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Take Control Of Your Commercial Energy Supply

What To Consider:

For your Commercial Energy Supply, there are some simple things to consider to ensure you get the best deal and then manage it effectively:

How many Units are you buying?

When you have signed that contract make sure you regularly record your consumed units from your meter, otherwise you won’t know when you have used your agreed quota of kWh’s (See point number 2).

What are the penalty charges?

Understand the cost, per unit, if you use more or less than any agreed upper and lower limits, respectively, in the timeframe of your contract. Like the excess mileage on a rental car, these can be quite steep and again it can be where they hide their profit.

Cost of the standing charge

Some suppliers, both domestic and commercial, charge a low kilowatt hour rate BUT have an additional higher Standing Charge rate, per unit. This enables them to say they have cheaper energy charges but they compensate via this other per unit cost and this is often again where they hide their profit.

Don’t go ‘out of contract’

Make sure you know and remember when your contract is up for renewal and don’t go over it. Make sure you renegotiate or change your supplier before you roll over to their Standard Tariffs. Out of Contract supply is the most expensive way to buy your energy and many of our business clients save money immediately by going back into a fixed-term contract.

Not all brokers are the same

As in all walks of life, there are good brokers and bad brokers. Some have specialised and dedicated experts who understand their client’s requirements and operating pressures. Then there are others who are just agents of a franchise and know as much about energy and energy markets as you do about piloting a spacecraft. I met someone recently whose main job is as a freelance training provider but they also act as a broker for a well-known, utility supply franchise. In this instance, they may be able to reduce the cost of supply kWh but it isn’t really in their interests to help clients reduce their consumption. It’s all about commission and acquiring another sale. If you do go to a broker do some research and see whether brokering supply and cost reduction is their main specialism (Linkedin is good for that) rather than ‘something else they do’ and don’t forget to ask about the financial penalties for reducing usage.

Buy in the Summer Time

The best time to buy energy is before January and ideally in the summer months.

Good Housekeeping Counts

Finally, if you are paying your energy costs directly and they are not included in the rental of the premises, remember it is all about good housekeeping. Track your usage, identify and eliminate excess energy waste, make savings through behaviour change, non-negotiable processes and procedures and considered equipment purchases. If you have a simple routine right from day one, then wasting energy is less likely and you won’t need to pay unnecessary costs (which is direct profit) and less Climate Change Levy.

Fuel Poverty and Food Bank Link

The UK has one of the highest levels of housing costs in Europe, while between 2010 and 2013 energy prices for households rose by 37 per cent. This has, according to The Trussell Trust been a major contributing factor to households going hungry and are frequently turning to FoodBank.

Turn2us, a service that helps people with financial difficulties, state that two-fifths or 40% of low income households and nearly half, 47%, of people with disabilities who are on low incomes have had to cut back on food or skip meals, because of difficulties with paying energy bills  - (Turn2us’ Fuel Poverty campaign 2014, a survey of low income households).

Day to Day Living Costs Rise While Wages Fall

Managing energy consumption is increasingly being recognised by business as a necessity but it is equally crucial at home, where rent, mortgage, utility costs, food and general day-to-day living costs have been rising. Meanwhile wages, in real terms, have been at best stagnating and at worst reducing.

Many councils and housing associations have been pro-active and recognised that their tenants are vulnerable and have implemented housing stock energy efficiency improvements, such as cavity wall insulation, UPVC window replacement, upgrades of heating and water systems. In some cases they have taken advantage of the financial incentives in place and installed Solar PV for power or Solar Thermal to heat the water. However not all householders are in this position, they may own their own properties, privately rent or just haven’t had the helping-hand of a council or Housing Association energy efficiency programme.

How much does my Appliance cost me in a year?

What can be done? Well, control and measurement can have a significant impact – reduce your consumption and reduce your costs. However, if you don’t know what you are using, you can’t take effective steps to reduce and prioritise consumption. By measuring, the consumer can make decisions on usage based on how much it might cost.

The table below shows Average consumption of Typical Rated Equipment and Appliances.

*To calculate the cost of usage, multiply the number of units by the per Unit Cost and/or Standing Charge per Unit Cost* *1 Unit = 1 Kilowatt Hour (kWh)*
Kitchen/Utility Room Appliances	Average Unit Consumption per day/per session/per annum
Freezer	About 1 to 1.5 Units per day
Fridge/Freezer	About 1.5 Units per day
Fridge	Less than 1 Unit per day
Dish washer – one full load	About 1.5 Units
Tumble dryer – full load of cottons	About 3.5 Units
Tumble dryer – full load of synthetics	About 2 Units
Washing machine – cottons @ 60C	About 1 Unit
Washing machine – synthetics 40C	Less than 1 Unit
Cooker & hob	1.5 Units average per day
Kettle	1 Unit per 12 pints boiling water
Microwave (850W) 20 mins on full	Less than 0.5 Units per day
Toaster	1 Unit per 60 slices of toast
Other Appliances
Electric blanket	Less than 1 unit, for approximately 1.5 hrs a night for a week
Extractor fan	1 to 2 units per 24 hrs
Hair dryer (500w)	1 Unit per 10/12 Min sessions
Iron	0.5 to 1 unit per hr

Social Landlords: Simplified Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (RHI)

Changes to the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Changes to the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (RHI) have recently been announced. The adjustments have the capacity to remove the barriers to energy efficiency upgrades for some of the most vulnerable consumers in the country.

RHI is a financial incentive scheme encouraging and promoting the installation of heating systems that use naturally replenished energy. It is expected that it will help the UK reduce its carbon emissions and is applicable for both Non- Domestic and Domestic Buildings.

From Spring 2015

From Spring 2015 registered Social Landlords will be able to apply for the RHI Scheme if they have an Energy Performance Certificate which is less than 2 years old. There will no longer be a requirement for a Green Deal Assessment if this criteria is fulfilled.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) states that the reasoning behind the changes is that ‘Social landlords often provide homes for some of the most vulnerable people and by making the RHI more accessible, tenants will enjoy warmer homes and lower bills’.

What’s In It For Me?

The RHI will pay the following tariffs per unit, for energy generated, over the next 7 years.

Technology	Tariff
Air-source heat pumps	7.3p/kWh
Ground and water-source heat pumps	18.8p/kWh
Biomass-only boilers and biomass pellet stoves with integrated boilers	12.2p/kWh
Solar thermal panels (flat plate and evacuated tube for hot water only)	19.2 p/kWh

Source UK gov.uk – Updated Nov 2014

Goodbye Oil, Hello Renewable Energy

The DECC says that 365,000 people live in fuel poverty and a further 2.28 million are in fuel-poor households. A large percentage of those who struggle with fuel costs live in ‘off the gas grid’ properties, relying on oil and electricity to heat their homes.

Additionally, many of these households have to pay up-front fuel costs, through pre-payment electricity meters or oil deliveries. Removing the need for a Green Deal Assessment paves the way for homes to be made warmer and lower heating costs for some of the most vulnerable people.

Barriers to change

Landlords in the rental sector both domestic and non-domestic are still somewhat reluctant to embrace energy efficiency, due to the perceived cost of upfront investment required. A large percentage of the UK rented housing stock is still Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Rated E-G. Private and Commercial tenants often do not have the influence or the appetite to push for property efficiency improvements. There is a thought that if they rock the boat they will be asked to leave. On the other hand, understandably, Landlords think ‘what’s the benefit to me?’ and so do ‘just enough’. Whilst there are many exceptional landlords out there, who understand the importance of energy efficiency in their properties, there are still as many who need to need to be persuaded.

Simplified RHI Funding

Making the RHI funding and improvement process simpler, at least in the Domestic rented sector, should mean only good things for the tenant, the landlord’s property portfolio and the UK’s Carbon Emissions targets.

Energy Management First Steps – Simple Energy Audit

What to consider in a DIY Energy Audit

A simple and useful Energy Audit is a good start to bring together all factors to give you a clear picture of how you consume your energy within your organisation. It’s a bit like being a detective and will identify the Strengths Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to your organisational energy consumption. What you will need to ascertain is:

What Energy is being used at the site
Meter Readings
Site Plans/Building Layout
Location of Sub Meters, Plant Room
Who are the main consumers of Energy (if known)
A list of main plant and equipment, lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and age
What Control Systems are in place
What temperature are your thermostats set to?

Does Energy Consumption Match Day To Day Operations?

If your business is not currently recording and monitoring energy usage you may be able to obtain half-hourly consumption data from your energy supplier. This can show clearly how the energy is being used and from this you can define your optimum required consumption based on occupancy levels or operating shifts and minimise consumption spikes and sporadic uncontrolled energy usage. To maximise the integrity of the data and analysis you will need to know:

Half Hourly consumption data and sub- metering info (where applicable)
The staffing levels for the period, working hours or shift patterns
An understanding of the day to day operations
If available, historical weather conditions and bank-holiday/seasonal shut down dates.

Take a look at the Building

Understanding the building and the management of the in-situ environmental plant, is also crucial to a decent audit. What is the age of the building and is it maintained in good condition. Consider the condition and controls of the environmental plant. The older the systems and the built form for example, then the less energy efficient it will be. Or, if your building has ill- fitting doors or windows, damaged insulation on hot water carrying pipework, possibly single glazing, holes in the external walls and poor insulation then your energy costs will be higher.

Are the Environmental Plant and Controls in Good Condition?

This also applies with the environmental plant, if it isn’t serviced regularly and is as installed in the building on day 1 of operations then the amount of energy consumed, against the benefits to the occupants will be greatly reduced. Just ask yourself, just how many layers of paint are on those radiators and how may room thermostats are sitting next to the print-centre or over a heat source. A simple tip at the end of the day if anything is buzzing, hissing, bleeping, glowing or flashing it is often consuming unnecessary power.

What about Air-Flow?

Also think about air-flow, often we feel think we’re lethargic and tired due to being hot. Often we have seen that it is because air flow has been interrupted within the premises. Over the years, partitions for meeting rooms and offices may have been installed which has blocked the free flow of fresh air.

Speak To The People

Also speak with the employees often they know where energy can be saved because they work with it day to day. Their behaviours and housekeeping impact energy consumption massively, there is a train of thought that most buildings are energy efficient until you introduce people. The users also know that, really, the setting they may have on their workstation is always ‘in that position’ not because it is the most efficient setting but because ‘they can’t be bothered to adjust it’ or waste the time ‘turning it on or off’.

Simple Steps = Savings

If you start your energy auditing journey with these simple considerations, you will start to take control of your consumption and start making measurable reductions. It is a key part of the strong foundations for a robust energy management system and can provide meaningful data for a more in-depth and detailed study which will return more substantial consumption savings and carbon reduction.

Make Simple Changes, Save Money on your Domestic Energy Utility Bill – We Have!

Changing how we use our domestic electricity saved £278

Today we found out that we’d saved £278 pounds on our domestic quarterly energy bill through changing the way we use it within our home. We live in a property which does not have mains gas. We don’t have oil and instead run our heating and water from an Air-Source heat pump. Whilst this technology is deemed energy efficient it is certainly more costly to run than with a Ground-source Heat-Pump as we don’t have solar thermal or solar PV as an to generate electricity or provide hot water.

Don’t just change tariff

We have been in the property for 2½ years, it is a 500 year old barn conversion and has a high standard of insulation and glazing. However our monthly electric bill was still £555pcm. We have taken steps to fix our energy prices but are keenly aware that the price we are paying now will most likely be increased when we renegotiate our terms and conditions in 12 months and we wanted to see how much energy we could save and what, more importantly, the impact would be on our purses.

Steps to save domestic energy

We decided that we would put into practice what we preach and start to change the way were using the energy at home, so what did we do?

We turned the heating off in rooms which are unoccupied – if we have visitors we will turn the heating back on, it only takes an hour for it to get up to temperature
We turned unnecessary lights of – our home no longer looks like the titanic beaming out over the dark Bedfordshire countryside.
We heat the house to temperature in the early hours – our heating system is like a large storage heater, it is designed to release its heat throughout the day. So we heat the required rooms between 3am and 6am, when electricity is cheap.
We adjusted the room thermostats to reflect times of occupancy. We have programmed a boost period for those rooms where we spend most time in the evenings (sitting room and sons’ bedrooms) No longer is our thermostat programmed to heat the room from 4pm to 9pm, it is set to warm when we are in the room and switch off an hour before we go to bed.
We reduced the room-stat temperatures by between 1 and 3 degrees. Our halls are now heated at 19 Degree’s which is perfectly adequate, not to mention our boys’ rooms are set at 2 degrees cooler since they have the normal teenager electronic gadgetry in there which increases the temperature in their room space.
We put Hot Water on once a day – we get our hot water through an immersion heater. It now comes on once a day between 4am and 6am when it is time for cheap electricity. If we want a shower we manually switch on the hot water system, it takes about 15 mins to get to temperature.
We invested in draft excluders. This stops the warmth escaping through the external doors. We have also used them to seal bottom of the internal doors in empty rooms, to stop cold air escaping and hot air leaking in.
We now ensure all appliances, except for fridges and freezers, are switched off at the mains at night.
We shut the curtains at night, they act as a barrier for heat escaping through the glass.
10. We bought family onesies! – who needs heating when you’ve got your Wolf, Monkey, Skeleton or Reindeer all-in-one?

Energy savings, equal 20% of bill, don’t ‘worry’ make the change.

So over a 3 month period we have saved just under 20% of our house hold energy bill through changing our behaviour. Our own Gebs Energy Survey showed that, despite recent energy price increases and growing concern, most of our respondents had not taken any steps to reduce the way they consumed energy in their homes. Using our experience as an example we can honestly say there are some great savings to be had.

If you don’t do any other Energy Management, do this – it will save you money!

Ask for your consumption data from your Energy Supplier

The simplest and most basic way to begin to manage your energy consumption is to monitor your usage levels from your meter readings. Many business premises will have a meter which sends consumption data to your supplier. Requesting your data from them will allow you to identify your average consumption patterns, your lowest running rate and your highest kWh consumption. More importantly, it will allow you to identify where energy is being wasted. For example, if the heating or cooling is operating outside of work hours, or plant has been left running on high when production is at its lowest, then it will be identifiable through the consumption data. Whilst gas suppliers can currently give us a daily overview, data direct from your electricity supplier is more useful, as increasingly commercial premises have meters which download consumption information half-hourly.

How much energy do we really need to use?

In many organisations, energy consumption is a fixed cost, a necessary overhead and traditionally we have paid the bills and thought nothing of it. However, in this age of volatile and ever rising energy costs, we don’t want to stick our heads in the sand and ignore the fact that we don’t actually know what we use, where, and whether it’s being wasted. For example, we have heard from a well-respected energy manager who, through analysis of consumption data for a hospital laundry, identified high levels of usage out of hours. Their normal operating days were Monday to Thursday. To the shock of the Hospital Management, consumption analysis showed clearly that as well as the normal Mon-Thur consumption, the laundry was operating, and consuming, Sat-Sun as well. Investigations showed that a member of staff there had a profitable side-line going; they’d been using the facilities to launder football kit from a local Saturday League for at least 3 years.

Simple Spreadsheets can show wasted energy

Whilst this sort of occurrence tends to be an exception rather than the norm, it does highlight that commercial energy consumption has historically been seen as a necessary but relatively insignificant overhead, justifying little management attention. Ever-increasing costs mean it can no longer be ignored, next to staff costs it is the second highest financial liability, and in some energy intensive industries, the single biggest operational cost. A simple excel spreadsheet can graph your consumption levels, making it easier to identify where there is unexpected or wasted energy consumption. In our experience, every client has had some sporadic or unplanned energy consumption, out of working hours, that could be minimised through simple steps.

Identify your significant energy users and consumers, start to forecast consumption

For those who want to put in place more sophisticated controls, sub metering of significant users and highest consumers is the next step. This means that specific energy management can be undertaken and forecasting can be effected. There are some great bits of software out which track consumption, align it with the electronic building management systems (BMS) and monitor specific and significant consumers within the business, sending alerts to flag up unplanned consumption. Some software, linked to BMS or standalone units, can control lighting, heating, cooling, water temperature and other building functions, allowing a level of control and management which will ensure all energy consumed within the building is controlled and accounted for.

Try the simple things first, look at your consumption data

Back to basics though, if just want to make a start and simply better manage your consumption, through analysis of your usage, taking regular meter readings or obtaining regular data from your energy supplier is the first step. If you take measures to minimise the excess usage, or just reduce the consumption spikes out of hours, it’s this information that it will make a practical difference – and who knows, once you’ve seen the benefits you might want to install a more robust and comprehensive Energy Management System.

Good Energy Habits and Savings Begin With Observation

Take a Good Look, It Might Just Save You Money

Many of us spend at least 40 hours, 5 days a week at our place of work. That might be an office, school, hospital, warehouse, factory, shop etc. Day in, day out, we traipse to and from our desks and workstations, with our thoughts on what we did the evening before, the children, our partners, plans for the weekend, the rotten journey or parking situation.

We may be thinking about the weather and probably what is in store for us in the day ahead. Lots going on mentally in the journey but when was the last time we actually considered the physical site we work in?

What Might You See?

It is fascinating to look at the actual premises with a purpose in mind. It can provide vital clues and quick fixes to help reduce our energy costs. So for a change, on any day, take a step back and really look at the building, you will probably see, at least one or more of the following:

Lights on in empty spaces or on a bright day
Windows open whether it is a hot or cold day and often despite
aircon or heating
External doors left or propped open
Fire Exits propped open
Loading bay doors propped open
Skylights and windows dirty
Windows and doors, ill fitting or broken
External walls with holes in them
Air-con units covered in dirt and debris
Security Lights stuck ‘on’ in broad daylight
Pipes dripping

Every Kilowatt Hour Counts

Whilst there may only be a few of the above list which are relevant to your particular place of work, any of these examples can account for wasted kWh, which equals unnecessary cost and carbon tax. If you are a multi-site business, and if this is replicated across your organisation, then the cost to your business will naturally increase proportionately.

Switch Off – Turn Off

A simple solution to help minimise unplanned energy consumption is to put in place basic shut down and close down routines. Our businesses will benefit from each and every employee following a ‘switch-off, turn-off’ plan at the end of their day, operations permitting.

To ensure that it given the necessary importance, it can be embedded within an individual’s role and responsibilities. Energy ownership can be as prescriptive as required, especially if that individual has responsibility for large consuming processes. However, in most cases, a general statement about energy management is sufficient.

End of Day Routines Make a Difference

Expanding this idea, we have found that including a walk-round routine at the end of the day, by a designated individual who can observe and note unnecessary consumption, works very well. They might take steps to eliminate it there and then or, if it is more complex, start the process of a review leading to consumption reduction.

Take Action, Don’t Ignore It

Mind you, there has to be a robust and timely action and resolution process in place. I’m sure we can all agree that there is nothing more frustrating and disheartening than identifying a problem, using the formal reporting process as has been requested, then waiting weeks before the problem is rectified, if at all. Imagine how annoying and disheartening it would be a person in one part of your building to be continuously having to turn off lights in another part of the building because those in the relevant Department are wilfully ignoring the company line without consequence.

Good Energy Habits and Savings Begin With Observation

Good Energy saving habits begin with observation, how are we currently wasting our resources? Where are we wasting it? What can we do differently? Observation is free and can be done by everyone and, if it is, then energy saving becomes everyone’s responsibility. In summary when energy consumption is owned by the individual then more kWh are saved.

Are We Prepared For Our Energy Winter?

Winter 2012 -2013

The harvest this year has been a late one around our offices. After an unexpectedly long, wet and cold winter, which started in late August 2012 and ran through relentlessly until June 2013, the farmers locally have just finished combining and bringing in their bailed straw and wheat. I think last year’s protracted Winter-conditions took them by surprise, just like the rest of us.

Every scrap of stored hay and straw in the barns adjacent to us was used for animal feed and bedding, even the old and very poor quality stuff that had laid there for years to plug holes in the barn sides. Towards the end of the winter, the farmhands were even sweeping up the loose bits on the floor of the barn. There was also a marked increase in the cost of hay and straw, due to the gradually reducing supply and inevitable increased demand.

Be Prepared

This year, it looks like the livestock holders are prepared for the worst. More fields have been bailed, rather than ploughed-under, and our barns are now stuffed to the edges with bedding and feed stores.

Taken Our Energy Supply for Granted?

By comparison have we, in our businesses, been complacent and taken for granted our energy supply? For many years we have used our gas, electricity and oil with little thought to the on-going cost or the fact that it is a finite resource. But have we made enough hay whilst the sun shone?

Energy Winter

Our businesses have, metaphorically at least, also presumed upon a short winter and adequate supplies of hay. Increasingly though, Experts and Authorities believe that we are now at the beginning of our ‘Energy Winter’ and its going to be a long one.

Dwindling Resources, Increased Demand

The global demands on already dwindling resources are being increased as the standard of living and industrialisation rises elsewhere in the world. That’s where the analogy fails us. The energy barn is big, but it is not infinite and there is no foreseeable “new harvest” coming through, no chance to correct the failed assumptions of the previous year.

Too Late To Take Control?

With this in mind, are we too late to take control and mitigate those increasing kWh costs? The answer has to be a resounding No! Rather than a desperate floundering scatter-gun approach to managing consumption though, we need to be considered and plan our energy management strategy, make realistic changes to our working practices, understand how, when and why we use our energy, monitor and create energy targets and objectives, start forecasting and planning consumption, steering clear of knee jerk spending but making sure energy usage is relevant and applicable to all.

Understand, Plan Forecast & Prioritise

Understanding the business’ consumption patterns, measuring and monitoring your usage, allows the business to forecast and plan energy requirements based on variables such as the outside temperatures or degree days, your workflow, to name but a few, all relevant to the organisation. This will allow the organisation to prioritise and minimise usage and consumption at times of unexpected need and unplanned necessity.

A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH

We are lucky enough to have the GEBS office across a courtyard, next to our house. Often, when I am called away, I admit I may leave my PC on – but do return to switch it off later. However, with the PC only being 6 months old, I have not been overly concerned as after a period of idleness it shuts itself right down into an ‘off’ state.

I knew it was energy efficient when I bought it, as the badge told me that this piece of kit has all sorts of energy saving credentials (part of the reason we chose it) and so our routine is at the end of the day after shutting down the IT equipment, we close the window shutters and alarm the office. However since summer we have, on occasion, left the shutters open…and here is my tale.

TWINKLE, TWINKLE LITTLE LAMP

After 11pm, when we have taken our dogs out for their last walk of the day, through the office window, I sometimes see a light emanating from my desk. As there’s the possibility that I may have not actually switched my PC off, merely put it in eco-saving mode, I normally ask one of my boys to do me a favour and go over to turn it off. Which, after negotiation on the price of said favour, they have done.

However the boys have been in the US for a few weeks and seeing the little light, I have been going over to make sure the PC is off and not consuming kWh of electricity (you have to practice what you preach) but, to my great surprise each time, I have looked back over to the office there is a little white light winking merrily in the darkness. A few times in the early hours, the thought of the light has been aggravating, so frustratingly I have gone back over to the office to find the PC is logged off and turned off. Nevertheless to be sure each time I have restarted and closed down again ‘just in case’, but still, when I look back at the office, from the main house, I can still see this little white light gleaming at me, taunting me through the darkness.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS CHECK THE OBVIOUS

I must admit it has been challenging me every evening for about a fortnight. I have checked everything except my state of the art energy friendly computer. I have disconnected peripherals, even down to unplugging them from the mains and in the main house done the same for TV’s, DVD’s and Games Systems that might be reflecting in the window of the office making me think it is the PC (despite their lights being bright red and green, not gleaming white). However nothing has stopped the glow emanating from my desk.

So last night I decided to check the PC thoroughly, which I’d previously ignored, you know, the one with a list of Energy Saving credentials as long as your arm. What did I see? Well there is the tiniest of holes in the back of the display and yes, to my annoyance, shining brightly underneath this minute opening is my irritating and kWh-consuming light. While the PC is ‘off’, there are internal components drawing electricity from the mains to power this little light and I am fairly sure it is not the only light on under the case.

ENERGY SAVING EQUIPMENT MAY NOT BE ALL IT SEEMS

A while ago I was told by a told by a PC engineer that older electrical equipment had little lamps in their circuitry to help diagnose any problems, but, these lamps where being phased out, to ensure the unit was as energy efficient as possible. So I must deduce, given the fact that my PC is less than 6 months old and has an energy saving pedigree with award stickers plastered all over over it (including the start up screen), that unwanted lamps are not completely a thing of the past. So from now on I will turn my PC off at the mains each evening as well as the peripherals.

WHAT’S GLOWING IN YOUR OFFICE?

Spare a thought, however, for large commercial offices who may have got the message across to ‘log-off’ & ‘switch-off’. There may well still be little gleaming circuits shining brightly in the darkness, safe under their cases and, whilst it might be only small amounts of energy consumed per unit, magnifying this over all of the kit and peripherals may add up to a significant amount of unnecessary consumption. The message maybe should be ‘log-off’ ‘power-off’ or, to take the burden of remembering from the user, install centralised ‘power-off’ equipment to ensure nothing is able to feed the lamps glowing merrily and, mostly at least, unseen in the darkness.

ENERGY MANAGEMENT ROADMAP

An Energy Management Roadmap?

A map, a route, a pen picture, a plan, a strategy. If you build a house, would you get an assortment of bricks, timber and roof tiles then just throw them together and hope for the best? When you go away on a trip, do you just set off and hope you get to your destination?

A Project with out a Plan?

And how about business Projects? If you don’t know what you are trying to do, how will you know when you have done it? If you don’t know where you started from, how far have you come and far is there still to go? How do you know your business is doing the right things, the things that offer the greatest return for the effort?

Don’t ‘Just Do It’

Nike has a slogan ‘Just Do It’ and we’ve seen “Energy Specialists” urging customers to ‘Take Action’ forget about the Consultants report. However a good consultants report should provide you with a plan to succeed, deliverables and choices that ensure the biggest positive impact for your spend. It is also a starting point for you to decide whether you have the capabilities in-house to do what’s necessary or to identify what help you need to make those gains.

Energy Audits, a Stake In The Ground

Every experienced Energy Management Consultant knows that the Energy Audit is the first step to managing consumption costs. It is proposed that the Energy Audit will be a NON-NEGOTIABLE action, under proposed EU Law. It is also a key part to implementing ISO50001:2011 Energy Management Systems, which may give exemptions from parts of EU legislation. These proposals will legally require a company to submit Energy Reports and without an Energy Audit you could face legal repercussions and fines; you would certainly not be eligible for ISO50001 certification.  Even without that, it makes sense to have one though. You see an Energy Audit has inherent value of its own. It brings together in one place your businesses energy profile. It identifies what types of energy you are using, how it is paid for and how you are currently consuming it. It looks at the technology in-situ, its age, its efficiency, operating times, condition, current and potential efficiency and whether it is well maintained including any service records.

Buildings, Lighting, Ventilation, Heating, Controls, HVAC

A thorough Energy Audit takes into consideration your premises, your occupancy times, how it’s maintained and what condition it’s in e.g. poorly insulated pipes, dirty skylights and windows, holes in the walls, broken windows. It looks at how the environmental and lighting systems are controlled, when they were last serviced or upgraded and what controls are in place.

Not just the wastage but the good consumption patterns.

From analyzing half-hourly consumption, the findings of a good and comprehensive Energy Audit should identify where energy is managed well and where there is wastage and suggest practical steps to make change and provide cost-effective solutions to reduce consumption. It is the turning point, the Vanguard for change and energy efficiency.

Due Diligence and a Viable Business Case

If a double-glazing Salesman turned up at your front door and promised you an instant solution to your growing domestic energy costs, purely by replacing your windows, you’d be dubious. Even if the double-glazing was a good price and you had the money, you would still want to consider whether it might be better spent on solar panels, a replacement boiler, new radiators, roof insulation etc. On reflection, you may not need to spend anything, perhaps you just need to find a cheaper tariff or turn the heating off in the rooms you don’t use or when you are out.

The point is, you would ensure you had properly analysed the situation and formed a clear idea of what would yield the best results before you started, certainly before you spent any money. Why should it be any different at work?

Energy Audits Have Value

Surely it’s inconceivable that a well managed and mature business would consider a programme of significant change requiring substantial capital expenditure on the word of a travelling salesman, without the necessary supporting business case and due diligence? Take Action, Forget about the Energy Audit and Consultants report? You’re not going to do that, are you?

Take Control Of Your Commercial Energy Supply

What To Consider:

Fuel Poverty and Food Bank Link

Fuel Poverty and Food Bank Link

Day to Day Living Costs Rise While Wages Fall

How much does my Appliance cost me in a year?

Social Landlords: Simplified Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (RHI)

Changes to the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

From Spring 2015

What’s In It For Me?

Goodbye Oil, Hello Renewable Energy

Barriers to change

Simplified RHI Funding

Energy Management First Steps – Simple Energy Audit

Make Simple Changes, Save Money on your Domestic Energy Utility Bill – We Have!

If you don’t do any other Energy Management, do this – it will save you money!

Good Energy Habits and Savings Begin With Observation

Are We Prepared For Our Energy Winter?

A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

ENERGY MANAGEMENT ROADMAP

About Gebs

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