Energy represents a major source of financial expense for any company. Reducing energy consumption is a core issue for many of them, especially since it is part of a global energy transition approach, promoted at the national level. It generally begins with the implementation of an energy audit.
But beyond the solutions that exist to save energy, company managers are looking for good advice to reduce energy bills, as well as tips that they can implement in the daily life of their offices or production facilities.
Decrease the expenses on the various energy points
In companies, there are many sources of energy consumption. However, it can be difficult to identify them. In order to achieve energy savings, the company must establish a precise assessment of the distribution of its energy bill among its various units (heating, lighting system, ventilation, air conditioning, etc.). So what are the energy expenses to be analyzed to reduce energy consumption?
Heating
The heating system represents on average 50% of the energy bill of a commercial building. To reduce its impact on your energy expenses, first make sure to identify areas that have little or no heating needs. Areas such as storerooms or halls do not need to be heated.
Also study the heat distribution within the rooms. This means that nothing should be placed in front of the radiators, neither objects nor furniture. Finally, take advantage of the times when the heating is off to ventilate the rooms so that the heat does not escape outside.
Air conditioning
In summer, air conditioning consumes 20% of the energy expenses of a business premises. However, it is possible to optimize the use of air conditioning without neglecting employee comfort.
In order to avoid creating too great a difference in temperature between inside and outside, it is recommended not to exceed a difference of 4°C. It is estimated that below 26°C inside the room, it is more appropriate to use a simple fan, which uses much less energy than air conditioning. Finally, remember to ventilate in the coolest hours of the day to lower the indoor temperature.
Lighting
Lighting is a major source of energy consumption, used all year round. The choice of high-performance lighting, which also consumes little energy, is essential. To reduce the energy expense from lighting, LED bulbs are to be preferred. You should also favour natural light whenever possible, by placing offices near windows. Finally, remember to turn off the lights in unoccupied rooms!
Electrical and electronic equipment
The main problem of electronic equipment in terms of reducing energy consumption is standby mode. These give the feeling of saving energy, while they require a constant energy consumption, even when the device is not in use. It is therefore advisable to switch off these devices when they are not in use in order not to consume electricity unnecessarily.
As much as possible, and if you are renewing your equipment (computers, photocopiers, printers, etc.), choose low-energy appliances. To easily turn off appliances at night and thus reduce your electricity consumption, it is advisable to install power strips with switches. This will allow you to turn off several devices at the same time when you no longer need them.
Awareness of your employees to reduce your energy consumption
The acquisition of the right gesture at work by all employees is an extremely important factor in the performance of your energy saving strategy. To reduce energy consumption and guarantee the success of the approach, it is crucial to communicate the company’s commitments. In this way, you will involve your employees, who will naturally invest themselves to achieve significant energy savings.
So that reducing energy consumption becomes everyone’s business, show the good results of each gesture, and regularly encourage your employees to adopt the right action (do not overheat in winter, do not use air conditioning in summer, report any equipment failure, etc.).