Reduce your consumption
The first thing to consider is reducing the amount of energy you use, all businesses can take simple steps to do this and of course doing so will reduce your costs. Here’s a few ideas:
Insulate office spaces to reduce power consumption
Choose equipment with lower power consumption
Turn equipment off when not in use – smart devices might help you do this
Use natural light whenever possible and replace old style lightbulbs with LEDs.
Ensure boilers and heating systems are regularly serviced so they are running efficiently.
Chose a renewable energy provider
Do your research, don’t get taken in by ‘Greenwash’, work with companies that were set up with environmental credentials at their heart, not bolted on some Green initiatives to be ‘on trend’.
There are a few different companies to choose from who offer 100% of their electricity from zero-carbon sources. Most of these have app-based account management and may offer paperless billing by default, further reducing your energy and paper use.
New Leaf use a 100% renewable energy provider Octopus Energy For the last two years they have been awarded by The Renewable Energy Association for being ‘the company that’s done the most to advance UK renewables’.
Octopus Energy make it easier for your company to get into Solar micro-generation. Having launched Panel Power, Octopus Energy have also become the first UK energy company to offer an export tariff for businesses, so they’ll pay you to generate your own solar energy by paying you for what you export to the grid.
Monitor and measure your energy use
Did you know it makes a difference when you use electricity? You can avoid using power during the daily energy ‘rush hour’ (between 4pm to 7pm) so no extra fossil fuels have to be called upon to meet the high demand. You can use timers and smart equipment so processes that use a lot of power can be carried out in the middle of the night, not the middle of the afternoon.
At New Leaf we will also soon be able to measure our energy use much more efficiently as Octopus will soon be supplying us with a second generation (SMETS2) smart meter. This will send our usage information automatically, saving visits from meter readers. Plus the smart display will monitoring the energy we’re using and show how much it costs, in near real time in pounds and pence, and kilowatt hours (kWh). This will help us identify where we can cut back our energy use and costs, becoming even more efficient.
Generating your own renewable energy
You can also look at generating your own renewable energy, by installing solar panels, wind turbines and other forms of electricity generating equipment on your properties and using it to power your operations.
Probably the easiest and most cost effective options for the average business are solar panels for electricity generation and solar heating for hot water.
Other more site specific options are:
- Wind energy.
- Air source heat pumps.
- Biomass systems.
- Solar heating.
- Hydroelectric systems
Consider getting a Business Renewable Energy Site Survey to help you determine the best renewable solution for your business. Bear in mind there may be planning considerations too.
There’s a great guide to the different options for small and medium sized businesses here:
https://bionic.co.uk/business-energy/guides/guide-to-renewable-energy-for-small-businesses/
The benefits of renewable energy for your business
Although generating your own renewable energy will involve equipment and installation costs and will take several years before you see a return on your investment, besides reducing your carbon emissions and your energy bill there may be other benefits:
- You may be able to earn another income selling electricity back to the grid.
- You will find it easier to plan your energy use.
- Reducing energy use helps you meet carbon reduction targets.
- Exemption from the Climate Change Levy (CCL).
- Access to energy subsidies – exclusively for businesses that use less energy.
Who knows what will happen in the future? If you are generating your own power your energy costs will remain stable, while energy from fossil fuels rockets in price, is limited or is restricted altogether.
Whatever you do to make sure you shout about it to your customers and stakeholders, it will improve your business reputation and hopefully encourage others to do the same. Get your staff on board too, finding ways to reduce energy use at work and at home.
New Leaf was founded to create the space that would enable people to flourish by overcoming the issues that can affect their working life, their relationships, personal well-being and the ability to contribute positively to their community. Read more here.
