While the environment comes to mind immediately when words like ‘sustainability’ are used, there are sustainability efforts that extend beyond environmental impact. Admittedly, it is a very important component; but there are other aspects to ensuring that your company or organization is sustainable and that the industry itself is sustainable.

Ahead, three industry experts — Steve Stanbury, director, South Central business area, Axis Communications, Chelmsford, Mass.; Kristi Keating, vice president of sustainability, Securitas Technology, Uniontown, Ohio.; and Hiroshi (Huey) Sekiguchi , chief product ambassador and vice president of strategic partnerships, i-PRO, Houston — weigh in on the topic.

The Panelists

Steve Stanbury, director, South Central business area, Axis Communications, Boston. Image courtesy of Stanbury

Kristi Keating, vice president of sustainability, Securitas Technology, Uniontown, Ohio. Image courtesy of Keating

Hiroshi (Huey) Sekiguchi, chief product ambassador and vice president of strategic partnerships, i-PRO, Houston. Image courtesy of Sekigchi

SDM: What does sustainability mean in 2025?

Steve Stanberry: I think we all have our thoughts and probably very similar thoughts. I’ve been really diving into sustainability the last couple of years and when you talk about it with people, most people seem to think about greenhouse emissions or recycling. That’s just generally what they think about, and that’s definitely part of it, but there’s obviously so much more to it. Let me try to explain it and what really opened my eyes.. When I started looking into this, there’s a day that hits every year called Earth’s Overshoot Day. This is the day that we as humans consume the natural resources that the Earth can provide per year. Last year that day hit on August 1st, which means we over consumed by five months what the Earth can produce in resources. So for me, that was quite an eye opener, and it made me dive into this a little bit more.

And then as you dive into it further and you think about the amount of people that are on the earth today. There’s 8.2 billion, there’s going to be 9.7 by 2050. It’s just not sustainable the way we are going. So we as a corporation, we as humans and people have got to take action on this. It’s not about us, it’s really about our children and our children’s children and giving them a chance to live a healthy life moving forward.

Kristi Keating: Just to sum that up, I would say that in a business context, sustainability — I think about integrating environmentally and socially responsible practices into our businesses operations and that’s really how we can start to make a difference and chip away at this.

Hiroshi (Huey) Sekiguchi: I just got back from Japan 24 hours ago, I still have jet lag. My nationality is Japanese. I’ve been Japanese for 50 years and as everybody knows Japan’s a small country with limited resources and sustainability. This is something that’s not just happened just yesterday, it's been in our DNA since I was a kid: making sure that you don’t waste things, using the same thing instead of throwing it away, trying to think of ways of how to reuse things. From a corporate perspective, Panasonic I joined in 1998. From a manufacturing side, as well as from distribution, and as a user itself, how can we really — while doing the economic activities that we do to pursue happiness — it’s always that trade off, how can we keep that balance from an individual perspective?

Corporations are made by human beings. At the end of the day, we all go home. We go, we have our family, we have our friends, and I think it’s so important that there’s something that you can do. I mean everybody on this podcast, there’s something we can do even from today. It’s never too late, and I think this is a great topic to discuss both from an individual point of view as well as from a business and corporate point of view.

I think that businesses with strong sustainability practices often report higher employee satisfaction and engagement. I think that there's something there about speaking to people's core values and having them align with the business that you spend 10-12 hours a day working at.

SDM: How does sustainability play into the larger picture of ESG (environmental, social, and governance)?

Stanberry: These definitely all tie into each other. Speaking from an Axis perspective, we joined the UN Global Compact back in 2007. There’re actually 20,000 corporations that are a part of this compact now. This isn’t new; it’s been around since the 2000s. For us, we’ve aligned our strategies and operations with these principles ever since we joined. There are 17 sustainability development goals that help guide our business and promote responsible business practices and values. So being aligned with these as a company, we feel it’s our duty to positively impact the ecosystem and the world we live in by doing our part.

Then not only that but we are educating our employees to maybe take it beyond that step and do their part as just human beings. For instance, for us as a company we were looking to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 42 percent by 2030 and we’re on track to do that. We’re looking to use 100 percent fossil-free energy in all of our manufacturing and logistics centers. That’s kind of what we do. We also identify human rights activities and areas that we want to focus on. We’ve identified eight of them, including forced labor, child labor, and workplace environments where health safety and the well-being of our employees all go together. So you can see where the environment, the social aspect and the governments all tie together with all of these different things. I really encourage the audience to take a look at the UN Global Compact and these 17 goals to get an idea. It’s so much more than what you’re thinking sustainability is.

Keating: I think most people are familiar with the environmental aspect of sustainability and that’s what everyone talks about. Then you have the social and governance sides. On the social side, it’s not just people within our organizations, but also within the greater society. I think some key points are ensuring the health and safety of our employees, training, living wages — this is a big conversation these days — and then of course community involvement: how do we impact the community that we’re living in and working in? How do we make a positive impact there? On the governance side, it’s doing business in a compliant way with laws and regulations, but also being transparent, and of course operating in an ethical manner.

Sekiguchi: Being with Panasonic since ’98 — 27 years ago — from a manufacturer perspective, we’ve always been thinking about how to keep our products really environmentally “green.” I think we don’t call it that much anymore, but back in the day there were always like green colored leaves. That was the icon back then.

Just a little quick introduction of who we are, i-PRO departed and became independent from Panasonic in 2019. We are also an UN Global Compact partner, but we’ve kept the same DNA of how to keep our customers using our products, since we’re basically a hardware manufacturer. It’s always in a box. We need to ship that product from our factories to our customers. We’re not shipping the big refrigerators, big TV sets. We sell cameras, which are very small boxes. There are a lot of components inside to keep your cameras safe. Plastic is also a very big topic and we’ve been trying to eliminate using plastic in all those boxes. We have a plan to eliminate all plastic — including expanded polyethylene (EPE) — to become all paper boxes so that it’s much more environmentally friendly.

The customers have their own sustainable goals as well. It’s also consumed in different countries outside of Japan. How can we help the governments, the people that are using our products or even delivering those products to have it easier with less carbon dioxide emission with lighter components or smaller boxes? All those things are part of keeping this planet a much safer or comfortable place to live in. I think it’s very important to educate the customers, to influence our customers as well as our employees. Again, corporations are based on people and we’re all people.

Keating: It’s great to hear about what you folks are doing as manufacturers, because Securitas technology is an electronic security integrator and we, too, have a commitment of reducing our greenhouse submissions by 42 percent by 2030. And, actually, I’ve been having lots of conversations with the Axis folks as well and a huge percentage of our greenhouse gas emissions are from the products that we sell that end up in our client environments. So obviously we can’t do it alone. We could do a lot alone in terms of reducing our scope one and two emissions, but we really need to partner with our manufacturers as well as our clients to really be able to make a big difference.

Stanberry: One thing I love about this topic is Huey and I we’re competitors, right? But this is a topic we can agree upon — no matter if we’re competitors or not, we can work together on this topic as two companies that believe in this particular issue. How can we impact it in a positive way and not only i-PRO and Axis but everybody in this industry and beyond? I love it.

One thing I love about this topic is Huey and I we’re competitors, right? But this is a topic we can agree upon — no matter if we’re competitors or not, we can work together on this topic as two companies that believe in this particular issue. How can we impact it in a positive way and not only i-PRO and Axis but everybody in this industry and beyond? I love it.

SDM: What are some of the benefits that the integrator/dealer could experience by being more involved with sustainability or by partnering with manufacturers that are a bit more sustainable?

Keating: I think that there are so many examples. We tend to think that there’s a cost associated with sustainability. Of course, depending on the objectives or targets that a company has, there absolutely could be; but there are tons of things that we can do within our businesses that are either cost neutral or actually yield a cost savings that can make a big difference. Just by creating energy efficiencies within our facilities, we spend less money on electricity and cooling costs. This could be as simple as motion sensor lighting or automating thermostats to lower the heating and cooling after hours. Just by providing training to our technicians, we could reduce fuel consumption by increasing remote services. So the list really, really goes on. A lot of our clients have really lofty sustainability targets themselves, and they are relying on partners like us to help achieve those targets. And many of them are putting requirements into their contracts. It’s becoming the cost of doing business in some cases. But ultimately, I would lean towards the fact that this really helps build those client relationships and, and makes them stickier. They want to work with companies that share their core values.

Sekiguchi: I’m really a big believer in sustainability, I really love weather and I like looking at climate change. My heart breaks with it and we can feel it right now. I tell our partners that it’s not just costs — think outside of the box or just eliminate that box. As a business, of course, we’re all hearing that there are new revenue streams in helping customers to reduce their costs, as well as reducing their emissions. But the key word is efficiency. I think efficiency is also tagged onto this initiative. First, we can improve our efficiency with sensors and automation, which definitely is the way to decrease costs as well as to improve efficiency. We can lower power usage because you can have sensors that turn off air conditioners, for example.

Second, there are many ways that we can help our customers by gathering data. Axis, i-PRO — we’re in a way kind of a sensor that uses video and other radars to gather data. We haven’t been really able to do this in the past, but through different kinds of methodology, we are really able to gather data, analyze data, and also to predict what may happen. So, that is another way of enlightening efficiency.

Of course, automation is one way, but another is looking into the data that we see. Is there any way that we can provide solutions to our customers to give consultation that maybe this is a way that we’re wasting things? Wasting human resources? It may be electrical power or something else, but eventually we can help to improve the efficiency by gathering data, analyzing data from our solutions with our integrator partners. It looks like a cost, but actually in the long run it would help decrease costs. It is a new business opportunity that is arising, so it is a new mindset-shift towards efficiency. We’re cutting costs but also shifting towards the responsibility of sustainability.

Stanberry: How’s it going to benefit the integrators? Maybe the smaller ones as well as medium-sized integrators. It really comes back to what Huey said earlier: It’s about our families; and if for no other reason, you do the right thing. From a more practical application, I’ll give you a couple examples. Axis makes an ARTPEC-9 chip. With that chip, we’re able to reduce power consumption by 40 percent. That equates to a 24-port network switch that saves $250 on average to the end customer. So that's the savings to them, but more importantly its power consumption is a lot lower.

On our new ARTPEC-9 chip, it’s another 20 percent savings. Our new multi-center — our PTRZ — only requires a 15 W port versus a 30 W port. So you’re talking about a lot of cost savings and power savings that definitely add up. The other thing is the longevity of products. Axis and i-PRO, we’ve been known for making quality products over the years. The longer a product lasts, the less resources you have to use to go build other ones, and the less money that a company has to go and invest in deploying other products. If I were an integrator or an end customer, that’s a message I would like to hear. And frankly, I don’t know that it’s a message that we talk about enough to our end customers from the integrator standpoint, and maybe even from a manufacturing standpoint, we could do better.

Sekiguchi: I think that’s a great point on power consumption. There are requirements in terms of not just power but also bitrate. We’re in the video industry and bitrate is also a waste — not always, but a bitrate that you really don’t need in certain circumstances. You can look at a lot of statistics on how bitrate helps in terms of sustainability and how it relates to the power consumption waste.

You mentioned hard disks. Of course we definitely need hard disks, but hard disks have servers. Servers and hard disk are always another big consuming power thing. And having that ability to decrease the usage of video bitrate or data bitrate helps you to really decrease the consumption of your hard disk usage as well as servers. So I think that does also relate to what just Steve mentioned. I think power as well as bitrate are the two things that the integrators can also look into and that these two manufacturers are really looking into how to decrease the consumption of power as well as bitrate relating to less hard disk space and server usage.

Keating: I am really excited to hear this from you folks. Last year we rolled out a really big initiative at Securitas technology where we started in North America to show our clients the CO2 emissions by SKU on our sales proposals to help them make informed decisions. So this means that there’s a lot of work ahead for us because we’re going have to constantly evolve. As you all evolve in your manufacturing and design and innovation, we’re going to have to keep updating those data points in our ERP so that we could give our clients the most updated information. Hopefully overall, we’ll see a decline in those CO2 emissions by SKU.

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SDM: What are some ‘first steps’ or smaller things that the dealer/integrator could begin their sustainability journey with?

Keating: If you look around your organization, you’re going to find people that are passionate about sustainability. Harness that passion to start to build momentum. If you don’t know where to start, it’s okay to start small. Assess where there’s room for improvement in your business. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. It can be as simple as cutting down on paper usage or implementing a recycling program. I really think it all begins with creating a culture of sustainability and after all, it really is a shared responsibility.

Stanberry: This is a question that since I’ve been diving into this subject, I get quite a bit actually from my family as well as my employees. We actually have had training classes internally on this. We had an external session on this at our last ACC conference last year. How can we impact things? The thing about America is we consume more natural resources than any other country in the world. When I hear people say, ‘China’s not doing it or Russia’s not doing it or India’s not doing it,’ well, that’s a cop out. Sorry. It is, in my opinion. We are the biggest consumers on the earth. So we can impact things as Americans, and do something in a positive way.

I’m actually challenging my team as well as my family to try to make a 10 percent impact on the way they do things. I think Axis is doing their part. I'm hearing i-PRO is doing their part. But in a hotel, do we need to leave the lights on? Do we need to leave the TV on? Do we need housekeeping every day? It’s simple things like that that people don’t think about. Can you recycle better? Can you conserve water better instead of buying plastic bottles? Can you filter your water? Can you go into communities and plant trees?

So at the end of the day it’s what are you doing? At Axis we actually close down one day a year. We have a community service outreach program where we go into the community and try to positively impact them. And that may be via homeless shelters, low income schools, dog shelters, it doesn’t really matter. How can we help people that just need some help? They need some extra hands. We want to make sure everybody knows we’re innovating for a smarter safer world. We want to make sure that we’re responsible role models, we’re ambassadors of this particular subject and we are making a positive change in society. I think the most important thing that all of us can do — and this is a good start on this podcast — is to educate others and advocate for them to be a part of the solution and not stand on the sidelines anymore. I’m challenging everybody out there: 10 percent, what can you do to impact us positively?

Keating: If everyone did 10 percent, it would really move the needle. That would be amazing.

Stanberry: Just one degree on your thermostat would change things. Maybe do ride sharing one time out of every 10 times you drive your car. It’s that simple.

Keating: I love your suggestions on the hotel room because how often do you walk out without turning your lights off? In Europe, it’s a little more challenging to walk out without turning the lights off, but here in the U.S. there’s every light on in the hotel room for the whole day that you’re not in your room. It makes a big difference at home too.

Sekiguchi: I have lived in Houston for four years. One of the things that I find that I don’t see in Japan, which I really like, is Goodwill. I have two children, and they have clothing that is still very clean and nice. I don’t think in Japan we have this kind of place that we can reuse them. That is one of the best things. My wife and I really love to bring things there because we Japanese really take care of things and try to use them for a long time; but you know kids grow up very quickly and their clothes are still very new by the time they grow out of them. That is a part of sustainability.

You may laugh at me, but I still have my iPhone 7, it works perfectly and it does everything I need it to while my company phone is an iPhone 14. It’s still usable. I think there’s always something that we can do. We all have families and friends. That’s what I would really like to emphasize is that there’s always something that you can do — something that impacts sustainability. And one more thing I wanted to add is, aside from the proactiveness, there may be a little reactive piece as well.

Integrators have end user customers and those customers are sometimes mid-sized or large corporations and they have their own sustainable goals. It may be good to look into what their goals are. Of course, there may be a slight difference in terms of businesses. It’s important to be talking their same language and showing how your company is also committed to doing similar initiatives. It may also give a little positive impact to your business for your future opportunities. I think that’s a great thing that Kristi mentioned: what are your customers are doing? Look into it, and then maybe convert that to, ‘What can I do?’ or ‘What can my company do to be part of that initiative?’ It sounds a little reactive, but I just wanted to add this piece on top of the things that we can do proactively.

Keating: It’s a great point, Huey. I receive questionnaires and have to fill out constantly from our clients — as I’m sure you do from your integrator partners — on our focus on sustainability. And what I’m really proud of is that those are usually pretty easy for me to fill out with lots of yeses. And then we send along our annual sustainability report; but it is a great place to start to see what your clients are expecting of you and then for further intel what your competition is doing.

I’ll just add one more thing. I think that businesses with strong sustainability practices often report higher employee satisfaction and engagement. I think that there's something there about speaking to people's core values and having them align with the business that you spend 10-12 hours a day working at. It’s really nice to be aligned from a principal perspective and it does tend to help retention as well.