If businesses pay no mind to their energy efficiency, they can easily create a huge carbon footprint that is damaging for the environment both now and in the future. We haven’t taken care of the planet well enough - that much is evident in 2021. We now don’t have long at all to repair the damage and ensure we’re all doing our bit to prevent any future problems. If you’re a business owner and you’d like to begin doing your part to make the planet a healthier place to live and reduce the impact your business has on the environment, read on for 10 things you should do:
Switch Your Energy Supplier
Switching to a retail energy supplier can benefit your business in numerous ways, including price protection, real cost savings, high standard customer care services, and even access to technological advancements. Working with suppliers who are conscious of their own impact on the environment can double your positive impact, too. Make sure you do plenty of research and ask for recommendations so you can find the best possible supplier for your needs.
Go Solar and Use Tax Breaks and Other Relevant Incentives
If you’d like to reduce your energy costs and your impact on the environment, then consider going solar. This is the best choice for businesses who would like to become more energy-efficient, as it will help you to decrease your annual energy bills to the minimum and will not affect your business’ performance. When you go for solar systems, you can also make use of the investment tax credit. This allows you to reduce the cost of solar panel installation by 30%. There may be more incentives offered, so make sure you look into this. Oftentimes, the incentives offered can make the changes more than worth it.
Work From Home and Encourage Remote Working
If there could be a way for some of your employees to work from home, encourage them to start working remotely, even if this is just for a few days a week. Remote and flexible working practices are the future and can help you to keep your team engaged in the long run. Your employees will be able to better balance work and home life, save money on transport, and be able to use their time optimally. Providing they have what they need to work from home (you may need to help them out if they don’t), then they should be able to do what they need to do a few days a week. There are benefits to having a team all in-house, but doing this alone can be outdated and make employees look elsewhere for somewhere more flexible.
Identify Wasted Energy Within Your Business
Understanding the power usage and demands of your business will help you to see where you could be wasting energy and give you ideas on how to improve. You’ll likely be surprised at how much your business is currently wasting, and the money you can save when you rectify these practices can be substantial.
Work With An Energy Advisor
Having some professional guidance can help you to look at things objectively, take steps in the right direction, and reduce your impact on the environment. An energy advisor is often more than worth the cost and will help you to identify issues that you probably would have missed.
Save Money On Lighting
Never use electric lights when the sun is out - make the most of natural light. Natural light is important for productivity too, so make sure your team is all on the same page and that they get plenty of it.
Turn lights off when you leave work, too, rather than leaving them on along with equipment plugged in. It might seem like you’re saving time on getting started the next day, but you’re wasting energy and money.
Swapping out your bulbs for more energy-efficient bulbs is also an easy change to make that could help you to save both the planet and money.
Preserve Water
If you ignore leaks and other water problems in your building, this could result in huge amounts of lost water, and this adds up over a monthly time period. Use automatic water-saving taps for an immediate improvement, as well as insulation of your old water heaters, and upgrade to more efficient heaters if you need to. Small gestures like this can seriously reduce your impact.
Create A Solid Recycling Policy
Make sure you know what can be recycled and do all you can to ensure you recycle rather than throwing anything away. Things like paper, ink, cartridges, computers, phones, and containers can all be recycled. Even opting to use recycled equipment and other items over brand new items can help you to support eco-friendly businesses and make a difference yourself.
Swap To Energy Efficient Appliances
Can you be sure that the equipment and appliances you use at work are the most energy-efficient available? If not, it could be time to swap them out for more eco-friendly and budget-friendly options. They can cost more to replace in the short term, but in the long run, you can notice a huge difference in how much you’re spending. Take a look at water cooled chillers and other new appliances you might need to make up your mind.
Make Sure Your Team Is On The Same Page
If you have a large team, making sure they’re all on the same page is essential. You could have a few that put lots of effort into supporting your eco-friendly endeavor, with other team members undoing all of their hard work. Make sure any environmentally based policy you create is clear and that all team members are contributing in order to make a difference. It isn't enough to have a policy; your team needs to be following it.
There is an abundance of things that business owners can do for energy efficiency - start with this post and then get creative.