Running a business can be a costly endeavour due to energy use and operating costs, which can be exacerbated in the winter months. According to a 2014 report by the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) the average winter energy consumption increases 36% from summer months. Energy saving is now even more crucial due to the rising costs of living and aiming to reduce carbon impacts of your business. But there are ways to minimise the cost increase associated with the winter months and in this blog, we go over actions you can take as a business to become more energy efficient and reduce the carbon impact of some of these actions.

Ready for winter checklist

• Check your energy tariff, compare between suppliers and look for green/renewable energy suppliers, as this could save your business money. This could also help reduce the carbon impact of your business.
• Check your businesses winter heating schedule, to ensure it is up to date with clock changes.
• Optimise your work space for heat distribution, natural light usage, and more efficient light bulbs.
• Appoint a green champion or team to advocate and support a sustainable work culture.
• Implement a working from home or a flexible working package to minimise energy consumption and costs.

Actions to improve energy efficiency.

Lighting

• Switching to energy efficient LED light bulbs. LED bulbs on average cost 5 times less to run than a halogen bulb, so making switches where possible will save energy and money. Switching to LED light as a SME could save up to 40 – 65kg of CO2 a year^1.
• Make use of natural lighting and/or use LED desk lamps where possible or dimming lights to avoid lighting the whole office or a whole room if it is not needed.
• Switch off all lights when not in use or use occupancy sensors which will only bring the light on if there are people in the room. By keeping lights off when not in use the replacement time for bulbs will be longer, saving carbon and money.

Technology

• Turn off displays and put computers into power saving mode or standby throughout the working day where possible. At the end of the day, make sure all monitors, computers, desktops are switched off. By shutting down desktops, each employee can save up to 69 kg of CO2 emissions each year² By switching off desktops/laptops at the wall when not in use can produce an 80% saving across the year.
• Make sure you’re using the most energy efficient model if possible. Using laptops and monitors instead of Desktop PC’s, can use between 25% and 50% less energy. If changing the technology within the business to more efficient models is an action you take, ensure that used electronics are donated / reused where possible. However, by extending the lifetime of a desktop PC from 4 to 6 years, can save 190 kg of CO2, as components are changeable, such as CPU and storage³. So make sure any technology changes are only done when necessary.
• Ensure laptops/PC’s are unplugged or switched off at the wall when not in use. Despite being fully charged or the device switched off, they will still consume electricity if they remain plugged in or switched on at the wall socket. This could save ~80% carbon emissions compared to being kept switched on at the wall⁴.
• Energy management software will notify if any device is using an unusual amount of energy and needs to be replaced. This type of software system could save you around 10-30% on your energy costs⁵.

Heating

• To reduce costs and energy, it is important to close all doors and windows when heating up the workplace. Further reductions can be made by turning down the heating thermostat or stopping the heating of no/low used rooms/hallways. To further improve the energy efficiency of heating It is important to leave all heaters clear, so nothing affects the heat distribution.
• Use a smart thermostat to save energy. A smart thermostat will allow the heating to be timed effectively so that the building is not being heated outside of work hours. The thermostat will also mean the buildings heating isn’t on unnecessarily as it can be set to acclimatise to a temperature, thus reducing energy consumption.
• Inspect windows and doors for drafts. Draft sealing windows and doors to stop cold air coming in and heat escaping, for example covering letter boxes and window frames.
• Ensure continuous maintenance and insulation of heating systems, especially in the winter.

Work Culture / Behaviour change

• Appointing a green champion or green team to support and lead the energy efficiency change within the company. This appointment can be useful in educating the employees on ways they can reduce their energy usage and why it is important too. Understanding and communicating reasoning and facts is necessary in gaining support and adherence to new actions / changes. A green champion can carry out a walk round at designated times to identify new sources of wasted energy, and ensure all staff know how to save energy.
• Streamlining work emails to avoid unnecessary emails and unsubscribe from email chains that are not necessary. The carbon emissions of each email: 0.0003 kg of CO2 for a spam email, 0.004g kg of CO2 for a standard email, and 0.05 kg of CO2 for a photo with an email attached, this will add over over time across employees.
• Allow working from home where possible or offer flexible working to limit energy use. If this is implemented and offices will be unoccupied ensure the thermostats are adjusted accordingly.
• Fostering a sustainable and conscious work culture can really impact a businesses energy consumption. Creating sustainable work culture can be done through incentives such as additional annual leave or gift cards for employee/s being the most energy efficient.
• Clearly mark everything that can be turned off and ensure it is through regular checks.
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Credibly Green provides technical advice to clients on all things carbon. See www.crediblygreen.com or call 01746 552423 or email support@crediblygreen.com

¹ https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/top-tips-to-reduce-your-carbon-emissions/ , https://savecarbon.io/how-much-co2-can-you-save-a-year-by-replacing-all-your-light-bulbs-with-led-bulbs/ , https://www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-guides/energy-saving-light-bulbs
² https://www.it.ox.ac.uk/article/environment-and-it
³ https://www.ed.ac.uk/files/atoms/files/pc-carbonfootprints-jh-ecci2.pdf
⁴ https://www.it.ox.ac.uk/article/environment-and-it
⁵ https://www.resolveenergy.co.uk/blog/article/11-energy-saving-tips-for-your-business-this-winter
⁶ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/12/digital-carbon-footprint-how-to-lower-electronics/