How to save energy and cut costs in the office

Offices can be a real energy drain and if you’re not careful, you can end up spending a huge amount on your bills. Here are some tips on how you can save energy in the office and cut your costs.

Make behavioural changes

Before making any material changes to your office, it’s important to review your behaviours and those of your staff.  Are there simple changes that could be introduced? For example, appointing one member of staff to make sure that every piece of equipment that’s not in use is switched off, and that all equipment is switched off by the last person leaving the office, are very easy steps to take but ones that would have a real impact on your electricity bills. You can also automate this process by implementing an energy management system for your office equipment – for example, by ensuring that computers are automatically set to switch off after a certain period of inactivity.

Office heating

Office heating can be a huge expenditure and overheating your office by just a few degrees could add thousands to your yearly energy bill. There are a number of different adjustments and improvements you could make to your office heating controls – you could consider bringing in a heating expert to offer their expert opinion on the best ones to implement. Amongst the changes that could be made are installing thermostatic valves for radiators, weather compensators, or room by room heating.

Blinds and windows

Installing new blinds and windows can help cut heating costs. Your office should have heat reflective roller blinds fitted and during the summer months you should ensure that your staff are using them, rather than simply cranking up the air conditioning to stay cool. Air conditioning is a huge expense and so cutting down on its usage will save you money. Similarly, if your office has older windows then they may not be energy efficient and in the colder months you will be spending more than you need to on heating. Installing new high quality UPVC windows, such as those supplied by Minster Windows, is a sound investment that will save you money in the long term.

Air conditioning

As mentioned above, air conditioning can be a big energy drain – particularly as many offices use a ‘split system’, where they utilise natural ventilation from windows with mechanical ventilation from wall mounted air conditioning units. A dual system like this results in both forms of ventilation ‘fighting’ each other and it is actually better to have just one or the other – entirely natural ventilation or a proper air conditioning system. If this is not possible, the most effective action you can take is to keep a close eye on your air conditioning controls, as well as researching and implementing solar gain and natural ventilation techniques to cut down on air conditioner usage.

Lighting

Another big energy expense is lighting, and it is imperative that you install energy efficient lights if you haven’t already done so. Some older offices use outdated T8 or T12 tube lighting but you should install T5 or LED bulb tubes for efficiency. Similarly, an older manual switching system could be upgraded to a smarter system, where the lights switch off by themselves when they are not in use. This will be an expense but as with installing energy efficient windows, it is an investment and you will see the financial benefits over the longer term.