In 2021, a group of NW SEM Collaborative members surveyed SEM program participants in the US and Canada about the effects of the 2020 pandemic and/or natural disasters on their operations. This qualitative research sought to better understand if and how SEM affected the operational resilience of these businesses, and how the crises affected their energy management efforts.
The survey also explored the particular SEM practices or principles that helped participants adjust to or recover from changing circumstances, as well as any elements of SEM that were particularly brittle, unhelpful or likely to fail when standard business operations were challenged.