of cutting costs” “whenever we attack stuff, we always find there’s a lot more benefits that we couldn’t have forecast at the beginning of the project.”

VeriForm Inc. was founded by Paul Rak, its current President, in 1997.

VeriForm’s first project was to address five large loading bay doors in the building that were consistently left open, even in winter. The wasted heat from these open doors was contributing to $6000 monthly natural gas bills. The SME installed limit switches on each door that would cause the heat in the shop to turn off if the doors were left open. Within one day, staff had cleared out the shop to make room for trucks and to keep the doors closed. This simple project paid for itself in less than two months, and was also a turning point for the owner. 

At this time, VeriForm had begun tracking its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the owner of the company noticed significant carbon savings from this project due to reduced natural gas consumption. This was a revelation as they had assumed carbon reductions would be driven mainly by reducing electricity consumption. The carbon and cost savings of this simple initiative motivated further action. Since that time, VeriForm has reduced its annual natural gas consumption by about 80-90%.

By the end of 2006 alone, VeriForm had invested $46,000 (with the assistance of some incentive programs) to upgrade equipment and improve energy efficiency. VeriForm reduced its energy costs by 58% by the end of the first year, with the upgrades paying for themselves in six months. 

By 2009, VeriForm had implemented 37 different energy saving projects, and wanted to put additional structure and stability around their sustainability practices by joining a formal group. As such, they joined in partnership with Sustainable Waterloo Region (SWR), a not for profit organization founded in July 2008 that helps Waterloo Region enterprises achieve carbon, water, and waste reductions through collaboration and education.  

In March 2009, VeriForm participated in a volunteer, community based External Working Group to help SWR determine a Carbon Reduction Framework for future members of the Regional Carbon Initiative (RCI) , which has since evolved and  includes waste and water reduction targets. In June of 2009, VeriForm joined SWR as one of its first three Pledging Partners by setting a public GHG reduction target of 100% over 2006 levels by 2019. 

To date, VeriForm has undertaken over 100 energy efficiency projects and upgrades. 

Initially, leadership had been motivated solely by reducing the carbon footprint of the business, but soon they realized the astonishing cost savings as an additional benefit. VeriForm has saved more than $2 million through energy and maintenance savings by becoming ultra energy efficient, which has enabled the business to weather economic downturns and even grow by 25%, all while reducing carbon emissions by almost 80%. 

Pathway maps represent the sequence businesses followed to implement successful sustainability practices and identify emerging ones within firms. The pathways also reveal the diversity of actors that begin to form sustainability enabling ecosystems for businesses to adopt, deploy or test sustainability practices.