Stories, Updates & Insights
Practical articles on energy monitoring, CO2 accounting, and sustainability reporting for medium-sized businesses.
Energy Management Software Comparison: What Medium-Sized Businesses Should Really Look For
Which functions really matter for medium-sized businesses, how much energy management systems cost, and when the investment pays off.
6 min
Understanding load profile analysis: How to correctly read and use consumption data
What a load profile analysis shows, how to read it, and what concrete cost levers result from it for medium-sized businesses.
5 min
Energy monitoring in industry: From sensor to savings
How energy monitoring works in industrial plants, which measuring points are worth targeting first, and how raw data is actually turned into savings.
5 min
ESG Software for Medium-Sized Businesses: Features, Selection Criteria, Costs
ESG software at a glance: Which functions medium-sized businesses really need, how much good systems cost, and how to recognize selection errors.
7 min
What is ESG? Meaning and relevance for SMEs explained simply
ESG explained simply: What the three letters mean, why they are also becoming relevant for medium-sized businesses – and where to start pragmatically.
5 min
Carbon Management Software: What good tools really need to deliver
Carbon Management Software at a glance: Core functions, differentiation from simple CO₂ calculators, and what matters when choosing a solution for SMEs.
6 min
Filling out supplier self-disclosures: How you save time with every request
Filling out the self-disclosure questionnaire: What is typically requested, which mistakes slow down the process – and how answers can be reused.
5 min
SAQ (Self-Assessment Questionnaire): What suppliers need to know
What the SAQ questionnaire is, who requires it, and how automotive suppliers can prepare for it efficiently – without having to start from scratch with every request.
6 min
Supply Chain Act (LkSG) for Suppliers: What to expect if your customer is affected
The LkSG (Supply Chain Act) only affects large companies directly – but indirectly impacts tens of thousands of medium-sized suppliers. What this means for you in concrete terms.
6 min
Peak Load Management: How Peak Shaving Reduces Grid Fees
Peak Shaving simply explained: How peak load management reduces grid fees, which measures pay off the fastest, and where to start.
6 min
Atypical grid usage: Requirements and savings potential
Atypical grid usage according to § 19 StromNEV explained: Requirements, process, and how companies with a suitable load profile can reduce their grid fees.
6 min
BEHG and CO2 price: What rising costs in 2026 mean for companies
The CO2 price under the BEHG will switch to an auction model in 2026. What this means for your company's energy costs and how you can assess them today.
5 min
Sustainability reporting for SMEs: voluntary, but increasingly the market standard
A sustainability report is not mandatory for SMEs, but customers, banks and tender processes increasingly expect one. How to approach it pragmatically.
6 min
VSME is now VS: five steps to a voluntary sustainability report (template included)
VSME became VS: leaner, and open to more companies. How to produce your voluntary sustainability report in five steps, with a free template.
5 min
Cutting energy costs in hospitality: 12 levers and what actually pays off
After staff and food costs, energy is often the third largest expense in hospitality, and one of the least monitored. This article…
5 min
Scope 1, 2 and 3 explained simply, and how SMEs get to Scope 3 data
Scope 1, 2 and 3 explained clearly: what counts where, why Scope 3 becomes a problem for SMEs, and how to get reliable data without consultants.
7 min
Building a carbon footprint without consultants: what SMEs really need
A carbon footprint (also called a greenhouse gas balance or corporate carbon footprint) sounds like a project for a corporate sustainability department…
5 min
From sensor reading to sustainability report: how operational data pays twice
Most companies treat energy monitoring and sustainability reporting as two separate projects, one for cost control, one…
5 min
Refrigeration, ventilation, stove: where energy (and money) disappears in a commercial kitchen
Not every appliance adds the same amount to your electricity bill, and the usual suspects are rarely the ones you would guess first. This…
5 min
Sustainability in the supply chain: why your customers are now asking for data
The data pressure on suppliers rarely comes out of nowhere. It is the logical consequence of the requirements placed on your customers…
5 min
Verifiable sustainability data: why Excel lets you down with auditors (and customers)
A spreadsheet with plausible numbers is often enough to write a report. It is rarely enough to withstand an audit. The difference…
4 min
Flawed sustainability reports: risks, greenwashing accusations and how to avoid them
A sustainability report with polished or unsubstantiated figures is riskier than no report at all. What is perceived as greenwashing damages…
5 min
VS standard or your own report? Choosing the right voluntary sustainability standard for your business
Not every mid-sized company needs the same approach. Some do better with a lean, standardised structure, others need flexibility for…
5 min
The value chain cap: what it protects, and what it does NOT (EcoVadis, Scope 3 and banks stay outside)
*Update 5 August 2026:* The value chain cap is no longer a draft. Since 3 July 2026 it is legally anchored, when the European Commission adopted VS 2026…
5 min
EcoVadis certification: process, costs and how to prepare as a supplier
What is EcoVadis, how does the assessment work, what does it cost, and how do you prepare as a mid-sized supplier? A practical guide without…
5 min
Sustainability supplier audit: how to pass it (with checklist)
You may already know supplier audits from quality management: ISO 9001, process reviews, documentation. The sustainability version works…
4 min
Received a request through IntegrityNext? How to respond as a supplier
When a large customer invites you to IntegrityNext, it is not software you have to buy. It is the platform your customer uses to…
5 min
VS 2026 is here: what the new sustainability standard means for SMEs
On 3 July 2026 the European Commission adopted VS 2026, the successor to VSME. What changes for you as a mid-sized company, explained concisely…
5 min
CSRD postponed to 2028: what it means for your business
The CSRD reporting obligation is postponed to 2028. What this means for you as a supplier – and why customer inquiries remain unaffected.
5 min
Micro-enterprises under VS 2026: what applies to businesses with fewer than 10 employees
VS 2026 distinguishes between small and micro-enterprises for the first time. What that means in practice for businesses with fewer than 10 employees.
4 min
Over €3,000 saved with a single sensor
How wooden furniture manufacturer Decker secures its heating, relieves pressure on the team, and helps track its greenhouse gas balance using a radar sensor and smart electricity meters.
5 min