Ten simple tips to save energy in your office

Saving energy in your office is not only a fantastic way to help reduce your carbon footprint, it all serves to help your bottom line!

Here are 10 tips you can implement today.

1. Turn off the lights

Although many new offices will have lights that are operated on a sensor that detects when people are in the office and automatically turns the lights off when no movement occurs for a period of time, many older offices do not have this sophistication. Turn off lights when office areas are not occupied and where possible fit timers, particularly in areas such as toilets, kitchen and breakout areas and store rooms.

2. Turn lights off at night

If you do not have timers or sensors on your office lights, make sure they are all off at night. If you need an element of lighting for security make sure these consume as little energy as possible.

3. Make use of energy saving features

Many electronic office equipment such as photocopiers, have energy saving capabilities. Make sure staff know how to use these features.

4. Turn equipment off

Even better than the energy saving mode is turning equipment off. Make sure this happens at the end of the day and over weekends.

5. Put your computer to sleep

Setting PC’s to go into sleep mode when not used can save up to 70% of the energy they consume when in full power mode.

6. Reset the AC

If you have air conditioning make sure it is properly balanced and look to set the temperature a degree warmer. It is also important in air conditioned areas to ensure windows are not opened as this can force the air conditioning to work harder and consume more electricity.

7. Turn down the heat

Just as in summer you can turn the air conditioning up a degree, turn the thermostat down a degree in winter to save energy on heating.

8. Weekend efficiency

Make sure heating and air conditioning is turned off over the weekend when there are no staff in the office. In really cold spells you may need to set the heating to come on a few hours earlier on the Monday morning, but this is still better than wasting energy over a weekend.

9. Monitor your energy usage

Many buildings have advanced building management systems, or BMS. These can tell you what equipment is working and at what times. By monitoring the reports this give you it is often possible to spot equipment such as air conditioning units that have different settings to other units nearby. This may mean they are using energy to compensate for the differences between the settings.

10. Carry out maintenance

A properly maintained heating and cooling system should work more efficiently than one that is not maintained. This should save energy, running costs and keep your staff happy.

Author Bio: Simon Murray is an office refurbishment project manager promoting sustainable refurbishment of offices and serviced offices. For more about Simon, visit him online here.