The 200k DKK paper cut: The true cost of not automating energy reporting.

What if we told you that your energy reporting processes are slowly costing your portfolio €100k annually? 

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If you’re running a real estate portfolio and need to report energy data, as many corporations do in the European Union (EU), manual data collection and reporting are silently affecting your bottom line. 

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Those spreadsheets aren’t doing you any good. Instead, what you need is a solution that automates data collection, verification, and reporting, so you can save anywhere from thousands to tens of thousands of Euros in hidden costs of manual processes. 

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In this article, we’ll break down the cost of not automating energy data collection and reporting for real estate portfolios and how tools like comundo can help improve the process and save you money (while paying for itself in a matter of months). 

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Energy reporting in the EU at a glance

The EU is deeply committed to a comprehensive energy reporting framework, driven by its ambitious climate goals to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. 

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At the heart of this is the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), which mandates binding energy savings targets for Member States, aiming for an overall 11.7% reduction in final energy consumption by 2030 compared to 2020 projections. This directive requires large companies to undertake regular energy audits or implement certified energy management systems, such as ISO 50001, to identify and act on opportunities for efficiency. 

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Then, there are even more directives like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the EU Building Performance Directive (EPBD). The former requires large companies and listed small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to report environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data, while the latter requires existing and new buildings in the EU bloc to be energy efficient. 

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In short, companies with real estate holdings must collect and report energy data to comply with various regulations. That’s besides the fact that doing so can also help them cut costs and make their assets more attractive (but that’s a discussion for another time). 

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Manual reporting: The outdated status quo

Manual data entry of energy consumption of real estate assets can be incredibly inefficient. But it’s still the norm for many companies, with analysts collecting consumption data from utility providers and manually entering each data point into spreadsheets. That’s not ideal for several reasons, primarily due to the added costs and the potential for inaccuracies. 

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Your employees spend hundreds of hours each year collecting, fine-tuning, and processing data. Of course, they have to be paid for those hours, which ultimately affects your operational expenses. 

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Secondly, and more scarily, manual data entry is prone to errors. The accuracy rate of human data entry ranges from 94% to 99%, whereas automated data entry has an accuracy rate of 99.99%. And those errors can cost you in compliance fines. 

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Breaking down the cost of not automating

You might think that manual data entry for energy data might not be that bad in terms of cost, but just for fun, let’s do a conservative cost analysis for manual energy accounting for a real estate portfolio. We’ll assume that the company has an analyst to carry out all the work and occasional consultations with a sustainability expert. 

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Here’s what the cost looks like: 

• Missed opportunities: Adopting an Energy-Management System typically cuts 10-17 % usage, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), but we assume just 5% on a €200,000 (around DKK 1.5M) electricity bill priced at the 2024 EU non-household average of €0.1899/kWh. That comes to about €10,000 (DKK 75k) 
• Labour: According to Glassdoor, the average salary of an energy/sustainability analyst in Copenhagen, Denmark, is DKK 58k to DKK 62k per month. Let’s assume they only spend 10 hours a month on data hunting, cleaning, and logging. You’re still looking at a considerable labour cost per year on just manual data collection and sorting 
• External help: A professional sustainability consultant may charge approximately DKK 42k per month. Let’s say you consult with them for only a week. That brings the cost to DKK 10.5k
• Spreadsheet error and rework: Since the accuracy rate is low for human data entry, a rework on spreadsheets should also be accounted for. A single re-audit week would cost DKK 14.5k - DKK 15.5k for the week, based on the average annual salary of the analyst we considered earlier
• Compliance slip: In case of non-compliance due to inefficiencies or errors in reporting, you may incur fines. For example, in the UK, late reporting of energy data (ESOS) has a fixed penalty of £5,000 (around DKK 43k)

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Once all these costs are added, the total comes to around DKK 206k.. 

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And this is just low-balling, as many organisations, especially large ones, have more than one analyst. So the cost only increases as the data and the personnel handling it increase – not to mention the possibility of fines and missed opportunities. 

Why automation changes the game

The shift from manual energy reporting to automated systems isn't just an incremental improvement; it's a transformation that redefines efficiency, accuracy, and strategic insight for businesses (it’s also, some might argue, inevitable, so why not get a head start).

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Here’s how automation can act as a powerful antidote to the paper cut of manual processes:

Reduction in costly errors

Firstly, automation dramatically reduces the incidence of human error. As we explored, manual data entry can have an error rate as high as 6%, meaning six mistakes for every 100 entries. Automated systems eliminate the repetitive, mind-numbing tasks that lead to fatigue and mistakes, which means employees can focus on more analytical, strategic, and rewarding work.

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Efficiency and time savings

Automation means efficiency and savings. Your analysts are spending way too much time on manual, repetitive tasks if they’re still working with spreadsheets for data collection. Automatic data collection, using AI, from smart meters, IoT devices, and various energy systems can reduce reporting costs by 50%, according to Position Green.

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Real-time visibility and actionable insights

Instead of relying on historical (often outdated) data for decision-making, automated energy management systems continuously monitor consumption patterns. This real-time data can help you identify inefficiencies that are costing you money, and can help you make the right investments (especially if you’re using another solution, like Envo, to create a transition plan for your portfolio). 

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Smart building technologies, for example, can adjust lighting based on occupancy or dim lights during peak sunlight hours to conserve electricity. This level of granular data empowers proactive maintenance and optimisation strategies. Also, predictive maintenance can reduce downtime by 50% for energy systems. 

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Easy compliance/no fines

Smart energy data collection solutions double as compliance (if not directly). They significantly reduce the chances of non-compliance, which, in turn, decreases the likelihood of fines. In other words, there aren’t any unforeseen expenses at the end of the year, when it comes to reporting data to relevant authorities. 

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What comundo does

comundo, an energy data platform, is the answer to your manual data collection and entry woes for your real estate portfolio. Our tool is designed to automate the process of data collection down to the specific unit inside buildings (where possible), eliminating the need for more spreadsheets. 

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comundo automatically pulls data directly from your utility providers and national databases. Everything happens in the background while you have clean, categorised (and most importantly), accurate data at your fingertips. No more chasing invoices, no more spreadsheets and no more manual calculations. 

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From the get-go, comundo saves you at least DKK 58k to DKK 62k in manual labour and errors. If you add the cost-saving opportunities you’ll discover in real time, you’re looking at a solution that pays for itself in just a few months. 

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You don’t need a team of energy analysts; you just need a tool like comundo, which can empower your accounting or reporting lead to produce energy data reports for all assets with just a few clicks. 

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