6 Tips for Improving the Energy Efficiency of Your Business

To make sure that your company doesn’t lose out to those who’ve already gone ‘green, you should make sure that you’re energy efficient. Energy is one of the biggest contributors to global warming, so finding ways to use less is a big step towards becoming an eco-friendly business.

So how can you start improving your energy usage today?

1.  Take an energy audit

Before you start thinking about how you can cut your energy, you need to figure out exactly how much you’re using and what parts of your company use it the most. Investing in an energy audit is the best way to do this. Energy audits run a detailed process of energy cost and efficiency analysis that will offer an in-depth view of your energy usage and carbon emissions and can identify places where energy can be saved.

2.  Consider revamping your insulation

Did you know that 10-15% of energy losses are by heat being lost through building fabric? You could improve this massively by installing effective insulation and draught-proofing. This will mean that less energy is needed to heat your office space up, as the trapped heat will fill the whole building instead of escaping out into the atmosphere. To help this even further, make sure that doors are properly closed and that there are no gaps in the structure of your building that could be letting the warmth out and bringing cold air in.

3.  Cut down on your printing

Office appliances such as printers and photocopiers use tons of energy throughout the working year. With the ease of online resources and the ability to share documents through email, you can easily cut the number of documents that you’re printing and scanning each day. Instead of printing off forms or worksheets, consider sending them to employees electronically and asking them to email them back in return. Not only will this cut down energy usage, but it will also help to save paper.

4.  Make use of natural light

Instead of relying on lightbulbs to light up your workspace, make the most of the natural light that illuminates your office through large windows and sky-lights in the ceiling. You can take this a step further by installing solar panels that will use the sun’s-energy to generate power for your building. Solar panels are extremely efficient and easy for businesses to use as they only require a rooftop. Switching to solar power means that throughout the summer months, you may not need to use any regular power at all. The money that you save on energy during this time will make up for any costs involved when installing the panels.

5.  Install motion sensor lighting

For the darker months when natural light can’t always be relied upon to make your office more viable, you should think about installing motion sensor lighting. This form of lighting will automatically turn off when the room isn’t being used which will save a lot of energy usually wasted lighting up rooms with no one inside of them.

6.  Educate your staff

In order for your new energy efficiency idea to be effectively carried out, you’ll need your staff to be on board. It’s important that they’re educated about the effects that energy has on our environment and about how they can do their part towards conserving it. You could consider enlisting online training or inviting an external guest speaker to talk about energy usage and efficiency in the workplace. To keep your staff motivated, you could consider holding small challenges or competitions that encourage workers to save as much energy as possible for a prize of some kind.

Implementing these few easy steps towards energy efficiency will help your business to compete with others who are going green and will contribute towards saving our planet. Energy efficiency doesn’t have to cost large amounts of money and can be done easily by making small adjustments to your workplace.