Office Energy

Did you know you could cut energy costs by up to 20 per cent by employing easy measures
that may not cost anything?

This fact sheet can help you to identify the areas where you can save money and energy in the office. These changes can also improve working conditions, so it’s a win-win situation.

Energy wasting hot spots

Want to know where you can start saving energy in the office? This useful chart gives you a good idea of areas to watch out for. The main areas you should look at are: air conditioning, heating, office equipment and lighting. 

Heating, cooling and hot water: 45 per cent
Lighting: 22 per cent
Office equipment: 18 per cent
Other electricals: 10 per cent
Catering: 5 per cent

Air conditioning

Air conditioning can double an office’s energy costs, so its use should be given careful consideration. Here are some points to consider:

• One at a time. Avoid simultaneously cooling and heating your office. You can achieve this by setting the air conditioning to come on only when the temperature reaches 24°C for example, while adjusting your heating system to switch off when the temperature gets above 19°C. Setting a “deadband” improves efficiency by ensuring heating and cooling systems do not operate simultaneously. 
• Regular maintenance of cooling equipment is essential, as the energy consumed will increase significantly if there are faults. To ensure your air conditioning is always working in peak condition, schedule frequent visits from a maintenance engineer.

Heating

Heating accounts for a large proportion of your total energy bill, so there are significant savings to be made:

• Stop heat escaping. Check that your roof is well insulated and that there are no draughts around windows and doors, to reduce the amount of heat loss from the building. 
• Turn it down. Did you know that by turning down your heating by just 1°C can reduce your energy bill by around 8 per cent every year? The recommended temperature for offices work is 21–23°C. 
• Keep it closed. Avoid opening doors or windows when the heating or air conditioning is on. If it does get too hot, inform the person responsible for the heating system, rather than opening a window. Then the heating or cooling can be adjusted to a more comfortable temperature.

For more detailed information on heating, see the Heating Guide. 

Office equipment

Office equipment is one of the fastest growing areas of energy use. Here are a number of simple actions you can take to reduce costs:

• Activate energy saving features. Most office equipment, including PCs, monitors, faxes and printers, will have these; so make sure they’re activated.
• Turn it off. A simple seven-day timer on shared equipment, such as printers, vending machines and water coolers, will ensure that they’re not left on overnight or at weekends. These are relatively cheap to buy and can save up to 70 per cent on energy costs.

Lighting

Did you know lighting often accounts for around 15 per cent - 25 per cent of an office’s energy bill? The good news is you can reduce this cost simply:

• Make good use of natural daylight. It costs nothing, and reduces your lighting costs by up to 20 per cent. 
• Staff awareness is the key to lowering costs. Encourage staff to turn lights off whenever and wherever they’re not needed. This will help to cut the office electricity bill.
• Switch to LED. The best lights on the market are now LEDs with a brighter output, better colour range and longer life. By replacing incandescent, halogen and fluorescent lighting with LED, energy saving can be achieved. It is commonplace to reduce lighting energy consumption by more than 50 per cent when moving from traditional light sources to LEDs.  

For more detailed information on lighting, see the Lighting Guide. 

Take Action

Start saving energy today.

Allocate responsibility to a member of staff or small team who can drive forward energy saving measures, like these:

1. Find out how much your office is spending on energy. This gives you a base figure to monitor the success of energy saving measures.
2. Check heating and cooling controls to ensure they are set at the appropriate temperatures.
3. Prepare a list of good housekeeping measures, including simple actions such as turning off lights and equipment. 
4. Compile an energy checklist. Walk round your office, and complete a checklist at different times of day (including lunchtimes and after working hours) to identify where energy savings can be made. 
5. Start raising awareness today. The Energy Saving Trust has plenty of posters and stickers that will motivate your staff to take simple energy saving measures. 

For more detailed information on energy management, see the Energy Management Guide.