Saving Energy at Work - Overview

city skyline It’s a simple proposition: Taking steps to reduce your energy use will absolutely save your business money. While some changes require a more intensive time and financial commitment, there are many low-cost or no-cost steps you can take that can save your business hundreds or even thousands of dollars each year in energy savings.

This section is full of tips to get started, ranging from the simple to the more complicated tasks. Here are the basics (for additional tips, click here):

Biggest Areas for Potential Savings	Tips
Heating and Cooling	Improve your control settings on your HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning) systems and put a regular maintenance plan in place.
Lighting	Change your lights to more efficient products like compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs that can save up to 75% compared with standard bulbs. Ask your employees to pitch in as well by turning off lights when not in use.
Insulation	Weather strip and caulk all doors and windows.
Office Equipment	As you replace your office equipment, purchase products that are ENERGY STAR rated, which will save you more money.
Appliances	Place rarely used equipment and appliances – like TVs, VCRs, microwaves, coffee pots, and hot plates – on power strips and leave them off when not in use. These products use power even when they are not in use and that “dormant” time adds up.

Simply changing attitudes in the workplace can have a huge impact. Find employees in your company that are passionate about this issue and create a working group to identify changes that can be made and educate their coworkers. Many companies in turn reward their employees for saving energy – and money – and this becomes another program to boost morale and productivity.

There are also a considerable amount of rebates, financing options, incentives and tax breaks for becoming more energy efficient that you can explore in this section.

Finally, if you are considering any major changes or capital investments in your work space, have a plan for increasing your energy efficiency and you can save even more money in the long-term.