According to research by the Carbon Trust, saving money through energy efficiency is now the number one priority in the battle to beat the economic downturn.
The research found reducing energy efficiency is a bigger part of their strategy than laying staff off, freezing salaries or handing out below-inflation pay rises and putting a freeze on recruitment.
The organisation believes UK companies could collectively save almost £2.5bn over the next year by implementing basic energy-saving measures; the equivalent of 13% of the overall energy bill or the combined annual salaries of more than 100,000 employees on an average wage.
"Our research shows that energy efficiency measures, not job cuts or salary freezes, are the cost-cutting steps businesses are considering first during this economically challenging time," said Hugh Jones, Solutions Director at the Carbon Trust.
"It's an encouraging sign that wise companies are realising that cutting carbon and being green is the easiest way to make a business lean."
The Carbon Trust recommends the following actions to reduce energy bills:
Switch lights off in empty rooms
- You could cut your lighting costs by as much as 15%, just by making sure you turn lights off in rooms and corridors that aren't being used
- Don't turn up the heating unless you really need to
- Unless it's just too cold for comfort, try to keep your thermostat at 19°C. Your heating costs will go up by 8% each time you increase the temperature by just one degree
Maintain your
equipment properly
If you don't regularly check your heating equipment, you
could be adding as much as 10% to your heating bill without knowing it
Vending machines v
kettles
It is cheaper to provide a kettle for staff who work outside
normal business hours than to continue to run a drinks vending machine during
these times
Standby
A single computer and monitor left on 24 hours a day will
cost over £50 a year. Switching them off out of hours and enabling standby
features could reduce this to £15 a year each and prolong the lifespan of
equipment
Lighten up
Replacing high wattage filament lamps or tungsten halogen
lamps with compact fluorescent lamps or metal halide lamps will give energy
savings of 65-75%
Find and fix
compressed air leaks
Compressed air leaking through a single 3mm hole could cost
you nearly £700 per year in energy costs
Motors and drives
- Swapping a single 10kW motor running at 25% loading for a 2.5kW motor running at full load can save around £300/year
- Leaving electric motors running over weekends across the year could cost over £2,000 per motor
- Lowering the speed of a motor by just 20% can produce an energy saving of up to 50%