How to Create an Energy Efficient Workplace?

Apart from being one of the biggest challenges of current times, reducing energy usage in your office is a great opportunity to create a greener Earth, while cutting down on your operational costs. Energy experts opine that with prudent planning and appropriate practices, your business expenditure on energy usage can be trimmed down to 50% of the current amount.

How to Cut Down Energy Costs?

Let’s go over some quick and easy tips to help reduce your energy bills right away:

- Energy tariffs from various suppliers can be compared to opt for an equivalent service at a cheaper rate. Nevertheless, rather than procuring energy at lower rates, it is in your best long-term interest to cut down on energy usage.

- Utilize natural light to the fullest and avoid switching on the lights during day time, unless and until absolutely necessary. Establish a policy to switch off equipment, when not in use beyond work hours and encourage staff members to save on energy.

- Wherever feasible, go for energy-efficient equipment, systems employing insulation and draft exclusion techniques.

- Check the energy rating and the amount of heat produced before purchasing any new equipment. In case the heat produced is beyond a certain limit, it could unnecessarily use up more energy and increase your air-conditioning bills. Also, if you purchase energy efficient equipment or machinery, your business could benefit from tax allowances such as ECA.

- Execute regular maintenance checks for all devices consuming electricity, so as to ensure their operation at maximum efficiency.

In addition, there are legal requirements to reduce energy consumption for commercial premises that you might need to comply with.

How to Reduce Office Waste Production?

It’s a myth that we are being energy efficient when we participate in recycling waste or using recycled or recyclable products. Generating waste is quite an expensive affair, not only in terms of the cost of the product being discarded, but also concerning the cost of disposal, and the energy, material and labor expended during recycling. If your business has proper policies in place, waste production can be minimized. Change in behavior and approach towards working can propel lesser waste production, in turn increasing your business profits and reducing impacts on the environment.

Modifying Workplace Behaviour

Today, primarily we need a major attitude shift at office to cut back waste generation.

- Office staff must be encouraged to work more cautiously, because fewer errors directly mean reduced waste and lesser energy consumption.

- Documents should be printed only when absolutely necessary and printing on both sides should be encouraged.

- Switching off energy expending devices while leaving the workplace, turning off the taps when not in use and powering off air conditioning devices when not necessary are major steps towards reducing wastage of natural resources.

- Encourage reuse of office stationery such as files, binders, envelopes, paper and pens to curb wastage.

How to Make Equipment Usage and Resource Management Better?

Adopt a systematic approach to reduce utilization of resources by executing the following steps:

- Evaluate your current energy performance, set it as a starting point and improve upon it by executing an appropriate action plan.

- Set achievable targets and assign specific responsibilities to specific people in order to track results efficiently.

- Set a benchmark, probably an organisation that you look up to for energy efficiency, and compare your performance periodically.

- Measure your performance with the aid of periodic reports, in order to learn from your shortcomings and improve continuously.

- Outdated equipment and machinery must be replaced with energy efficient devices to save on costs and energy used.

- Waste produced must be stored and managed responsibly and efficiently.

Conclusion

Hence, devising action oriented goals, pertaining to energy consumption and infusing order into your current office regimen can take you a long way in reducing utilization of resources and minimizing wastage. Not only do you rein in business expenditure by achieving this, but also establish your organisation as a conscientious company fulfilling duties towards the society and environment on the whole.

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