In a series of blog posts, FM Director Nik Ashworth delves into all things Energy. He'll be introducing energy-saving measures and technology that companies and organisations of all sizes can implement to minimise their impact on the environment, reduce energy usage and ultimately save money.
As we strive to return to a new form of normality in the workplace and consider the increasing climate issues we are all going to have to shoulder in the future if we are to reduce them. It is possible for every organisation, large or small, to do its part in reducing energy demand and reducing the production of CO2. This neither requires any large financial investment or high-tech equipment, in the fact, most of the time, some week-to-week discipline in considering your surroundings will deliver you some excellent improvements.
MEASURE, MONITOR and MINIMISE Energy Usage
I have long held the view that before you start saving energy you must be able to measure it first. To this end and before you set out on any energy reduction initiatives please take the time to understand your current energy footprint so you can measure your efforts in the future, remember, if you can’t monitor it, you can’t measure it and therefore reduce it effectively.
Energy Efficiency, Saving Money and Helping Your Community
This will be the first in a few blogs where RFM will share some top tips on helping you to be more energy-efficient, save you money and assist the local community in net-zero initiatives.
Organisational measures to start with on the path to becoming energy efficient:
- Conduct a night-time audit to find out what’s on after hours that shouldn’t be.
- Improve operations and maintenance practices by regularly checking and maintaining equipment to ensure that it’s functioning efficiently.
- Optimize start-up time, power-down time, and equipment sequencing to ensure your equipment is only consuming when it is being used.
- Revise janitorial practices to reduce the hours that lights are turned on each day. Consider switching to day-cleaning, which takes place while occupants are in the building and has been shown to also reduce complaints.
- Set goals and a methodology to track and reward improvements from staff and colleagues, make it fun, and get people thinking about what they can do to help reduce energy.
- Visually inspect your pipework and ducting within your building and ensure all insulation is in good condition and has not been torn or breached.
- Consider low or no-cost energy audits to discover what fully funded energy measures may be available
Look out next month for more energy insights from Nik Ashworth.
Energy – If You Can’t Measure it, You Can’t Manage it!
Before you embark on a major project to reduce energy consumption, do you know where you currently use energy? That is the vital starting point, as RFM’s Client Services Director Mark Flanagan explains.
