In the news we hear so much about alternative energy, energy tax credits, ENERGY STAR products and more, but starting with little or no budget, the basics can go a long way in saving energy and reducing costs.
Go for “low hanging fruit.” Taking these simple, easy actions toward being more energy efficient can lower your office’s electrical bills and leave your company feeling good about its efforts.
Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) System
Monitor thermostat settings.
Most utility companies recommend setting thermostats to 78 degrees or higher in summer and 68 degrees or lower in winter. Each degree below these recommendations in summer, or above in winter, represents an approximate 4 percent increase in the electric portion of your utility bill. Use fans to keep cooler in summer. They can make us feel about 6 degrees cooler and often use less energy than a 100-watt bulb. However, don’t forget fans cool people, not rooms. Turn them off when no one is in the room.
No one there? Turn thermostats up, down or off.
Set the thermostat up during the cooling season, down during the heating season or off when everyone has left work for the day. HVAC systems are either fully on or fully off. Therefore, the amount of energy needed to run the HVAC system to warm things up or cool things down in the morning is less than if the HVAC system were on for more than six hours at night, according to the University of Oregon.
Conduct routine maintenance on HVAC system in spring and fall.
Regular maintenance of cooling and heating equipment ensures equipment is running efficiently with clean condenser and/or blower coils and filters, proper refrigerant levels and no leaking ducts. According to Flex Your Power, California’s statewide energy efficiency campaign, maintenance saves up to 30 percent of fan and up to 10 percent of space-conditioning energy use.
Office with a window?
Assist the heating and cooling system in your office by using blinds to control the heat from sunlight entering the office through windows. Shut sun out in summer and let it in winter.
Lighting
Turn off the lights.
Energy expended for lighting in commercial buildings is second only to the energy used for heating and cooling equipment. Turn off the lights whenever you leave a room and when no one is around (even if you will be gone for just a minute or two). Also, make sure to turn off all lights in the office at the end of the day. According to educational information from the Eugene Water & Electric Board in Oregon, “turning off the lights reduces operating costs in two ways: It saves energy and reduces the number of lamp replacements.”
Only use necessary lights.
Turn off lighting that does not contribute to proper lighting for the individual workspaces. For example, try using only half or none of overhead lighting when desk lights are in use. And don’t forget to turn off outdoor lights during daylight hours.
Use daylighting to your advantage.
If your office gets sufficient natural lighting through windows or skylights, leave lights off and strategically place desks and workstations to maximize this benefit. Turn lights on only in interior areas where they may be necessary.
Electronics
Use power management features.
Set computers and monitors to use their low power, or “sleep mode,” after a designated period of inactivity.
Turn it off.
Computers, copiers, printers, wireless routers and other non-essential electronic devices use energy even when they are idle or on stand-by. Even chargers. Unplug them when not in use and at the end of the day/work week. Consider using a power strip to make this task easier.
Have the low hanging fruit taken care of and want to do more? Invest in a programmable thermostat, check/add weather stripping and insulation, and take the ENERGY STAR Challenge.
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