Question: What role do you play in your company's sustainability initiatives?
- I participate in creating and executing our initiatives
- I am the final decision maker
- I make recommendations to those responsible for our initiatives
- I am not personally involved but knowledgeable about my organization's energy/sustainability efforts
Table 1 - Base 226, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2025; Base 247, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2024
Question: Where do you see your organization on its journey to achieving sustainability goals?
- We are ahead of pace
- We are on track
- We are behind
- We are just getting started
- We have no goals / We have not started
Table 2 - Base 226, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2025; Base 247, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2024
| Total | Commercial | Higher Education | Industrial | Government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centralized | 60% | 78% | 45% | 68% | 48% |
| Managed by separate departments | 46% | 35% | 64% | 43% | 67% |
| Third-party management | 13% | 18% | 7% | 10% | 15% |
| Other | 2% | 3% | 0% | 3% | 4% |
Table 3 - Base 226, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2025
“Companies are setting short-term goals to take action now, medium term goals to look ahead, and long-term goals to guide their company into the future."
Question: How does your organization currently collect energy data?
- Automated monthly utility data collection
- Manual bill data collection
- Real-time and automated utility data collection
- Export trend data from BMS
- Manual meter readings
- Estimate data based on industry averages*
- Email/Phone call/Survey
Table 4 - Base 226, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2025; Base 247, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2024
- Access to building and asset level data
- Automating utility data management
- Access to supplier data
- Automating emissions calculations and reporting
- Occupant awareness & engagement in goals
Table 5 - Base 226, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2025; Base 247, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2024
Strong energy and sustainability data help organizations forecast accurately, prioritize impactful initiatives, and confidently meet stakeholder demands - all while freeing up valuable time for teams to focus on strategic growth. These findings highlight a clear trend: as organizations mature in their sustainability journeys, they increasingly rely on robust data access and automation to scale their impact.
Year-over-year Differences
A new focus this year is access to supplier data, which 62% of respondents deemed essential for achieving sustainability goals. This growing priority reflects an evolving recognition of the role suppliers play in an organization’s broader environmental impact. By incorporating supplier data into their sustainability strategies, organizations are gaining a more comprehensive view of their value chain, enabling them to align their efforts with broader ESG goals, optimizations, and cost reduction strategies.
- Organization has Sustainability or Energy Reduction Goals (Net)
- Resource reduction (including energy, water, waste)
- Greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction
- Sustainability/Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) reporting
- Renewable energy targets
- Upgrading existing building automation or IoT infrastructure
- Other
- None – Our organization hasn't set any goals
- Don't know
Table 6 - Base 226, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2025; Base 247, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2024
| Budget | Total | Commercial | Higher Education | Industrial | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | 16% | 23% | 24% | 5% | 15% |
| $1-9k | 13% | 13% | 19% | 5% | 11% |
| $10k-25k | 12% | 5% | 21% | 8% | 7% |
| $26k-50k | 8% | 8% | 10% | 5% | 7% |
| $51k-75k | 4% | 8% | 2% | 3% | 0% |
| $76k-$99k | 5% | 0% | 5% | 8% | 11% |
| $100-$249k | 14% | 20% | 12% | 20% | 7% |
| $250-$499k | 9% | 13% | 0% | 13% | 15% |
| $500k+ | 18% | 13% | 7% | 35% | 26% |
Table 7 - Base 226, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2025
| Title | Total | Ahead/On Track | Behind | Starting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | 16% | 12% | 7% | 24% |
| $1-9k | 13% | 11% | 11% | 18% |
| $10k-25k | 12% | 9% | 18% | 14% |
| $26k-50k | 8% | 9% | 7% | 8% |
| $51k-75k | 4% | 4% | 7% | 4% |
| $76k-$99k | 5% | 8% | 0% | 6% |
| $100-$249k | 14% | 16% | 14% | 12% |
| $250-$499k | 9% | 10% | 14% | 6% |
| $500k+ | 18% | 23% | 21% | 8% |
Table 8 - Base 226, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2025
- Resources and funding to support sustainability initiatives (Net)
- Executive-level engagement and investment (internal resources and funding)*
- External resources and funding to support sustainability initiatives
- Utility incentives to offset costs
- Organizing data streams into a centralized location
- Automating the process of reporting on Scope 1,2, and 3 emissions
- External engagement and visibility of programs and results
- Don't know
- None of the above
Table 9 - Base 226, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2025; Base 247, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2024
These results suggest that resources are crucial for successful initiatives, prioritized by 78% of respondents. Like last year, there was little change in uncertainty about success factors, indicating consistent trends in strategic clarity and goals.
- Ahead of the crowd: Fault detection and diagnostics
- Well on our way: Submetering data for greater performance visibility
- Picking up speed: Accessing real-time data to identify anomalies and improve performance
- First steps: Automated utility and emissions data into a centralized system
- At the beginning: Putting manual data in a spreadsheet
- Don’t know
Table 10 - Base 226, State of Corporate Sustainability Report 2025
From securing organizational buy-in to fostering leadership alignment, energy and sustainability teams are navigating a complex journey to reach their sustainability goals.