From Guest Blogger Sarah Atkinson: Energy Saving Tips for the Office

All savvy entrepreneurs know that when it comes to costs and expenses, it’s wise to keep a close eye on your outgoings. When you’re running a busy office, it’s easy to run up unnecessarily high energy bills, which can have a huge impact on your bottom line. Of course, doing your bit for the environment is also a concern, and as consumers are becoming more aware of their impact on the world around them, many are choosing to do business with those who take their responsibilities seriously.

Here, Easy Offices take a look at practical ways to save energy in the office environment. After all, reducing the carbon footprint associated with energy is the heart and soul of this site’s cleantech investment opportunities.

Build employee awareness

Have you briefed your staff about using energy? If not, this should be your first port of call. It pays to ensure that your staff have energy saving in the forefront of their minds, and it won’t usually take too long to get everyone up to speed. You can host team meetings where you’ll present best practice ideas, and many suppliers offer posters and stickers that you can place around the workplace to remind staff of their responsibilities. If most cases, they’ll be more than happy to play their part in energy saving.

Invest in up-to-date equipment

Old office equipment such as monitors can be a massive waste of electricity. Make sure that you update the essentials regularly, and look at the bigger picture when it comes to spending. It may cost more to buy new equipment, but the energy savings and the productivity increases can more than cover the incurred spend. Before buying anything at all, make sure that you research the energy implications. Many products now have energy saving add-ons that come as standard.

Be mindful of heating arrangements

It’s important to keep the office environment warm for your members of staff, but heating can be a potentially gigantic cost if you don’t keep a close eye on it. Make sure that you have settings that ensure offices won’t be heated during weekends or other periods when the space will be empty. In addition to this, consider whether areas such as hallways and entrances really need to be heated. Of course, all doors and windows should be kept firmly shut when heating is in use. You can cut bills and energy usage simply by reassessing what you really need, and what can be reduced in some way.

Consider making energy efficiency a strategic priority

Energy saving shouldn’t just be something that you do half-heartedly. In fact, when done properly, it can have a big impact on your business as a whole. It can boost your profile, and make a difference to the public’s perception of how you do things. If you’re truly leading the way when it comes to energy efficiency, make sure that your clients and customers know about it. It’s a great way to attract press coverage and make the world sit up and pay attention. Of course, you need to be doing something pretty special – a few energy saving light bulbs isn’t likely to make a splash!

By taking positive steps in these key areas, you could make big savings on energy bills and reduce your business’s impact on the environment. What will you do to make the change?