Whether you are in the process of completing an office renovation or simply want to save energy, and money, for your business, there are a number of things you can do. Energy costs are often a large part of a company’s budget, so making changes to increase energy efficiency can have a direct and significant impact on your business’s bottom line. Here are some tips to help you lower your company’s energy consumption and save.
Understanding Your Company’s Current Usage
Before you can implement an energy savings plan, you first need to know how much energy you are using and the cost of that energy. With that information, you can set goals, focus on areas which are wasting energy and money, and rank the changes which need to be made. A great place to begin is with an energy audit. In most areas, your utility company will provide a free energy audit designed to ensure you are using energy efficiently and helping you find new ways to save energy. After the audit, you may also want to consider professional installation of monitors, sensors, and software designed to help you measure your business’s actual energy use.
The utility company can also offer insight into peak usage times. How can knowing this help? Using energy during lower, off-peak times can mean lower costs and more savings. Next, you will want to set goals and measure your progress going forward. Consider making the first changes in areas that pay off more quickly and require little investment. Once those changes pay off, you can make more costly changes which, in the end, will save more.
Find and Stop Air Leaks
Air leaks in windows, walls, doors, roofs, and foundations, means your workplace needs more energy for heating and cooling. Finding and stopping air leaks with caulking and weather stripping will help your business save energy. Additional glazing, insulation, and coatings designed to reduce heat loss in winter and cool air loss in summer are also easy fixes with big results. If your building is older, investing in high-efficiency windows can deliver an ROI (return on investment) by cutting lighting and HVAC costs up to 40 percent.
Saving Water
You may have not considered before the connection between water, sewage, and electricity bills, but it is definitely there! Heating water and pumping it to the appropriate spaces consume energy. Installing low-flow fixtures like faucets, toilets, and urinals, as well as controls which automatically turn faucets on and off can help you save money. Setting water temperatures to only as hot as necessary and adding tankless water heaters reduce waste and costs as well.
Existing Equipment Woes
When it comes to energy savings, evaluating your space’s existing equipment is key. HVAC (Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems, hot water tanks, thermostats, air filters, pumps, etc. need to be well-maintained to operate with the needed energy efficiency. Having a regular maintenance schedule as well as system checks will keep equipment functioning at optimum levels.
Lighting, Signage, and Appliances
Installing ENERGY STAR devices and appliances is a worthy investment toward saving energy and money. Virtually any equipment with the ENERGY STAR label that you install is designed to operate a maximum efficiency and deliver significant savings for your company in the years to come.
ENERGY STAR research divulges that lighting can make up to 30 percent of energy costs in a business, which means installing high-efficiency lighting is a fast, easy, and cost effective way to save. By simply changing existing incandescent bulbs and replacing them with CFL and LED lights can mean less energy used while they deliver longer life as well. This holds true as well for upgrading signage to LED signage which can reduce lighting expenses by up to 40 percent.
Ready for a Change
If you are ready to make the changes to increase energy savings, call on the team at Perillo Construction, where experts can advise you on a number of changes to make your business energy efficient.