Save Money by Saving Energy

How to Make Your Business More Energy Efficient

In today’s business world, being efficient is one of the most important keys to success. While streamlining your procedures and process can help employees be more efficient, have you ever thought of ways to make your energy consumption more efficient as well? Being proactive with energy management can help your business to run better, not to mention save some serious dollars of overhead cost. The good news is that energy efficiency is not just achieved by putting expensive solar panels on the roof or special lighting and equipment in the store or office – there are some relatively simple, quick ways to help your business use energy more effectively without breaking the bank.

Energy Saving Strategies for Lighting

Lighting an office or retail space can often be one of the highest consumers of energy. Luckily, there are a large range of things that can be changed or updated with a lighting system to make it more efficient and help business owners save some money. The simplest thing that can be done is remembering to turn lights off when leaving a room that is not going to be used (this goes for other pieces of equipment as well). Think about making up signs as reminders to co-workers and associates to remember Mother Earth and save energy by turning lights off. Additionally, you can replace regular light bulbs with more energy efficient CFL bulbs and install motion sensing light switches that turn lights on and off as needed.

Energy Saving Strategies for HVAC

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning throughout a space can be another energy hog that is relatively simple to manage. The most important thing to do to make sure your HVAC system is running efficiently is to make sure you have annual tune-up and maintenance work done. Additionally, you can ask your HVAC company to install more modern controls – modern HVAC controls can allow you to set “occupied” and “unoccupied” times for the building when the system will turn itself on and off as to not waste energy when the building is not being used. Also, making sure the windows in the building are sealed and have no leaks to help keep warm air inside during winter and cool air during the summer.

Energy Saving Strategies for Office Equipment

If you are working in an office setting, chances are there are some larger pieces of equipment that are needed to make the business run, like printers, copiers and even paper shredders. To help manage the energy these essential pieces of equipment use, there are some simple operational changes that can be made. First, make sure equipment is turned off when it is not being used – there is a common misconception that equipment loses longevity when it is turned on and off which is completely false. Turning off equipment can have a huge impact on the amount of energy a building can save and this savings will be reflected in electricity bills. Additionally, if you are outfitting a new office, make sure to lean toward equipment that has an ENERGY STAR seal, indicating the most efficient equipment.

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*Photo Courtesy of FH Furr via Creative Commons License