AI-enabled building optimization may reduce energy use by up to 22% in modeled scenariosPeer-reviewed research with Boston University finds the constraint on building modernization is not technology but the capacity to deploy itResearch shows cooling architecture and operating temperature can reduce water use by roughly half
NEW YORK, Sept. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Schneider Electric, a global energy technology leader, today outlined its presence at Climate Week NYC 2026, bringing new research on AI-enabled building efficiency, building modernization and data center water use, executive programming and forthcoming news on collective approaches to supply-chain decarbonization. AI is driving increased energy demand, and when combined with data and domain expertise, it can also make energy systems more efficient and resilient. Across the week, Schneider Electric will show how energy and industrial intelligence can help organizations unlock capacity, strengthen resilience, and deliver measurable sustainability gains.
Energy has become a board-level decision, and for most organizations the constraint is no longer ambition but execution. As an energy technology partner, Schneider Electric pairs energy and industrial intelligence with electrification, automation and advisory expertise to help close the time to power gap.
Beyond capacity and speed, this is also how sustainability delivers: making energy use more efficient, operations more resilient, and businesses more competitive, while creating the skills and jobs that bring more workers and communities into the new energy economy.
“Resilience is not something you buy once. It is what energy and industrial intelligence delivers when decisions get better,” said Pankaj Sharma, Executive Vice President, Software & Services at Schneider Electric. “What we are bringing to Climate Week NYC is the evidence: an AI layer that frees capacity inside a building, a cooling system that reuses the same fluid instead of drawing more. Energy and industrial intelligence applied to the infrastructure we already have, paired with the execution to deploy it.”
AI-enabled building optimization
Schneider Electric’s “AI for Climate: Quantifying the Energy and Carbon Impact of Building Optimization” white paper examines the effect of adding AI to existing building management systems. The analysis estimates energy savings of up to 22% compared with buildings without AI. It attributes 7.2% to 12.7% to the AI layer alone and estimates annual utility savings of $13,600 to $49,300 per building at the commercial rates used in the study.
Overcoming barriers to building modernization
The Schneider Electric Research Institute published “Modernizing the Built Environment,” drawing on a four-study peer-reviewed program produced with Boston University’s Institute for Global Sustainability and a case study developed with the Bloomberg New Economy Energy Technology Coalition. Drawing on 95 catalogued barriers from 880 academic sources and 60 practitioner interviews, it finds that the constraint on building modernization is not technology but the capacity to deploy it, with retrofit cost premiums tracing to missing workforce, permitting and financing capacity rather than to equipment cost. Read together, the two papers make one argument: the efficiency is available today and closing the gap between what buildings can do and what they actually do is an institutional problem as much as a technical one.
Supporting responsible AI infrastructure growth
As AI drives growing demand for data center capacity, design choices can materially reduce the resource demands of the infrastructure supporting it. Schneider Electric today published “White Paper 220, Water Usage at AI Scale: Insights from a 100 MW Comparative Analysis.” The paper shows that on-site water consumption for cooling is strongly influenced by data center design choices, including heat-rejection technology, liquid-cooling architecture, and operating temperature.
In modeled 100 MW data center designs using adiabatic heat rejection, an optimized liquid-cooled AI architecture reduced annual on-site cooling water use by 48% in Dallas, from approximately 382,000 to 197,000 cubic meters, and by 53% in Paris, from approximately 108,000 to 51,000 cubic meters, compared with an air-cooled AI design. The analysis indicates that high-density AI capacity can be supported while materially reducing on-site water use for cooling.
Schneider Electric will also share further news during Climate Week on collective approaches to supply-chain decarbonization, building on its Energize and Catalyze programs.
New partnership with Lenovo brings decarbonization services to IT channel partners
Schneider Electric has also joined Lenovo 360 Circle, Lenovo’s global sustainability community, as a strategic ally, bringing the Schneider Electric Decarbonization Champion program to a network of more than 860 partners. Eligible partners gain carbon management tools to establish a Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions baseline, training through Schneider Electric Sustainability School, and hands-on support from Schneider Electric Advisory Services specialists, including a remote site audit and a jointly developed decarbonization roadmap. It applies at ecosystem scale the approach Schneider Electric has taken in its own supply chain, where engaging its top 1,000 suppliers contributed to a 56% reduction in suppliers’ operational CO₂ emissions between 2021 and 2025.
Schneider Electric at Climate Week NYC
Sustainable Growth: The Implementation Imperative, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, 9:30 a.m.–7 p.m. ET, Glasshouse Chelsea, 545 W. 25th St., including:New Vital Signs of Business Health, 9:30–10:30 a.m. ETEnergy Intelligence at Full Speed, 11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. ETFrom Targets to Execution: Closing the Clean Energy Gap, 2:00–3:00 p.m. ETAchieving District-Scale Decarbonization through Digital + Physical Integration, 2:00–3:30 p.m. ETFinancing Climate Action: The New Carbon Market Playbook for 2026, 3:15–3:45 p.m. ETUnlocking Decarbonization Across Fashion’s Global Supply Chain, 4:30–6:30 p.m. ET
Executives attending Climate Week NYC include:
Pankaj Sharma, EVP, Software & ServicesLena Henry, SVP, SE Advisory ServicesAndre Marino, SVP, Industrial Automation, North AmericaVanessa Miler-Fels, SVP, Global Supply Chain, Safety, Environment, Real Estate & SustainabilityAmit Chaturvedy, SVP, SE Ventures & PartnershipsSteve Carlini, Chief Advocate, Data Centers and AI, Energy Management BusinessMichele Hix, NAM VP, Strategic CustomersDave Rimkus, Head of Global Supply Chain Decarbonization, SE Advisory Services
Updates throughout Climate Week NYC will be shared through Schneider Electric’s global newsroom and U.S. newsroom.
Related resources
AI for Climate: Quantifying the Energy and Carbon Impact of Building OptimizationModernizing the Built Environment: Closing Institutional Gaps to Scale DecarbonizationWhite Paper 220, Water Usage at AI Scale: Insights from a 100 MW Comparative Analysis
About Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric is a global energy technology leader, driving efficiency and sustainability by electrifying, automating, and digitalizing industries, businesses, and homes. Its technologies enable buildings, data centers, factories, infrastructure, and grids to operate as open, interconnected ecosystems, enhancing performance, resilience, and sustainability. The portfolio includes intelligent devices, software-defined architectures, AI-powered systems, digital services, and expert advisory. With 160,000 employees and 1 million partners in over 100 countries, Schneider Electric is consistently ranked among the world’s most sustainable companies.
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