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Changing behaviours in your workplace to be more energy efficient isn’t just good for your business financially; it can also help make your workplace more sustainable.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that during 2011-2012, business expenditure on electricity totalled $20.2 Billion Dollars in Australia. While we’re getting savvier at home about how to save on our energy bills, we spend the majority of our days at work so it’s time to start thinking about practical ways to make changes around the office.
And it isn’t just up to business owners to make the change, employees should think about how they can make a difference too. The key to reducing energy consumption is getting everyone involved.
Switch it off when it’s not in use
Small changes in electricity usage can help reduce your energy bills, as well making your business more environmentally conscious.
Energy savings can be made by encouraging staff to make sure all lights are switched off when the office isn’t in use, making use of natural lighting where possible, and switching to compact florescent bulbs.
While computers are essential to the day-to-day running of many businesses, they’re also a major energy zapper. Reduce unnecessary energy usage by unplugging computers over the weekend or by setting monitors to automatically turn off after 10 minutes of inactivity - screensavers won’t save energy.
Using office machines as efficiently as possible can cut costs, lower greenhouse gas emissions and possibly extend the life of the equipment. Think about turning off equipment like printers and photocopiers at the end of the working day.
Keep energy efficiency in mind
When choosing fixtures and appliances always look out for the Energy Rating label to make sure you make the more energy efficient choice. The better the energy rating (shown by the more stars there are on the label); the less you’ll spend on running costs over the life of the purchase.
Also consider choosing to buy laptops instead of desktops, they typically consume less than half the energy! Smaller monitors also help you save on your energy bills with research showing you can reduce your monitor’s energy consumption by as much as 30% simply by using one that is two inches smaller.
Think sustainability in the workplace
Start by getting an understanding of your workplaces energy consumption. Once you know what you are spending, you can see the difference when you start saving!
The next step is encouraging awareness of sustainability around the office. It could be as simple as sending a weekly reminder for everyone to unplug their computers and switch off the lights before they head off to enjoy the weekend. Getting employees on board and making small changes in the way they work will reduce both wastage and the size of energy bills.
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