How employees can help businesses save on energy

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If you’re a small business owner, you’ll know that energy saving only works if everyone pitches in to do their bit. It’s your job to motivate and incentivise, and you’ll find that people are usually more than willing to put the effort into saving the environment and keeping costs down at work. Here are some simple ideas of things everyone can do to keep energy bills at a minimum – adapted from British Gas’s very handy business blog:

  • Close doors and windows – a simple but effective way to prevent HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) waste.  The longer a door/window is left open, the more of the building HVAC’s hard work is undone.
  • Heat lunch together – rather than one-by-one, heat meals at the same time if they’re small enough to fit into the microwave together. Also share kettles of boiling water if multiple employees are heating instant meals or breakfasts.
  • Solar phone charging stations – set up a line of solar-powered charging stations on windowsills that get drenched in morning or afternoon sunlight and encourage the team to use them.
  • Dress according to temperature – pay attention to weather forecasts so as to wear weather-appropriate clothing (as long as it conforms to business code) in order to avoid the need for power-hungry fans or space heaters.
  • Lights-off checks – get employees to participate in energy saving initiatives by not only reminding them to turn lights off at their own desks/offices but to also make checks as they walk through/out of the building, turning lights off along the way.
  • Encourage inventions – it’s possible that employees will be able to not just find inefficiencies but to invent new and more efficient ways to do things.
  • Shut down computers –computers and all their accessories can consume energy; simply turning computers off and switching off monitors can make all the difference.
  • Use Laptops – consider replacing some desktops with company laptops, which have their own batteries and are surprisingly more efficient with power.
  • LED bulbs – LED bulbs in desk lamps, is a small but effective way to save energy.

For all your energy related questions, feel free to contact the CH Systems team on 0208 302 8149 or info@chsystems.cc.