Here at Falcon Energy we are passionate about energy conservation and helping people use energy more efficiently and sustainably. Corporate social responsibility is very important to us and we have a number of services which will support your business with it’s corporate social responsibilities too.
If you are a business owner there are a number of things you can do to make your office more environmentally friendly and save the business money as well. A survey recently conducted by ‘Make it Cheaper’ showed 49% of business owners spend over £1000 per month on their office energy bills with 7% spending over £2000 per month.
Here are our five top areas to review to improve the energy efficiency of your office:
Turn off electrics
Turning items off in the office will make the biggest difference to your energy usage. A printer left on overnight wastes enough energy to make 30 cups of tea. Leaving a computer on overnight generates enough carbon dioxide to fill a double decker bus. Imagine these being left on in offices across your town and you can see the impact leaving devices switched on is having on the planet.
Make sure your team switch off their computers and monitors together with printers/copiers and the lights at the end of the working day. Chargers should be unplugged as soon as devices are fully charged as they continue to use energy even when not charging.
Look at the lights
In the UK we waste £170 million per year by leaving lights on. If people in your office often forget to switch the lights off at the end of the working day, consider motion sensors. These will ensure efficient use of the lights in the office, turning them off when no one is there for a set amount of time.
Lighting accounts for 15% of all the energy used in an office, so make sure the bulbs in your lights are efficient LED bulbs. Office lights left on overnight use enough energy in a year to heat a home for almost 5 months.
To help you manage your business energy bills, please contact us about renewable energy options. We can install solar photovoltaic which will reduce these energy bills. The solar cells capture sunlight and convert it into electricity, supplying your office with clean and sustainable energy. This will not only cut your energy bills but will also reduce your business CO2 emissions as well. The panels do not usually require planning permission and are relatively low maintenance; they just need to be installed in an area free from shadows, kept clean and the panels and wiring need to be checked regularly. Please get in touch with the Falcon Energy team to find out more.
Energy efficient appliances
As devices in your office break and are unrepairable, make sure you replace them with ones with an excellent energy efficiency rating. LCD monitors for example are more efficient than CRT ones, using 5 times less energy. Did you know laptops use 90% less energy than desktops? So, as your desktops come up for replacement, consider if laptops are a viable option.
When disposing of computer equipment you will need to use an approved company to comply with legislation. Old office equipment such as monitors, servers, printers, computers and printers can contain high levels of harmful materials such as mercury, lead and arsenic. This means they cannot be sent to landfill as these materials will leech into the soil and cause contamination; indeed it is now illegal to dispose of these items in this way. To meet the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive you need to use an approved contractor so this is done in a socially responsible way for you, meeting the legal requirements.
Working from home
If you are replacing your desktops with laptops you could consider allowing your team to work from home sometimes. This reduces their time commuting and is more environmentally friendly, reducing emissions and traffic. With today’s cloud computing people can access information from anywhere allowing them to work more flexibly. You’ll save energy too as there will be less people in the office!
Regular servicing
Air conditioning units need to be serviced regularly. This helps them work as efficiently as possible and stops the spread of dust and bacteria. Ask your team to make sure windows are kept shut when the air conditioning is on as this will ensure it works effectively and does not waste energy.
Those windows need to be kept shut at night too, one window left open overnight wastes the amount of energy a small car takes to drive 35 miles! If your heating costs are running high, please get in touch to see if renewable energy could be an option to help reduce these for you.
You may also want to consider air tightness testing for your office. Air tightness testing assesses the ventilation and air leakage in your building to establish if there are any drafts leading to heat loss from your office. Unwanted drafts can lead to increased energy bills and higher CO2 emissions so it is important to identify and eliminate these in your building. Here at Falcon Energy we are very experienced in carrying out these tests and we are fully qualified and affiliated to IATS (Independent Airtightness Testing Scheme).
To discuss the energy requirements for your office, please call us now on 01403 253439 or email info@falconenergy.co.uk. Alternatively, fill out our contact form here and a member of the Falcon Energy team will be in touch.