energy saving for small businesses - npower sme

Energy saving for small businesses

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How energy efficiency could save you money

In the current economic climate, when profit margins are tight and businesses need to be as competitive as possible, it’s more important than ever to trim down your costs. But while you’re chasing sales, negotiating deals and counting every penny, you’re probably also spending money on energy you don’t need.

If you think reducing your carbon footprint will take too much time and money, think again. This report looks at what stops some small businesses from introducing energy efficiency into the workplace and offers some simple tips about where you could start making savings.

Read on to find out how easy it could be to start cutting your business energy bills today.

Energy efficiency tip website disclaimer: npower is not responsible for the content of these websites and not withstanding any references from these websites in this booklet, does not endorse or make any representations about them or any material found there.

Energy efficiency tips: the handy tips in this booklet are suggestions and npower does not guarantee any savings.



Contents

1. About this guide

2. What’s stopping you?

3. The facts & figures

4. Getting started4.1. Appoint an energy champion4.2. Establish the facts4.3. Go walkabout4.4. Take action4.5. Review & monitor

5. Quick wins for all small businesses5.1. Lighting5.2. Heating, ventilation & air conditioning 5.3. Insulation & draught-proofing5.4. Electrical equipment5.5. Refrigeration5.6. Other equipment 6. Business-specific advice 6.1. Retail & convenience stores6.2. Bakeries6.3. Beauty salons & hairdressers6.4. Printers

7. Longer-term investments

8. More information, practical help & incentives

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1. About this guide

There’s a lot of advice out there about how businesses can and should save energy: turn off the lights, switch off computer monitors, turn down your thermostat. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

The reality is that when you’re running your own business it can feel like there are never enough hours in the day, and energy saving often slips down the list, especially when some of the advice doesn’t seem to apply to small businesses quite like yours. That’s why we’ve brought together lots of useful advice into this one simple guide.

We look at why small businesses don’t always put energy saving into practice and provide some facts and figures to demonstrate how you could reduce your business energy spend. Then we suggest some quick wins that most small businesses can implement followed by business-specific advice and thoughts about longer-term investments.

At the end you’ll find a list of practical help and incentives available to small businesses across the UK and links to more information.

Ready to see if you could save some money? Let’s get started!



2. What’s stopping you?

There are lots of reasons why people resist change. Often we just fear hidden costs and risks, without really testing how real those costs and risks actually are.

For example, the thought of introducing energy efficiency into your business might make you worry that:

• It will take too much time to work out what changes to make

• You’ll have to learn new skills

• There’ll be paperwork and bureaucracy

• It will distract staff from getting on with their work

• You might not recoup the financial investment you make

• It won’t make enough difference to be worth the effort

Sound familiar? And if you rent your premises, you might feel it’s just not worth ‘greening’ your workplace at all.

We understand that spending time and money now for a return later can seem like an effort and a risk, especially when you rent your premises. But saving energy to reduce what you spend on business electricity and business gas is actually one of the simplest ways to increase profits.

http://www.npower.com/Business/Electricity-and-gas/Business-electricity/index.htm



3. The facts & figures

Over half of the UK’s small and medium sized enterprises i (SMEs)have no system for measuring energy efficiency and yet many of those that do introduce energy efficiencies are making savings of up to 10% ii on their energy bills.

What could a saving like that mean for your bottom line? iii

Let’s say…

- Your business runs on a 7.5% profit margin

- You spend £5,000 a year on energy iv

- You don’t want to invest too much time or money into energy saving so you implement some basic, no-cost improvements and reduce your bills by 10%

- You will have saved £500

- That’s the same amount of profit as you’d make from £3,750 of sales

And what if your business spends more on energy and you’re willing to put extra effort and money into energy saving? Let’s say…

- Your business runs on a 10% profit margin

- You spend £50,000 a year on energy

- You implement some more involved energy saving practices and reduce your annual bill by 20%

- You’ve just saved £10,000

- That’s the same amount of profit as you’d make from £100,000 of sales

Now think for a moment about how much time, effort and investment it would take to make that amount of sales.

Put it another way: if you’d just signed a new contract worth £3,750 or £100,000 you’d probably be feeling pretty good, but the profit you make from the deal could be going straight out of the business on energy you don’t even need.

If you still need persuading, consider this: the Department of Energy & Climate Change predicts that by 2020 business energy bills for medium sized consumers will be 26% higher as a result of climate change and energy policy v. Plus, we all pay VAT on energy and as a business you also pay Climate Change Levy (CCL) on every unit of energy used so you’re not only paying for energy you don’t need, you’re also paying tax on it.



4. Getting started

If you’re ready to make some changes, here are some suggestions to help you manage the process:

4.1. Find an energy champion

It’s all too easy to pass the buck so the first thing you need to do is appoint someone to take charge of the process – your energy champion. Of course, if you’re running a very small business, this might have to be you!

There may well be people in your business who are passionate about the environment, so why not harness their natural enthusiasm? Most importantly, make sure your energy champions have the full support of your decision-makers, and the time and resources to tackle the job properly.

If you have multiple sites or lots of employees, think about appointing a few people to form an energy action team.

4.2. Establish the facts

You need to know how much energy your business uses and how much it costs.

At the very simplest level that might mean checking back through your bills for the past 12 months and totting up how much energy you used in total in kWh (kilowatt hours). By keeping track of usage for the next 12 months you can make a simple kWh comparison to see if the efficiencies you introduce have reduced your energy consumption. Remember to compare kWh rather than what you paid, because energy prices fluctuate.

If you have busy and quiet periods, consider breaking down your usage into weekly, monthly or quarterly totals so you can compare like with like, for example Christmas trading periods last year against the same period this year.

Ask your energy champions whether an energy monitor would help them. They can research the various options, compare features and recommend which monitor is the best buy for your business. Monitors usually cost between £30 and £100 and allow you to see how much electricity you’re using in real time.

Depending on the level of your energy consumption, a smart meter might be a worthwhile investment. Smart meters can be installed to replace existing business gas, electricity and water meters. Suppliers can make automatic meter readings, meaning bills are accurate rather than estimated, and they usually come with a display unit so you can monitor and analyse usage patterns.z

The government plans to roll out smart meters to all UK homes and businesses between 2014 and 2019.

4.3. Go walkabout

Send your energy champions on a walk round your business premises, checklists in hand, to spot obvious issues. Depending on the size of your business, the number of sites you occupy, the type of equipment you use and how energy-intensive you are, they may need to do this more than once.

It might make sense to conduct surveys during normal working hours as well as after the building is closed, over lunch when employees are away from their workstations, or when it’s sunny and when it’s cloudy. If the business has busy periods and quiet periods, survey at both times so you can compare consumption levels.

Ask your energy champions to compile a hit list of problems with recommended solutions, organised in order of complexity and cost to fix. The tables in the next section should help them get started.

http://www.npower.com/Business/Electricity-and-gas/Business-gas/



4.4. Take action

Now you have your hit list of problems and solutions, decide which issues you want to tackle and when. Some changes can be implemented straight away, others you may want to include in planned maintenance or refurbishment schedules. Actions usually fall into one of the following categories:

- Information-based, behavioural energy savings

These types of savings are based on the information you gather about how your employees use energy across the business. They typically cost nothing to implement but may involve a culture change and require people to do things differently.

- Process-based energy savings

These kinds of savings are based on analysis of energy usage at different times of the day and during different business processes (when machinery is active versus idle, for example). Changing processes to optimise energy efficiency generally costs little to implement and rarely requires any capital expenditure.

- Investment-based energy savings

Your analysis may uncover specific systems or pieces of equipment that are under performing in terms of energy efficiency. To improve or replace these systems is likely to involve significant capital expenditure but these kinds of improvement have permanence and aren’t easily undone.

If solutions cost money, make sure your energy champions know what they’re allowed to do and how much they can spend. Most importantly, communicate with all employees about what is changing and why so everyone is on board.

4.5. Review & monitor

Your energy champions need to schedule regular reviews to check that changes are being enforced and people aren’t slipping back into old habits. Reviews don’t need to be frequent or time-consuming – a quick walkabout once every quarter may suffice, particularly if other employees have embraced the process and are reporting issues as they spot them.

Energy saving is a team effort and without the buy-in of all employees even the best intentions can hit the buffers. Ask people how the new systems, processes or equipment are working and think about offering incentives to the business team or building that reduces their energy consumption the most.

At regular intervals, sit down and look at the numbers to calculate how much energy and money you’re saving, where the best savings are being made, and where it might be most beneficial to target efforts and resources.



5. Quick wins for small businesses

Here are some of the most common issues many small businesses face and the easiest no cost or low-cost changes you can make to fix them.

Look for ... Solution ...

Old incandescent bulbs in ceiling fittings, wall lights and plug in lamps: they are energy-inefficient, only last about 1,000 hours and turning them on and off also shortens their lifespan.

Replace with low energy compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs. They use a fifth of the energy and last much longer. Modern low energy bulbs brighten quickly and emit a better quality, warmer light than earlier low energy bulbs on the market.

Dusty bulbs and lampshades: they block light, which means people are likely to put on more lights to compensate.

Make sure cleaners include bulbs and shades in their regular cleaning routine.

Lights being left on in storerooms, cupboards, toilets, meeting rooms and other places that are only used periodically

The cheapest solution is to ask staff to turn off lights when they leave rooms. Label switches and put up posters/signs as reminders. Consider investing in timers or motion sensors if you think staff will forget to switch lights off.

Lights being left on overnight Make it a rule that the last person out of every room turns off the lights. If lights need to be left on for security, install timers so they only come on after dark.

Lights on during the day in rooms with windows and skylights: light levels should be adequate in rooms with windows and skylights, so having artificial lighting on as well is wasting energy.

Speak to staff about why the lights are on. If the room is dark even on sunny days, windows and skylights may need cleaning. Is anything blocking the window on the inside or outside, such as filing cabinets or parked cars?Look at providing task lighting for people furthest from windows so the whole room doesn’t need to be lit just for their benefit.

Curtains or blinds shut during the day: natural daylight is the best form of lighting so it’s a waste not to use it if you have it.

Ask staff why the curtains are shut. If it’s to reduce light falling on monitors, adjust the angle of screens or move them away from windows. If it’s because the room is overheating because of sunshine (solar gain), awnings or reflective blinds will help to cut out sunlight and can be retracted once the sun has moved.

Net curtains: they block daylight, making it more likely that staff will turn on artificial lights.

If net curtains are essential for privacy, make sure they are clean and dust-free. If they’re not essential, bin them.

5.1. Lighting




Large pieces of furniture or display cabinets positioned in front of radiators: warm air won’t circulate properly so staff may turn the heating up to compensate.

Move things away from the radiators. If it they can’t be moved, get radiator boosters that sit on top of the radiator, to help circulate the heat more efficiently.

Heating on in empty rooms Switch off radiators in empty rooms and put up signs to make sure they’re not switched on again.

Windows open in heated rooms: a sign that the heating is on too high for comfort.

Turn the radiators down or off. If some people are too warm and others too cold, could you reposition work stations away or towards heat sources?

Electric heaters: they continue to run and use energy even when the room is warm enough.

Get plug-in thermostats that can be set to switch the heater off when the room reaches a certain temperature.

Radiators with no control valve: they are probably on full blast and overheating rooms.

Get thermostatic valves fitted and then turn the radiators down to a comfortable temperature.

Radiators that feel cold towards the top or are not warming up even when heating is on high: trapped air and gas build up in the radiator and stop them performing properly.

Bleed radiators regularly or fit automatic radiator bleeders.

Radiators under windows: most of the heat is probably going straight outside.

Install a shelf above the radiators to help throw heat forward into the room rather than upwards. You can buy purpose-made radiator shelves that clip on to the radiator.

Radiators on external walls: cold exterior walls leach heat. Fit reflector panels or radiator foil behind radiators on external walls (shiny side facing the room).

Large rooms with only a few radiators: heat might not reach people working furthest from the radiators, so they are turned up higher to compensate. The people close to the radiators may then get too warm, and open a window for some air.

Buy radiator boosters. They sit on top of the radiator and help to circulate the warm air. Talk to staff. Some people like to be cooler than others and might welcome moving further away from the radiators!

Doors left open between heated and cooled rooms: heating and cooling systems will both be working harder than necessary to keep both rooms at the right temperature.

Make sure people moving between heated and cooled areas understand the issue and keep doors shut, or look at fitting an automatic door closer.

Photocopiers and other heat-generating equipment in air conditioned rooms

IRearrange what goes where, so heat-generating equipment is not kept in rooms that need to be cool.

5.2. Heating, ventilation & air conditioning (HVAC)




On and off times for heating and cooling systems Set controls so heating and air conditioning don’t come on too early or go off too late. Set a gap or ‘dead band’ between heating and air conditioning temperatures of about 50C to avoid them coming on at the same time.As the weather changes with the seasons make sure timings are adjusted, and don’t forget to reset timers when the clocks change from BST to GMT.

Thermostats Turn the heating down by a degree or two and don’t run air conditioning too cold. Turning heating down by just 10 can reduce bills by up to 8% vi .

Central heating pipes and hot water cylinders: are they insulated? To stop heat being lost as hot water travels around the system, lag all pipes, valves, flanges and the cylinder. This is something you can easily do yourself with a bit of research and planning.

Servicing records: engineers can make sure systems are running optimally by cleaning filters and condensers, and adjusting settings.

Make sure someone is responsible for booking regular services for boilers, central heating and air conditioning systems, especially if they are offered as part of your service contract.

5.2. Heating, ventilation & air conditioning (HVAC)




Damaged and rotten window and door frames: a door with a gap just 3mm wide will let in as much cold air as a hole in the wall the size of brick.

It’s a simple job to fit compressed door seals or rubber seals around doors and windows. Attach brush strips or hinged flap draught excluders to the bottom of doors.

Draughty gaps in floorboards, skirting boards and loft hatches Fill small and medium sized gaps in floors with papier mache made with torn newspaper and wallpaper paste, use a silicone based filler or consider laying carpet with underlay. Use sealant or caulk, sold in guns at all DIY stores, to fill gaps around skirting boards.Fit insulating strips around loft hatch frames to plug any gaps and attach a polystyrene slab on the upper side of the hatch.

Letterboxes and open keyholes Buy and attach a letterbox flap/sleeve or brushes and fit metal disc covers to keyholes to cut out draughts.

Unused fireplaces that are open to the outside Buy a chimney balloon to block the movement of air up and down the chimney. If you want a more permanent and energy efficient solution, get the chimney capped at the top and blocked off permanently at the bottom.

Disused vents left behind after gas fires or boilers have been removed Cover or fill with expanding polyurethane foam but make sure they are no longer needed for essential ventilation before closing up.

Windows with no curtains or blinds Fit curtains or blinds. Natural daylight is essential for keeping lighting bills low, but once it’s dark outside and the artificial lights are on, closing curtains and blinds will help to cut down heat loss via windows.

Lofts and roof spaces: over 20% of heat in a building is lost through the roof ix.

Laying down insulation in the roof space is a quick way to reduce your energy bills and could pay for itself in one to four years.

5.3. Insulation & draught-proofing

A third of the heat generated in a building is lost through gaps and vents that allow warm air to leave and cold air to enter vii and yet draught proofing a small commercial building is likely to cost less than £100 viii.




Computers left switched on when not in use: leaving a computer and monitor on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week costs £45 per year on average. Turning them off at the end of the day reduces this to £10 xi.

Get groups of equipment all on the same multi-socket so they’re easy to turn off in one go at the end of working hours.If computers are left on so they can back up over night, change back up settings to run as soon as the computer is switched on.

Desktop computers Laptops use 25% less energy than desktops xii . LCD monitors on average use 50 to 70% less energy in on-mode than old-style CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors xiii , so if you can’t afford to upgrade to laptops, consider replacing CRT monitors.

Photocopiers permanently switched on ready for use A photocopier left on unnecessarily could increase your energy bill by nearly £200 a year xiv. Save up photocopying to be done in batches and don’t keep the machine in an air-conditioned room where it will take longer to warm up ready for use.

Energy Star labels on all office equipment Energy Star is a global standard for energy efficient equipment. Make a list of all equipment that doesn’t display an Energy Star label and plan when they’ll be replaced with newer, more energy efficient models.

Screensavers Ask all staff to turn off screensavers, which use energy, and instead set their computers to hibernate after a period of inactivity

Phone chargers If employees are constantly charging phones, consider investing in a solar charger that runs of the sun’s rays and set up a central charging station that won’t add to energy bills.

Power saving settings on computers Enabling power saving settings on all computer equipment could reduce consumption by 80% xv. Set computers to go into sleep/hibernate after a short period of inactivity, especially if they are using a computer with an old tube or CRT monitor.

Stereos and TVs These are amongst the worst culprits for being left on standby. Make sure someone is responsible for switching them off when not in use.

5.4. Electrical equipment

For some businesses, office equipment is responsible for around 30% of total energy consumption x so there is scope for big savings. Buying second hand equipment may save you money initially but it could be costing you more by being energy inefficient.


Fridges and freezers beside radiators, ovens or other heat-generating equipment, or in sunny spots

This forces refrigeration equipment to work harder than necessary to maintain the right temperature. Move it to cooler spots, such as against exterior walls, if you can.

Fridges and freezers less than 10cm away from walls Coils work less efficiently when there isn’t room for air to circulate, so pull units at least 10cm away from walls and keep coils dust-free by vacuuming regularly.

Food and drink in fridges and chiller cabinets when it doesn’t need to be chilled

Move food that doesn’t need to be chilled on to normal shelves and make sure staff know what needs chilling and what doesn’t.

Half empty or overstocked fridges and freezers Fridges and freezers with lots of empty space have to work harder to store cold air. You can fill up temporary gaps with bottles of tap water, screwed up newspaper or bubble wrap or consider downsizing to a smaller unit.Too much stock in the fridge means products will probably be touching the back wall and cold air won’t be able to circulate properly.

Faulty seals Keep seals clean and replace any faulty seals that are letting out cold air.

Open-fronted fridges and chiller cabinets Install transparent strip curtains to prevent warm air from the environment entering the cabinets and cold air spilling out. They could save your business around £100 per cabinet every year in reduced energy bills xvi.Night blinds help maintain food in chiller cabinets overnight.

Temperature settings Fridges and freezers set too high are working harder than necessary and using up more energy to chill food below the temperature needed. Energy consumption can be reduced by 2 to 4% if the set cooling temperature can be safely increased by 10C xvii.

Chiller cabinets stocking non-perishable items left on overnight Switching off cabinets containing drinks and other non-perishables overnight could save up to 25% of running costs xviii.

Labels and produce covering fridge grills Remove price labels and clip-on strips from fridge grills to improve efficiency by up to 15% xix.



5.5. Refrigeration


Air pressure on compressed air equipment The Carbon Trust estimates that reducing compressed air pressure by 10% can generate a 5% saving in energy. A small leak within compressed air systems could cost more than £700 a year in wasted energy xx so test for leaks and get them fixed.

Compressed air being used unnecessarily or left on Compressed air costs ten times that of electricity so only use it when there is no alternative. And a 30kW compressor running offload over lunchtime all year round could be costing your business more than £200 in wasted energy a year xxi.

Electric motors: they account for nearly two thirds of UK industrial electricity use xxii

Save energy by switching motors off when they’re not needed but make sure switches are clearly labelled so the right motors are turned on and off. Analyse processes to see if it’s possible to run at full load for shorter periods rather than operate continually with a partial load.



5.6. Other equipment



6. Business-specific advice

In addition to the tips we’ve already outlined, here are some energy saving measures you can introduce if you run a retail or convenience store, bakery, beauty salon or hairdresser, or a print shop.

6.1. Retail & convenience stores

By far the biggest energy spend for food retailers is refrigeration but if your chillers are open-fronted or running too cold you’re probably chilling shoppers too. Test the temperature of food in your freezers and fridges. You may find you can turn them down a few degrees without compromising food safety.

If you have alcoholic drinks displayed in chiller cabinets, turn them off half an hour before you close for the night. Bottles will still be cold at closing. They won’t be chilled in the morning but this isn’t a peak time for buying alcohol anyway.If you have multiple sites or lots of employees, think about appointing a few people to form an energy action team.

See the advice on refrigeration in the ‘Quick wins’ above for more tips about making fridges and freezers run more efficiently

Keeping stores bright and appealing helps draw in customers and boost sales but it’s worth considering whether you could lower light levels out of hours for stock taking, replenishing and cleaning.

Occupancy sensors that turn lights on when someone is there are particularly good for stockrooms and toilets and can achieve savings of up to 30% on lighting costs xxiii.

Fitting daylight sensors on internal and exterior security lighting and signage can help reduce energy consumption by making sure they only come on when it’s dark outside and go off again as the sun rises.

Without regular maintenance of artificial lights, windows and skylights, light levels in stores can fall by 50% in 2 – 3 years. Establish a basic lighting maintenance programme and you could reduce costs by up to 15% xxiv.

Replace blackened, flickering or dim fluorescent tubes with tri-phosphor coated ones. They provide a more natural, brighter light. Modern fluorescent tubes with high-frequency fittings use less energy, they don’t flicker or hum, and they can be dimmed.

In cold weather most shoppers wear warm outdoor clothing, so you probably don’t need to turn your heating up much. Observe customers and if they’re shedding coats and jackets when they get into the shop, turn the heating down to a more comfortable level.

Don’t operate an open door policy. Hot air will be spilling outside and cold air will be flooding in, meaning your heating bills will be much higher than necessary. Close the shop door and put up clear ‘we are open’ signage. An ‘A’ board on the pavement outside will help direct passers-by through the door. Explain to customers why you’ve closed the door and fit automatic door closers so it stays shut.



6.2. Bakeries

Bakeries tend to be relatively energy-intensive with the vast majority of energy spend going on running ovens for baking and on maintaining optimal temperature levels and humidity for baking, proving and cooling.

Even if you’re using old, energy-inefficient machinery you can still reduce consumption by introducing some basic good practice.

For example, have clear start up and shutdown procedures for big machinery. Analyse your processes to see if you can reduce production gaps and stagger start up and shutdown of ovens, provers and coolers as products progress through the baking process.

Make sure any equipment using compressed air is well maintained. See the section on other equipment in the ‘Quick wins’ above for tips on compressed air management.

If you’re due to replace equipment, gas-fired provers have been found to be more efficient than steam-heated provers and direct-fired ovens are more efficient than indirect ovens, largely because they are able to respond to changes in production rates more efficiently and have automatic dampers to control fans xxv.

You may be able to improve the performance of older equipment by fitting variable speed drives where appropriate.

Check freezer temperatures are not set too low. Not only will you be wasting energy running the freezer too cold but ovens will have to work harder to bake items that start too cold.

If you also have a shop on the premises, follow the good practice advice above for retail & convenience stores.

6.3. Beauty salons & hairdressers

Beauty salons and hairdressers are often brightly lit with energy-intensive halogen downlights and heated by the permanent buzz of hairdryers and other equipment. The main energy cost is usually lighting, hot water, heating and air conditioning.

Start saving energy by introducing some good housekeeping habits so staff always turn off lights in treatment rooms when they’re not in use and don’t leave equipment such as stereos on standby.

Try experimenting with light levels. Artificial lighting throughout the salon could be kept lower than you think while still retaining an attractive ambience by fitting dimmer switches and replacing some energy intensive halogen lights with coloured low energy LEDs. Use brighter task lighting only where it’s needed, for example on manicure tables and at cutting stations.

You could also experiment with turning down the heating a degree or two and see if customers are still comfortable. Adjust settings room by room, so radiators are only on high where customers need to be particularly warm, such as massage rooms.

If cold air is spilling in through entrance doors, fit automatic closers or think about installing a second door to create an airlock. You could replace your existing entrance with a revolving door or partition the reception off from the rest of the space to cut down on heat transfer.

If you have the opposite problem and your salon is too warm, rather than putting on energy-intensive air conditioning, could you cut out the heat from sun pouring through windows (solar gain) by applying solar reflective film or by fitting retractable awnings or slatted blinds? Or move heat-generating equipment into the cooler parts of the building.

Make sure staff uniforms aren’t making people too hot or too cold or they could be turning the heating and air conditioning up higher than necessary for the sake of a putting on or taking off a cardigan!

Washing machines and tumble driers eat up electricity so only wash and tumble dry towels when you have a full load. Check that your machines are rated as energy-efficient and replace old machinery as soon as possible. Consider upgrading to energy efficient hairdryers and get your boiler regularly serviced or replaced with an energy efficient model.



6.4. Printers

Modern design and print studios are energy-hungry businesses with large litho printers and reprographic equipment that needs to be kept at just the right temperature and humidity.

A good first step is to analyse your workload and see what improvements can be made to your processes. At quiet times it might be better to shut down the plant and allow for the workload to build up again rather than run small batches. And machines left idling, even for a short delay between jobs, waste substantial amounts of energy.

Avoid confusion by clearly labelling switches so employees know what to switch off and what to leave on.

Think about getting a specialist engineer to look at your printing presses. Tweaking internal motors, adding variable speed drives or fitting timers could make machines run more efficiently. Also, regularly check air compression systems used for cleaning printers. Repair leaks and reduce air pressure if possible to save wasting energy.

Reprographic equipment is often left in sleep mode overnight rather than switched off, in case it doesn’t reboot properly the next day. But there’s no reason why you should have any problems and switching equipment off overnight will definitely save you money.

Make sure doors to air-conditioned rooms are kept shut, particularly if they link with rooms full of heat-generating machinery.

If you leave loading bay doors open all day to allow people and vehicles easy access in and out of your factory or warehouse floor, hot air will be escaping and cold air will be flooding in. Observe how the loading bay is used to see if there are times in the day when doors or shutters could be closed or brought partially down, or fit plastic strip curtains to cut down heat transfer.

Sometimes doorways to loading areas are left open because they are a hassle to close. If that’s the case, think about replacing them with rapid roll doors. They’re not cheap but they could pay for themselves in lower energy bills quicker than you think xxvi.

If your business is very energy-intensive, speak to your supplier about voltage optimisation and the possibility of getting a smart meter fitted.



7. Longer-term investments

There are lots more, investment-based energy saving actions you can take. Sometimes it’s best to schedule more costly improvements as part of a planned refurbishment. Make sure there is a good business case for the change and that expenditure can be recouped against any savings you’ll make.

Investments in certain kinds of energy efficient equipment attract 100% first year capital allowances so you can write off the cost against your taxable profits.

Here are just some of the investment-based energy savings you could consider introducing:

- Fitting control systems to heating, lighting, hot water and cooling systems

- Reducing heat loss by improving the fabric of your building, including looking at cavity wall insulation, re-rendering exterior walls, insulating interior walls, replacing single glazing with double glazing and lowering ceiling height by fitting suspended ceilings

- Talking to your energy supplier about voltage optimisation to ensure electricity is not being supplied at a higher voltage than you need

- Installing energy generating equipment such as solar panels and wind turbines

- Getting specialist help to fine-tune motors and fit variable speed drives

- Upgrading or replacing old equipment and machinery with newer, energy efficient models

- Investing in advanced cooling/heating systems such as evaporated cooling for warehouses and ground source heating pumps

The Carbon Trust offers detailed information about these and many more capital investment improvements you can make. You’ll find links to the Carbon Trust and other sources of advice in the next section.




The Carbon Trust

www.carbontrust.com/publications

The Carbon Trust is an independent organisation that provides free advice to businesses and the public sector on saving money through energy efficiency. Visit their website for a range of practical tools, guides, posters and reports, plus:

- Empower

www.carbontrust.com/resources/tools/empower

Software from the Carbon Trust to help engage staff in energy efficiency.

- Carbon Trust SME Network

www.carbontrust.com/resources/tools/sme-carbon-network

An online community for SMEs to share knowledge and best practice.

Chartered Institution of Building Service Engineers (CIBSE) Energy Centre

www.cibseenergycentre.co.uk

The CIBSE Energy Centre has a range of publications on making business premises more energy efficient.

Department of Energy & Climate Change

www.decc.gov.uk

Visit the section on funding and support for a list of all funding opportunities available for businesses.

Energy Saving Trust

www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Organisations/Business-services

The Energy Saving Trust gives impartial advice to businesses and offers a variety of services including accreditation and certification, training, webinars, online tools and consultancy, plus:

- Green Deal support for SMEs in London, Kent & Medway

www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/organisations

Free support for businesses that fulfil certain criteria and are looking to implement energy saving changes..

- Small business loans for Scottish businesses

www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/Organisations

Fixed rate loans for qualifying businesses in Scotland of £1,000 to £100,000 to help with the cost of installing renewable energy technologies or measures to reduce energy consumption.

Energy Services & Technology Association (ESTA)

www.esta.org.uk

ESTA is the membership organisation for companies that supply products, systems and services relating to the energy efficiency of buildings.

Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA)

www.etl.decc.gov.uk/etl

Information about tax relief for energy-saving products.

http://www.carbontrust.com/resources

http://www.carbontrust.com/resources/tools/empower

http://www.carbontrust.com/resources/tools/sme-carbon-network

http://www.cibseenergycentre.co.uk/

http://www.decc.gov.uk/

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Organisations/Business-services

www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/organisations

www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/Organisations

http://www.esta.org.uk/

http://etl.decc.gov.uk/etl




EU Energy Star

www.eu-energystar.org/en

European community-wide programme for labelling energy-efficient office equipment, visit the website for an energy calculator and database of Energy Star-rated products.

Green taxes, reliefs and schemes for businesses

www.gov.uk/green-taxes-and-reliefs

Detailed guidance from the UK government on the latest regulations and schemes.

ISO 14000 – Environmental management

www.iso.org

The ISO 14000 family addresses various aspects of environmental management and provides practical tools to identify and improve environmental performance.

National Energy Foundation

www.nef.org.uk

NEF is an independent charity offering information, advice and practical services such as site surveys to improve energy efficiency.

npower SmartStart

www.npower.com/smartstart

npower SME customers have access to energy saving advice and support through our SmartStart initiative, including an expert helpline on 0845 070 4019.

http://www.eu-energystar.org/en/

https://www.gov.uk/green-taxes-and-reliefs

http://www.iso.org/iso/home.html

http://www.nef.org.uk/

http://www.npower.com/Business/SmartStart/index.htm



i SMEs are usually classed as businesses with up to 250 employees.

ii nBEI (8), npower Business Energy Index 2011

iii These are generic calculations.

iv Average SME energy spend (electricity and gas combined) is £5,700 (The Independent, March 2009) while some medium sized enterprise spend more than £100,000 (Ofgem, March 2011)

v Estimated impacts of energy and climate change policies on energy prices and bills, July 2010, Department of Energy & Climate Change

vi Lower energy consumption, lower carbon emissions, lower energy bills: practical energy efficiency advice for businesses, npower

vii Building fabric, Carbon Trust

viii How to implement draught proofing, Carbon Trust

ix Building fabric, Carbon Trust

x Lower energy consumption, lower carbon emissions, lower energy bills: practical energy efficiency advice for businesses, npower

xi Lower energy consumption, lower carbon emissions, lower energy bills: practical energy efficiency advice for businesses, npower

xii Looking for a new computer, www.greenlivingworks.com

xiii CRT vs LCD monitor, www.eu-energystar.org

xiv Lower energy consumption, lower carbon emissions, lower energy bills: practical energy efficiency advice for businesses, npower

xv Lower energy consumption, lower carbon emissions, lower energy bills: practical energy efficiency advice for businesses, npower

xvi Retail. Energy management – the new profit centre for retail businesses, Carbon Trust

xvii Retail. Energy management – the new profit centre for retail businesses, Carbon Trust

xviii Retail. Energy management – the new profit centre for retail businesses, Carbon Trust

xix In the spotlight, http://www.conveniencestore.co.uk/campaigns/in-the-spotlight/233292.article

xx Compressed air: opportunities for business, Carbon Trust

xxi Lower energy consumption, lower carbon emissions, lower energy bills: practical energy efficiency advice for businesses, npower

xxii Motors and drives: introducing energy saving opportunities for business, Carbon Trust

xxiii Retail. Energy management – the new profit centre for retail businesses, Carbon Trust

xxiv Retail. Energy management – the new profit centre for retail businesses, Carbon Trust

xxv Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator: Guide to the industrial bakery sector, Carbon Trust

xxvi How to implement rapid roll doors, Carbon Trust

http://www.npower.com/idc/groups/wcms_content/@wcms/@busi/documents/digitalassets/nbei8pdf.pdf

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/sme/business-monthly-news-in-brief-1636070.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/sme/business-monthly-news-in-brief-1636070.html

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/Cp/CF/Documents1/SME%20Attitudes%20%20Behaviours%20Report.pdf

http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/what%20we%20do/uk%20energy%20supply/236-impacts-energy-climate-change-policies.pdf

http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/what%20we%20do/uk%20energy%20supply/236-impacts-energy-climate-change-policies.pdf

http://www.npower.com/idc/groups/wcms_content/@wcms/@resi/documents/digitalassets/energy_efficiency_guide.pdf


http://www.carbontrust.com/media/19457/ctv014_building_fabric.pdf

http://www.carbontrust.com/media/19465/ctl063_how_to_implement_draught_proofing.pdf

http://www.carbontrust.com/media/19457/ctv014_building_fabric.pdf





http://greenlivingworks.com/

http://www.eu-energystar.org/





http://www.carbontrust.com/media/39228/ctv001_retail.pdf



http://www.conveniencestore.co.uk/campaigns/in-the-spotlight/233292.article

http://www.conveniencestore.co.uk/campaigns/in-the-spotlight/233292.article

http://www.carbontrust.com/media/20267/ctv050_compressed_air.pdf



http://www.carbontrust.com/media/13059/ctv048_motors_and_drives.pdf



http://www.carbontrust.com/media/206476/ctg034-bakery-industrial-energy-efficiency.pdf

http://www.carbontrust.com/media/206476/ctg034-bakery-industrial-energy-efficiency.pdf

http://www.carbontrust.com/media/131400/ctl061_rapid_roll_doors.pdf

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