Either way, here are the top 10 smart ways to make your office energy-efficient. 1. Energy Star appliances The first thing you should do is invest in new office appliances. Your printers, office kitchen appliances like refrigerators, ovens, microwaves, etc. are just some of the things that you need to upgrade in order to save energy. Ideally, you would look for appliances labeled with Energy Star, which gives you a chance to boost the energy-efficiency of the place without investing too much effort into optimizing the inventory of your office. 2. Green hosting One way or another, your business is going to need a website and a website needs a host. So, where does the energy-efficient part come into all of this? First of all, you can always opt for green hosting. This means that A) hardware that runs these servers runs on energy-efficient principles and B) that it has its own source of renewable energy. Either way, you get to know that you’re definitely making a difference. Also, due to the fact that green hosting isn’t really more expensive (for the user) than traditional hosting, you can do this just for the sake of reducing the carbon footprint of your business. 3. BYOD system This is one of the most outside-of-the-box methods of saving energy in the office, seeing as how people coming to your office with their own laptops and tablets aren’t going to bring them at low battery percentage and then just plug them in straight away. This means that the bulk of charging is done at their personal expense. From the perspective of eco-friendliness, this doesn’t really make that much of a difference, however, when it comes to the issue of energy-efficiency and your power bill, this can make quite a difference. Still, a BYOD system requires tough security oversight. 4. Wall-mounted solar chargers Speaking of energy-efficient charging, one of the things you could do is invest in a sufficient number of wall-mounted solar chargers. What this means is that you get a completely green and energy-friendly to help your staff handle their mountable devices and place them on windows across the office floor. This is a clean, simple and elegant solution to all your problems. First of all, it resolves the question of charging in the most energy-efficient manner possible. Second, it gives you a chance to resolve the issue of appliance charging in the office once and for all. 5. Improve the insulation of the place One more thing worth mentioning is the fact that heating and cooling down the place consumes the most energy in the place. What this also means is that by improving the insulation, you get to save a fortune on the insulation of the place. The most heat leaves through the roof, the walls, the windows and the attic. By tending properly to each of these issues, you can substantially cut down the amount of energy needed to keep the place warm or cool. The very last thing you need to take into consideration is the fact that if you’re in a leased office space, you might not have the permission to perform these works. So, try to pick the right place instead. 6. Fix your air conditioner Previously, we’ve talked about the heating and the cooling down of your office space as the two of the biggest expenses that exist out there. This is why you need to ensure that your air conditioner is in its prime shape. First of all, it’s not your intention to just save money. To do this, you would just turn it off and be done with it, however, what would this do to the productivity, morale and health of your employees? Would it pay off? Of course not. So, set the optimal temperature for office work, and find someone reliable to maintain your AC unit. You can start by using your browser and simply ask it to – look for air condition services near me. Then, you check out the company and reach out to them. 7. Invest in a smart thermostat The next thing you need to think of is the heating of the place. Now, we’ve already discussed the way in which insulation makes this simpler but what you also have to do is partially automate the process. The best way to do this is to invest in a smart thermostat. What this does is gives you the privilege to automate the heating of the place. You can put it into an energy-saving mode, which gives you a chance to have the appliance do all the saving in your stead without you even having to lift a finger. 8. Improve the lighting situation The next place where you can save some money is the lighting situation. All you need to do is go with LED both for your regular lighting and your task lights. You see LED spends 4 to 8 times less power than its incandescent counterpart. Second, an average incandescent bulb lasts between 1,000 and 2,000 work hours, while an LED bulb lasts between 25,000 and 50,000 hours. This means that it produces 25 to 50 times less waste, as well as the fact that you can just install it and completely forget about it for years to come. 9. Install solar panels It goes without saying that the simplest way for you to increase energy-efficiency of the place is to make an investment in solar panels. This helps you create your own source of energy, thus creating a steady return for the years to come. Benefits that come from this are so numerous that it’s hard to even list them all. First, the technology has advanced so far that these panels may pay themselves off a lot sooner than those from years back. Second, with modern batteries, you can get much more value from this system. Finally, if you have a traditional roof (not the flat roof that the majority of commercial places have), you can opt for Tesla’s solar shingles. 10. Educate your employees The fit-out of your office can only do as much, the rest is up to how your team uses this equipment. What you need to do in order to start doing is educating your employees about their behavior and energy use. Teach them to put their devices in a sleep mode when they go to take a break and ensure that they do the same with the majority of electrical appliances. The bigger your staff, the bigger the impact this will have, which is why it needs to be a top priority. In conclusion As you can see, your options are quite numerous, which means that you should either choose amongst them or combine them in any way you see fit. All in all, whichever of the two you decide to opt for you get to drastically improve your business. This means that there is no way for you to get it all wrong. Overall, it’s up to you to make an effort to make the office energy-efficient.
Author bio:
Alexis is a Sydney-based part-time writer and a full-time mom of two. Her words carry the richness of her travelling and parenting adventures, offer advice and inspiration to those who desire to improve their lives. Outside of the office, she takes pleasure in spending precious time with her youngsters and absorbing the happiness they constantly radiate.
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