Enware helps businesses commit to sustainability and harness the benefits of having a proven, reportable sustainability programme running across their organisation.
Enware is an online energy and environmental awareness employee platform.
The comprehensive new online platform assists and supports engagement with an organisation’s energy reduction and environmental schemes, and aims to inform and educate staff members on energy saving and better environmental practices.
“There is currently a big problem with lack of employee engagement in the workplace with the current rate of employees feeling engaged only at 15pc globally. This is having a negative effect on organisations trying to meet their sustainability targets”
Enware also encourages staff involvement in an organisation’s energy and environmental policies through feedback opportunities.
Starting the conversation on sustainability
By engaging with staff on energy awareness, it can make standards like ISO50001 and ISO14001 less alien to those staff members that are not engaged in these standards on a day-to-day basis.
“There is currently a big problem with lack of employee engagement in the workplace with the current rate of employees feeling engaged only at 15pc globally,” said co-founder of Enware John Keohane. “This is having a negative effect on organisations trying to meet their sustainability targets. Enware is looking to address this issue by engagement within the whole organisation and help to build sustainability teams.”
Enware is software-as-a-service (SaaS) product providing Employee Sustainability Engagement.
“It helps organisations reduce energy costs and fast track their journey to carbon neutrality. We raise awareness and engagement through the platform with features such as surveys, carbon footprint calculator, campaigns, rewards, groups etc.”
According to Keohane by running an initial investigation and conducting a staff perception survey, a company will learn a lot about how best to achieve energy reduction and better environmental practices through behavioural change.
He said that developing a staff energy and environmental awareness programme will empower staff to work in more energy-efficient ways. Once it is supported by senior leadership, and embeds energy-saving and better environmental behaviours into core business energy processes, the programme will focus on fewer, but higher-impact, behaviours.
Using an array of innovative services, interacting directly with management and staff, the mobile friendly and responsive tablet design of Enware allows for staff feedback, assists with the creation of energy teams within organisations, educates staff on company policies, helps staff identify energy saving ideas, makes energy saving part of the staff ethos, allows for incentives and staff rewards and ultimately results in CO2 reduction with savings made.
Through the platform Enware measures each user’s carbon footprint, and in turn give the organisation the average user carbon footprint as their benchmark on which to improve over time. As users take positive environmental steps in behaviour, their carbon footprint is adjusted to reflect this, and ultimately encourage users to keep reducing their harmful impact on the planet.
An energetic response
Keohane established Enware with Paul Martin.
“We previously founded the Verde Energy Group together, and through our experiences over the last decade we saw the urgent need to help organisations engage their teams around their sustainability targets, which most have been failing to meet to date.”
Enware’s creators are heavily involved in all sectors from pharma and manufacturing as well as offices. In recognition of the significance of the new online platform, Enware was named as a finalist in the Green Technology of the Year category at the Green Awards, the leading platform for sustainability intelligence, leadership and innovation in best green practice in Ireland.
Planting the seeds
Keohane believes the Irish start-up ecosystem is gathering momentum. “I think technology has been a great leveller in the sense that people don’t necessarily have to go to Silicon Valley anymore to start a tech business.
“There are more and more successful tech start-ups coming out of Ireland which breeds confidence and belief that anyone can do it from Ireland.”
He explained that Enware is self-funded to date and there are no plans in the short term to take on external investment.
When it comes to starting a business, Keohane recommends getting friendly Beta customers onboard at an early stage to help test and provide feedback on the product is invaluable and helped shape development of the platform in areas we might not have thought about.
“The idea is the easy bit, execution is the killer! Don’t be naive in thinking starting a business will lead to short term success. There are massive sacrifices needed, but if you are prepared to make them, then go for it.”
By John Kennedy (john.kennedy3@boi.com)
Published: 2 September 2021
