With energy efficiency becoming a huge focus for the UK government, homeowners and businesses are increasingly looking for ways to not only save money on energy costs, but to help reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint.
Businesses of all sizes tend to use more energy throughout the day, whether you work in an office and have computers running all day, or in a factory with machinery constantly consuming energy. Just changing a few key things around your commercial building can improve energy efficiency, so take a look at our useful guide below to discover how you can make your building more efficient.
If you have any questions about energy efficiency and the best way to create energy efficient buildings, get in touch with our team. We have over 15 years of experience in the energy industry so we have a wealth of knowledge that will help you to cut your energy usage and carbon footprint.
How to know if your building is inefficient
If you think that your commercial building has energy wastage, but aren’t quite sure, there are a couple of telltale signs that you can look for:
- The building doesn’t maintain a regular, comfortable temperature
- You can feel cold spots around the building
These two signs show you that heat and air are being lost from somewhere in the building. If you’re worried about lost energy and making energy savings, having air tightness tests or thermographic tests undertaken on your premises should be your next step.
Combined, these tests will detect any places in the building where heat and air is being lost from and provide you with recommendations to fix this and make the building more efficient.
Ways to make your commercial building more energy efficient
ENERGY STAR LABELED PRODUCTS
The Energy Star rating certifies that electrical products are energy efficient and save energy compared to others when in use. There are a huge range of products that can be certified by the Energy Star scheme, these include:
- Refrigerators
- Lightbulbs
- Air conditioners
- Commercial dishwashers
- Computers
- Televisions
A lot of money in energy bills and energy saving can be done by switching over to these far more efficient products, for example, an Energy Star rated computer can use up to 65% less energy than non-certified computers. This can make a huge difference to your energy usage and save you a lot of money in the long run, especially if you have a large number of staff.
INSULATION
One of the main ways to improve the energy efficiency of any building is to improve insulation. Insulation makes the building far more air tight, which reduces heat and energy loss.
Not only does this save you money and improve your carbon footprint, it can help to make the environment a better all round temperature for staff. This can help to improve productivity and morale, as staff aren’t suffering with being too hot or too cold.
LED LIGHTING
LED lighting is one of the quickest and cheapest ways to improve the energy consumption in your commercial buildings. Replacing incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs can reduce your energy consumption by 75%.
As commercial buildings tend to have lighting on for long periods of time throughout the day, replacing the bulbs with something more efficient can make a huge difference to your energy bill.
HEATING CONTROLS
Having smart heating controls that allow you to adjust the temperature quickly and easily to avoid usage when it isn’t needed will make a huge difference to your energy consumption and cut energy costs.
Either putting the heating on a timer, based on when it tends to be colder during the day or having a thermostat that detects when the temperature is below a certain temperature will help to reduce energy use and bills. Air conditioning also contributes to your buildings energy use and should only be used when required on hotter days.
GLAZING
Windows tend to be a major culprit in energy loss, so ensuring you have the most efficient windows that you can for your budget will ensure you aren’t losing energy unnecessarily in your commercial building.
Replacing any old, inefficient windows you have with double glazed windows will ensure your building will stay cooler during warmer months and keep heat in during the cold, winter months. In listed buildings, installing new windows will need approval from your local council and comply with building regulations as they may require planning permission.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Introducing renewable energy measures such as solar panels or air source heat pumps can help to reduce your energy costs and lower your carbon emissions by quite a lot. As well as this, there are a lot of government schemes which give you a potential income from extra energy or heat generated by your renewable sources.
Get in touch
Want to find out more about how to improve the energy efficiency of your commercial building and reduce emissions? Or want to arrange for air tightness testing or thermographic testing to be completed on your building? Then get in touch with us on 01403 253439 and we’d be happy to assess your commercial building and get it working more efficiently.