A Guide for Business Owners

Rising energy prices have a very real impact on businesses.

Energy inefficiency can add a lot of unnecessary expenditure to your business.

Cutting energy waste from your business, will not only save you money, it will make a marked difference to productivity and efficiency.

Tablet and smartphone energy apps are continuing to become ever more prevalent.

Many energy companies now offer customers the opportunity to measure energy use in real time.

Energy displays and monitors that can be used on your business premises are a useful tool.

Energy audits offer a good opportunity for you to identify specific ways to cut fuel costs.

Most energy companies will offer an on site energy audit, and some will offer this service for free on certain conditions.

Whatever you do, ensure you choose the energy audit that is right for your business and be as transparent as you can with your auditor.

This is your chance to systematically reduce the amount of money your business is spending on energy.

Set yourself a target which is both money-saving, but also realistic.

Make sure you are revisiting your plan on a regular basis to ensure that you are on track to meet your targets.

SMART targets are

Specific: well defined and clearly defined

Measurable: you are able to measure your progress against a base line.

Achievable: the target, ultimately, needs to be achievable.

Realistic: your target needs to be realistic

Time-bound: have a clear deadline by which your deadline should be reached.

There are two ways you can measure your baseline energy use:

Annual comparison: Create a baseline figure at some point in the year and make comparisons from that date to measure usage.

Seasonal comparison: Compare your energy bills across two winter seasons, or during your busiest periods.

Commit to understanding how your business uses energy and how you can reduce it.

Ensure that one person within your business is given central control of your energy reduction plan.

Commit to the energy reduction targets you have set and do it properly.

Be clear with staff about your goals, and exactly how you intend to meet them –communication is everything.

Involve your staff in the process of meeting your energy reduction targets. Don’t be afraid to hold meetings to brainstorm ideas.

Write a briefing document which explains to staff, customers and suppliers what you are choosing to achieve.

Create a positive culture of energy saving in your office. This can be achieved in a number of ways.

Linking energy saving to staff performance and bonuses could help to maximise your savings.

Make sure that energy reduction and saving are part of your staff training and induction schemes.

Remember to be patient – new habits can be hard to ingrain into a workforce.

Many businesses are unwittingly wasting money on their heating systems.

Improving insulation, eliminating draught and using ceiling fans are all very effective ways of cutting costs.

Take advantage of daylight and natural light as much as possible.

Use light colours on the walls, as these are good ways for natural light to be reflected.

Skylights are a useful way for natural light to be let into your building.

According to one Australian study, as much as 40%-52% of total energy consumption is used in commercial buildings on HVAC systems.

HVAC was also estimated to be responsible for 43% of electricity use in office buildings.

This is why it’s vital to ensure that your HVAC system is just right for your business premises.

Thermostats that are set incorrectly are a major cause of wasted energy.

It’s important to remember that whacking your thermostat up to maximum will not heat your building up any faster.

Similarly, turning your thermostat down will not cause the building to cool down any faster.

If your business uses company vehicles or manages a vehicle fleet, then energy savings can be even made on a vehicle fleet.

For example, your company could be spending money on high quality, fuel efficient tyres.

Likewise, correct tyre pressure can extend tyre life and improve fuel efficiency.

Encourage employees to join a car share scheme.

IT is one of the major sources of energy output.

Program wake and sleep periods for your printers to ensure that they are turned off at the end of the working day.

Reduce the brightness of LCD monitors and ensure that screensavers are not keeping computers on unnecessarily.

Investing in laptops could save energy in the long-term.

http://www.dyerenvironmental.co.uk/