Island Business Online

Most businesses could use a lot less energy; experience shows that even low and no-cost actions can usually reduce energy costs by at least 10% and produce quick returns, so why not make a start on reducing your business's energy costs?

Louisa Mamakou finds out how businesses can save carbon.

Better Business: Reducing your carbon footprint

Conducting regular walk rounds and noting down and acting on maintenance issues can identify opportunities for energy savings. To pinpoint where energy savings can be achieved, it's essential to look at how energy is currently used.

Areas to look at are heating, lighting, office equipment and, if applicable, factory and warehouse equipment.

It's important to prioritise energy saving actions once they've been identified. Usually, those with the biggest savings potential or least disruption to the business will decide this.

Heat and light
Heating typically accounts for about half the energy used in offices and forms a significant proportion of energy use in other areas of a business, so a key area to target with energy saving measures. Many businesses are overheated, often the result of heating areas that don't need to be warmed (such as storage areas or corridors) to the same temperature as those that do, such as occupied areas. Overheating can also be the result of poor control of heating systems. Preventing as much heat loss as possible through improving insulation and draught control can also significantly reduce heating bills.

Energy-Efficiency Loans from the Carbon Trust are a cost effective way to replace or upgrade your existing equipment. Businesses can borrow from £3,000 to £100,000 on an unsecured, interest-free loan (subject to eligibility, regional variations apply). Go to www.carbontrust.co.uk/loans to see if you qualify.

There are simple, inexpensive ways to reduce energy consumption and costs from lighting without compromising health and safety or comfort levels.

- Slimline fluorescent tubes (26mm diameter) use 10% less electricity and are cheaper to buy than the 38mm tubes. Installing high frequency fluorescent lighting eliminates flicker and hum, extends lamp life and can reduce consumption by around 25%.

- Standard (tungsten) light bulbs are expensive to run for long periods and produce more heat than light! Replace them with more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs - they have a longer life, lower maintenance costs and use up to 75% less energy.

- Exterior lighting should be limited to the hours of darkness. It may not be necessary to have lights on continuously, so consider fitting lighting controls to limit hours of use.

- A lot of energy is wasted when unnecessary lights are left on out of hours.

In the office
Businesses rely on a range of office equipment, from computers and photocopiers to teleconference facilities. However, it's not always appreciated how much this equipment can cost a company.

Apart from heating and lighting savings, energy consumption in offices can be reduced by looking at how equipment is used. In an air conditioned office it can take half as much energy again to remove the heat generated by office equipment as it takes to run the equipment in the first place!

- Have computers got in-built energy saving features? The best known energy label for office equipment is the ENERGY STAR rating, whereby equipment automatically enters a low power mode after a preset amount of time.

- By switching computers off at nights and weekends, their energy consumption can be reduced by 75% per year.

- Place photocopiers in areas that are naturally ventilated where possible. This will help avoid any air conditioning having to compensate for the associated heat gains. A photocopier left on overnight uses enough energy to make over 5,000 A4 copies!

- Activate the energy saving mode where available on printers and fax machines, which allows machines to automatically power-down after a set time. By switching laser printers off in the evenings and at weekends, energy consumption can be reduced by 75%.

- Switch off vending machines and water coolers overnight and at weekends too. Install a plug-in seven-day timer to reduce the likelihood of machines being left on out of hours, available for a few pounds from most DIY stores.

- Check what equipment is being used in the office kitchen. Old kettles, tea urns, or refrigerators tend to be less efficient than newer models.

In the factory or warehouse
There are excellent opportunities for energy saving that can be made on the factory floor or in the warehouse. The equipment used and the processes will be unique to each business, however, it's possible to highlight common areas in which opportunities can be found.

- Compressed air: Repairing leaks in the compressed air system (30-50% leakage is not uncommon) could produce dramatic savings. Many factories run their compressor for most of the day and are unaware how much this costs them; encourage staff to switch the compressor off when not in use.

- Electrical equipment: Conveyor systems, machine tools, and other equipment should be switched off when not in use.

- Are Higher Efficiency Motors fitted? These now cost no more than normal ones and can save 3-5% of the running cost.

- Are Variable Speed Drives (VSDs) fitted to equipment? Often, using a VSD to reduce the speed of a pump or fan by just 20% can halve its running cost.

- Refrigeration: Replacing worn or damaged seals can drastically reduce refrigeration costs.

Using bills and meter readings to investigate energy use
Looking at energy bills and taking regular electricity and gas meter readings helps to track how energy is being used and take control of energy costs.

Taking regular meter readings helps establish a pattern of energy consumption and show where energy is being used unnecessarily.

There are many factors that affect the price of a unit of electricity. To reduce costs, remember the price of a unit can vary throughout the day and be cheaper at night. Contact your electricity supplier for information.

Next steps
Once the opportunities for savings have been identified, it’s time to act. The following steps should help you take effective measures.

- Give one person responsibility for reading meters and checking bills; conducting regular walk rounds to identify sources of wasted energy; and managing specific energy saving projects.

- Draw up an action plan which should be a schedule of the improvements needed. Prioritise improvements according to energy cost savings and time taken to recoup the cost.

- Encourage staff to participate in a campaign of energy efficiency. The involvement and commitment of all staff is crucial to achieving success.

- Posters, stickers and leaflets are an inexpensive, effective way of reminding staff to be energy efficient. These can be produced in house, or ordered from the Carbon Trust. Many companies have introduced incentive schemes to ensure that actions are undertaken and that all staff contribute to energy saving measures.

Go online to get more
The Carbon Trust provides a range of tools, services, and information to help you implement energy and carbon saving measures, no matter what your level of experience. Visit their website at www.carbontrust.co.uk to find out more.

Energy facts:
• A 20% cut in energy costs represents the same bottom line benefit as a 5% increase in sales in many businesses.

• Heating costs rise by about 8% for every 1°C of overheating.

• Lighting in a typical office costs about £3/m2 annually, but in the most efficient office only costs about £1/m2.

• On average, 20% of the total energy bill in commercial offices is accounted for by office equipment; about half of this use stems from PCs and monitors.

Source: Carbon Trust 'Better business guide to energy saving'. Download a copy of the guide via the link below.