Guide to Business Energy Efficiency

Are You Looking to Find Ways to Make Your Business More Energy Efficient?

Increasing your energy efficiency can be hugely beneficial for your business. Whilst your first aim may be to reduce your bills, it has huge upside for reducing the carbon footprint.

Reducing your impact on the environment is an excellent way to boost Corporate Social Responsibility.

How Can My Business Become More Energy Efficient?

There are a variety of actions that can be taken to help bring down the cost of business energy. But it often demands a culture change. Educating employees can have a huge impact on the costs for companies.

According to the Carbon Trust, PCs and laptops are responsible for 60% of the energy consumed by office equipment. Encouraging employees to turn their equipment off at the end of the day will provide significant annual savings.

But this is only one change. Significant reductions in business energy comes with multiple actions. These will have a huge upside for your business' bottom-line.

Compare Business Energy Tariffs

No matter the size of the business, switching energy provides real savings. Each business is different, and they need an energy tariff that suits them. For example, a business that operates mostly in the evenings would see huge savings on a multi-rate meter. You can compare business energy here.

Carry out a Business Energy Audit

Businesses energy audits are mandatory for businesses with more than 250 employees.

However, smaller companies can still benefit from carrying out an audit.

You have a number of options when it comes to starting your energy audit. This includes:

• On-site audits
• Over the phone audits
• DIY audits

With an on-site or over the phone audit, a professional assessor carries out the audit for you. They will analyse your energy usage and the equipment your business uses. This allows them to offer recommendations on how you can improve energy efficiency.

A DIY audit can be as detailed or as brief as you wish. A good place to start is to take a walk around your premises checking for any issues or energy wastage.

Why Conduct a Business Energy Audit?

A business energy audit will expose any wasted energy. Taking the time to consider where energy is being spent provides a base plan to become more efficient.

It's often simple behaviour changes that bring in the largest savings. Whilst they seem insignificant, over the year they add up.

Beyond a healthier bottom-line, an audit will also improve your company’s environmental efforts. This can be great for corporate social responsibility. With carbon emissions high on the Governments agenda, it's a good idea to start thinking about efficiency. It can help build a future proof plan for your business.

How to Conduct a Business Energy Audit

The key steps for conducting a business energy audit, whether on your own or with an outside company, include:

1. Determining how much energy your business is using.
2. Identifying areas for improvement.
3. Setting an action plan for which areas will be targeted first.
4. Reviewing your business energy contract.

Consider Your Office or Business Layout

The ways businesses operate has changed significantly in 2020 and 2021 with many employees working from home.

But some businesses do not have that option or prefer to have their team working together. Whatever way your team works, re-arranging the work environment can help save money.

A good place to start is removing any obstructions from radiators or heat sources. Managing your thermostat at a consistent temperature will help towards becoming more energy efficient.

Reduce Draughts at Your Premises

Whilst considering working environment layout, reducing draughts will provide huge savings.

Ensuring all windows are airtight and double-glazed provide the largest savings.

However, simple habits like making sure doors stay closed between areas can help keep the heat in.

Switch to Energy-Efficient Lighting

Large business expenses are dedicated to keeping the lights on. Lighting is likely on for long stretches when the business is operating. Ensuring your lights are operating in the most efficient way will build up large savings over the year.

Installing LED lighting and lighting sensors are easy ways to ensure that you use lighting efficiently. Switching off lights in unused areas is a simple change you can make to start saving today.

How to Get the most out of Your Energy Efficiency Changes

Set targets

Ask yourself what you want to achieve. Is it simply reducing costs? Or do you want to reduce your energy usage by a certain amount?

Having a target in mind before starting can help you prioritise the tasks you take on. Carrying out a business energy audit is a great way to set these goals.

Ensure you can measure results

Make sure you can keep track of the impact of the changes you make. This could be simply monitoring the changes in your energy bills or usage.

Larger businesses may want to consider investing in energy management software (EMS). EMS offers detailed reporting on your business energy usage.

What is green energy?

Green, or renewable energy, is generated from natural sources including:

• Wind
• Solar
• Hydroelectric
• Tidal
• Geothermal
• Biofuels

Green energy has little to no impact on the environment. It does not dispense greenhouse gases into the air, avoiding contributing to global warming.

Is green energy cheaper?

In the past, green energy tariffs were more expensive than standard tariffs. However, this is not always the case. Many of the Big Six energy suppliers offer renewable energy tariffs at competitive rates. Many independent business energy suppliers now only offer renewable energy.

Prices change regularly in line with the market. Our energy comparison tool provides the most up to date business gas and business electricity prices. You can compare prices from a wide range of green business energy suppliers.

Once you’ve chosen the right tariff for you, our experts will take care of the entire process of your switch. All we need from you is your current supplier and your postcode, and we take care of the rest.

To improve your impact on the environment and reduce your bills, start your switch today.