![\"What\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/industry\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/122473_MS_Cloud_for_Sustainability_OO_BlogHero_4800x2000-1024x427.webp\")
\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tAccelerate your sustainability journey<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDrive operational and cost efficiencies to help meet your sustainability goals with Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDiscover more<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTaking a flexible, data-first approach to water sustainability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
As the saying goes, you can\u2019t manage what you can\u2019t measure, and measuring requires data. Currently, organizations are challenged by disparate water data sources that are spread across multiple sites and variously connected to sensor equipment for data tracking, or not. All of this impedes water sustainability measurement and progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new capabilities in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability focus on standardizing water data for water sustainability use cases, providing a single source of truth through multi-source data acquisition and using the purpose-built Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability water data model (preview)<\/a> to enable efficient calculations, visualization, analysis, and reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUsing Microsoft Sustainability Manager<\/a>, a Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability solution, organizations can more easily overcome water accounting challenges with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n- A unified view of water sustainability data<\/strong> through visualizations and organizational reports.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Tracking against mandatory and voluntary reporting requirements<\/strong> using custom data model configurations, monitoring, and reporting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Automatically or manually ingest water quantity and quality data from diverse sources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
No matter what their facilities\u2019 geographic layout or degree of connected measuring, organizations can use Microsoft Sustainability Manager to leverage water data to help meet goals. Using the solution, they can automatically ingest aggregated water quantity and quality measurement data and water sustainability reference data from varied sources, in common file formats like Microsoft Excel, CSV, and XML and stored in Microsoft Azure data services such as Azure Data Lake Storage<\/a> and Azure SQL Database<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOrganizations can pull in historical data and, notably, still manually ingest water data from undigitized data sources, such as paper-based utility invoices or lab test reports, by using data ingestion forms. After ingestion, the data is stored in the water data model and linked to relevant water sustainability reference data in preparation for water sustainability use cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The data model includes entities for storing water volumes related to water consumption, withdrawal, and discharge\u2014water quality and effluent data measured from wastewater samples\u2014and water sustainability metadata.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Estimate water usage volumes with factor-based computation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Organizations may not always have measured values for water withdrawal or discharge volumes. Some operate a mix of facilities, some with sensor-connected withdrawals and discharges and some without, and some organizations are newer to instrumenting their facilities to measure water quantities. In these cases, the water intensity feature in Microsoft Sustainability Manager can be used to estimate water volumes\u2014for example, to estimate gallons of water used per square foot\u2014to gain an understanding of overall water inflow and outflow that\u2019s needed to make progress on goals.<\/p>\n\n\n![\"Dashboard](\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/industry\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sustain-Blog-1.webp\")
Water quantity estimation in Microsoft Sustainability Manager<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn the screenshot above, an organization overcomes a gap in digital water measurement data by estimating water withdrawn and discharged at a non-instrumented facility. The solution shows a return of only 40 percent of withdrawn water to local water sources, making it a water-intensive facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Visualize, filter, and share detailed water-usage data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Water reporting is often required down to the individual facility and other granular attributes. With Microsoft Sustainability Manager interactive dashboards, built on Microsoft Power BI<\/a> market-leading analytics, organizations can view up-to-date and historical water quantity and quality data\u2014formatted and prepared for sustainability use cases such as water, mass, balance, and quality compliance\u2014by facility and aggregated across facilities. They can also filter, roll up, and drill down through the data by time, water type, and asset.<\/p>\n\n\n![\"graphical](\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/industry\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sustain-Blog-2.webp\")
Water quantity dashboard view in Microsoft Sustainability Manager<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAbove, the water quantity dashboard provides insights into the total water withdrawn, consumed, and discharged by Contoso Corp, a fictitious company, across its facilities over a period of one year. This includes water received from surface and seawater sources as well as treated wastewater that\u2019s discharged to groundwater and a utility company\u2019s storm drains. The dashboard also shows the water that\u2019s consumed by Contoso Corp as water withdrawn into facilities but not discharged back into local water ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With ESG disclosure requirements and expectations mounting, organizations need tools to facilitate timely and accurate responses. With Microsoft Sustainability Manager, they can now configure water usage and wastewater quality reports according to the metrics they know are required by applicable ESG disclosure standards. For example, an organization that needs to report on wastewater effluent by the facility can both visualize metrics at that level and generate reports aligned to prescribed discharge monitoring standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability partner co-innovation: Taking water accounting to the next level<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps most importantly, the new water data capabilities in Microsoft Sustainability Manager provide a foothold for leading-edge innovation by specialized Microsoft partners. Our partners around the world have the industry knowledge to zoom in on organizations\u2019 unique water and sustainability goals and develop advanced solutions to meet them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today we\u2019re announcing our recent work with Ecolab<\/a><\/strong>, a global sustainability leader in water, hygiene, and infection prevention. Our joint solution combines the power of the ECOLAB3D\u2122 digital platform with Microsoft Sustainability Manager, helping organizations monitor and manage water data so they can gain greater visibility into how they\u2019re tracking against water and sustainability goals.<\/p>\n\n\n![\"chart,](\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/industry\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Sustain-Blog-3.webp\")
ECOLAB3D capabilities integrated with Microsoft Sustainability Manager help organizations gain enhanced water data visibility toward reducing water consumption, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nEcolab is committed to achieving a net positive water impact in its operations, with goals to restore more than 50 percent of its water withdrawal at high-risk sites by 2030 and reduce its water impact by 40 percent per unit of production across its enterprise.\u200b The company is also committed to helping its customers reduce their water use, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions. They recently launched the Ecolab Water for Climate\u2122 program<\/a>, which offers holistic solutions including auditing, consulting, engineering, connected chemistries, and digital solutions to help support reduce, reuse, and recycle water strategies across an enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTogether, Microsoft and Ecolab plan to help: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Unify water and sustainability data<\/strong>. Centralize water consumption data and integrate it with other environmental, financial, and operational data. This will lead to improving reporting and helping organizations manage progress against goals with Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability and ECOLAB3D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Reduce water consumption and costs<\/strong>. Maximize efficiencies and reduce water usage at the site level and enterprise-wide with actionable intelligence and outcome-based water solutions tailored to industry scenarios. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Lower energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions<\/strong>. Use digital technologies to help link water efficiencies with energy savings and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. This water-energy nexus<\/em> is the relationship between the water used to generate and transmit energy and the energy required to move, cool, heat, and treat water. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Drive transformation that benefits the planet and business<\/strong>. Cultivate sustainability and business intelligence to inform more effective, value-based decisions that help organizations reduce their environmental footprint, manage risk, and grow and scale their operations. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Next steps <\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n- Learn more about ECOLAB3D<\/a> and discover other partner solutions on Microsoft AppSource<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Get started with water sustainability management: Set up and configure Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Want to learn more about Microsoft’s water sustainability? Read our annual sustainably <\/a>report <\/u><\/font>and stay informed about Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability<\/a> by signing up for news and updates<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Increased demand and less reliable water supply have put the world at a critical turning point: Sustainable water management must be prioritized. Today we\u2019re announcing powerful new water sustainability management features (in preview) in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability and an extended collaboration with Ecolab to help organizations accelerate their progress on water sustainability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":794,"featured_media":106953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ms_queue_id":["sustainability-content-sync"],"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3966],"post_tag":[4296],"content-type":[1492],"coauthors":[4087],"class_list":["post-106861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sustainability","tag-microsoft-industry-clouds","content-type-news-and-announcements","review-flag-alway-1593580311-297","review-flag-integ-1593580289-590","review-flag-lever-1593580266-799","review-flag-new-1593580249-279","review-flag-partn-1593580285-60","review-flag-percent"],"yoast_head":"\n
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Drive operational and cost efficiencies to help meet your sustainability goals with Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Taking a flexible, data-first approach to water sustainability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
As the saying goes, you can\u2019t manage what you can\u2019t measure, and measuring requires data. Currently, organizations are challenged by disparate water data sources that are spread across multiple sites and variously connected to sensor equipment for data tracking, or not. All of this impedes water sustainability measurement and progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new capabilities in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability focus on standardizing water data for water sustainability use cases, providing a single source of truth through multi-source data acquisition and using the purpose-built Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability water data model (preview)<\/a> to enable efficient calculations, visualization, analysis, and reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using Microsoft Sustainability Manager<\/a>, a Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability solution, organizations can more easily overcome water accounting challenges with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter what their facilities\u2019 geographic layout or degree of connected measuring, organizations can use Microsoft Sustainability Manager to leverage water data to help meet goals. Using the solution, they can automatically ingest aggregated water quantity and quality measurement data and water sustainability reference data from varied sources, in common file formats like Microsoft Excel, CSV, and XML and stored in Microsoft Azure data services such as Azure Data Lake Storage<\/a> and Azure SQL Database<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations can pull in historical data and, notably, still manually ingest water data from undigitized data sources, such as paper-based utility invoices or lab test reports, by using data ingestion forms. After ingestion, the data is stored in the water data model and linked to relevant water sustainability reference data in preparation for water sustainability use cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The data model includes entities for storing water volumes related to water consumption, withdrawal, and discharge\u2014water quality and effluent data measured from wastewater samples\u2014and water sustainability metadata.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations may not always have measured values for water withdrawal or discharge volumes. Some operate a mix of facilities, some with sensor-connected withdrawals and discharges and some without, and some organizations are newer to instrumenting their facilities to measure water quantities. In these cases, the water intensity feature in Microsoft Sustainability Manager can be used to estimate water volumes\u2014for example, to estimate gallons of water used per square foot\u2014to gain an understanding of overall water inflow and outflow that\u2019s needed to make progress on goals.<\/p>\n\n\n In the screenshot above, an organization overcomes a gap in digital water measurement data by estimating water withdrawn and discharged at a non-instrumented facility. The solution shows a return of only 40 percent of withdrawn water to local water sources, making it a water-intensive facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Water reporting is often required down to the individual facility and other granular attributes. With Microsoft Sustainability Manager interactive dashboards, built on Microsoft Power BI<\/a> market-leading analytics, organizations can view up-to-date and historical water quantity and quality data\u2014formatted and prepared for sustainability use cases such as water, mass, balance, and quality compliance\u2014by facility and aggregated across facilities. They can also filter, roll up, and drill down through the data by time, water type, and asset.<\/p>\n\n\n Above, the water quantity dashboard provides insights into the total water withdrawn, consumed, and discharged by Contoso Corp, a fictitious company, across its facilities over a period of one year. This includes water received from surface and seawater sources as well as treated wastewater that\u2019s discharged to groundwater and a utility company\u2019s storm drains. The dashboard also shows the water that\u2019s consumed by Contoso Corp as water withdrawn into facilities but not discharged back into local water ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With ESG disclosure requirements and expectations mounting, organizations need tools to facilitate timely and accurate responses. With Microsoft Sustainability Manager, they can now configure water usage and wastewater quality reports according to the metrics they know are required by applicable ESG disclosure standards. For example, an organization that needs to report on wastewater effluent by the facility can both visualize metrics at that level and generate reports aligned to prescribed discharge monitoring standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps most importantly, the new water data capabilities in Microsoft Sustainability Manager provide a foothold for leading-edge innovation by specialized Microsoft partners. Our partners around the world have the industry knowledge to zoom in on organizations\u2019 unique water and sustainability goals and develop advanced solutions to meet them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today we\u2019re announcing our recent work with Ecolab<\/a><\/strong>, a global sustainability leader in water, hygiene, and infection prevention. Our joint solution combines the power of the ECOLAB3D\u2122 digital platform with Microsoft Sustainability Manager, helping organizations monitor and manage water data so they can gain greater visibility into how they\u2019re tracking against water and sustainability goals.<\/p>\n\n\n Ecolab is committed to achieving a net positive water impact in its operations, with goals to restore more than 50 percent of its water withdrawal at high-risk sites by 2030 and reduce its water impact by 40 percent per unit of production across its enterprise.\u200b The company is also committed to helping its customers reduce their water use, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions. They recently launched the Ecolab Water for Climate\u2122 program<\/a>, which offers holistic solutions including auditing, consulting, engineering, connected chemistries, and digital solutions to help support reduce, reuse, and recycle water strategies across an enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Together, Microsoft and Ecolab plan to help: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Want to learn more about Microsoft’s water sustainability? Read our annual sustainably <\/a>report <\/u><\/font>and stay informed about Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability<\/a> by signing up for news and updates<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Increased demand and less reliable water supply have put the world at a critical turning point: Sustainable water management must be prioritized. Today we\u2019re announcing powerful new water sustainability management features (in preview) in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability and an extended collaboration with Ecolab to help organizations accelerate their progress on water sustainability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":794,"featured_media":106953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ms_queue_id":["sustainability-content-sync"],"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3966],"post_tag":[4296],"content-type":[1492],"coauthors":[4087],"class_list":["post-106861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sustainability","tag-microsoft-industry-clouds","content-type-news-and-announcements","review-flag-alway-1593580311-297","review-flag-integ-1593580289-590","review-flag-lever-1593580266-799","review-flag-new-1593580249-279","review-flag-partn-1593580285-60","review-flag-percent"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
Automatically or manually ingest water quantity and quality data from diverse sources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Estimate water usage volumes with factor-based computation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Visualize, filter, and share detailed water-usage data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability partner co-innovation: Taking water accounting to the next level<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Next steps <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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