Energy Efficiency

Energy Efficiency

Climate Change Business Toolkit: Overview

On Site Generation

Energy efficiency means using only what you need and minimising any waste. This section is focused on the following areas:

Behavioural
Lighting
Insulation and Heat Retention
Heating
Hot Water
Appliances

Behavioural

Before you begin to spend money on new equipment, it is important to consider where your business can save money through behavioural modifications. The blue line at the top of the graph illustrates how your current usage might look throughout the year (with more being used in the winter and less in the summer). It is always possible to reduce your consumption, although there is a minimum amount of energy that you must use for your business to operate. This is represented by the orange line on the bottom of the graph.

Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to reduce your energy consumption down to this minimum. To accomplish this, you’d need to only heat and light areas which are occupied, and only when they are occupied. Nothing could ever be left switched on longer than it is absolutely necessary, and you’d need every single member of staff to enthusiastically get on board with your energy saving campaign. Very few businesses will have the time and energy to implement something as ambitious as this.

However, the grey line in the middle represents a more reasonable target. The practical minimum energy use for your business. This takes into account the fact that we are human and will inevitably make mistakes. Sometimes the heating is turned up too high or lights are left on too long, and while this should be minimised it can never be realistically eliminated.

This toolkit provides some ideas on how to reduce your energy consumption in different areas of your business without spending anything or spending very much at all. These tips and ideas are can be found in each section of the toolkit.

Creep

Creep is something that occurs after a business has installed a new efficient technology – for example solar panels or LED lighting. As staff become aware of the new technology, they can sometimes become lax in their energy best practice. You may sometimes hear a phrase like: “These lights are more efficient, so it doesn’t matter if we leave them on longer” or “We have solar now, so it doesn’t matter if we waste energy as its free”

There is some truth to these statements. LEDs are more efficient, so leaving them on in unoccupied areas does waste less electricity than fluorescent fittings. However, it does still waste electricity which you have to pay for! Creep is sometimes responsible for not seeing the expected savings on your energy bills.

It is therefore important to maintain behavioural energy awareness campaigns once new technologies are installed.

Lighting

Behavioural

Keep windows clean – Dirty windows mean less daylight getting into your building, which means the lights will be needed more often. Make sure there is a cleaning schedule in place to maximise the natural light that gets into your building.
Keep light fittings clean – dust and dead insects inside light fittings will reduce the amount of light given off by your fittings. Clean out light fittings periodically to maximise the illumination given off by your lights and to ensure workspaces are adequately lit.
Put up stickers/signs reminding staff to switch out lights – a simple sticker near the exit or light switch can help to remind your staff to switch off lights as they leave. This can be as simple as a sticker that says “Please turn out the lights” or it could be a glow in the dark poster which calculates the cost of leaving lights on to illustrate to staff why this best practice is important!
Label Your Light Switches – sometimes, members of staff would like to help to keep energy costs down but do not feel confident switching off lights – this is especially true when a fitting has a dozen or more switches which operate lights throughout the building. Some employees will worry that turning off the wrong lights might incur the wrath of their colleagues. A clearly labelled light switch, or a diagram next to it which explains which switches operate which lights, can help give staff the confidence to switch off lights.
Make lighting part of your opening and closing routines
Before you open each day, staff will need arrive for their shifts and to set up. In some cases, lighting is switched on throughout the building as soon as staff arrive, despite the only occupying a few key areas. This can be a costly waste of electricity and staff should be encouraged to only switch on what they need to. Likewise, when closing down for the day, the lights in unoccupied areas should be switched off as soon as possible.
Alter the settings on your motion sensors
If you have motion sensors, the settings can be changed to adjust the range at which the sensors detect people as well as how long the lights stay on for. Obviously, you want to shorten the time the lights stay on for as much as is reasonably possible – although caution is advised in the toilets!
Use a timer for external lights
If you have external lights, it is best to rely on a timer to switch them on and off, instead of relying on staff remembering to switch them on and off every morning and evening. In addition, timers can automatically adjust the settings depending on the time of year and when the sun sets and rises. Without a timer, this needs to be an essential part of your business’ opening and closing routine.

LEDs

Your lighting is usually the first thing you should consider upgrading (unless your insulation and/or heating is particularly poor!). Every business requires lighting. It is one of the essential ways you must use energy to operate. Many businesses still have opportunities to reduce their electricity consumption by upgrading their lighting, and those who have already done this can still make further savings through other technologies and behavioural changes.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are the most efficient lights available. They are brighter than other types, use less energy and last longer. So, not only can LEDs reduce your consumption costs, but they may also let you reduce how much you spend on replacing bulbs and for your power capacity (see billing and consumption section).

Lighting Matrix

An energy calculator spreadsheet can be accessed with this toolkit. This spreadsheet has a tab called the “Lighting Matrix” which can be used to figure out how much electricity your current lights are using, and how much you might save by switching to LEDs. This might be especially useful information to provide to a contractor, as it will help them to provide a quote to upgrade your lights.

To access this calculator spreadsheet, contact: climatechange@southtynesidecouncil.gov.uk

Types of Lighting

There are three types of light you are likely to find in your building. It is most likely that your lights will be fluorescent tube fittings:

Incandescent – fittings that produce light by heating up to high temperatures
Fluorescent – fittings that run an electric current through a gas
LEDs – fittings which emit light by running an electrical current through a semi conductor

How to Change Your Lights

Do It Yourself

Some bulbs are fairly straightforward to change for an LED equivalent – simply match the bulb or fitting type with an equivalent LED and clip/screw the new bulb in.

Fluorescent tubes can often also be replaced with a like-for like LED equivalent Please be aware though, to work properly these fittings sometimes require the ‘ballast’ inside the light fittings to be bypassed – which will require a qualified electrician.

Bring in an Electrician

A specialist lighting electrician is often necessary when you need to upgrade your lights. While changing bulbs is relatively safe and straightforward, any works requiring electrical expertise should be left to a qualified electrician.

Getting quotes

For most lighting upgrade projects you will need to bring in a specialist contractor. You can locate a contractor online, or you may know somebody that has already changed their lights who can recommend one. You should seek at least three quotes to allow you to compare them. You should also ensure they have the correct qualifications.

Other Considerations

Motion Sensors (or Passive Infrared (PIR) sensors) are best suited to areas which are intermittently occupied such as toilets, storerooms, and circulation corridors.
Lux Sensors are a type of sensor that detect the level of natural illumination in the room and changes the brightness of the lights in response. This type of sensor prevents over-lighting, where the lights are on despite it being a bright sunny day
Colour Temperature of Lighting is a measure of how ‘warm’ or ‘cool’ the light from a light source is. Cooler lights are better suited to display areas and workspaces whereas warmer lights are more often used to create a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.

Insulation and Heat Retention

Insulation should be considered before making alterations to your heating system. A better insulated building will retain more heat, allowing you to install a smaller, less expensive heating system and keeping your employees warmer and more comfortable.

Draught excluders should be one of the first things you consider. Draughts will make warming up and maintaining a comfortable temperature in your building difficult, as they will allow heat to constantly leak out. Draught excluders are cheap, easy to fit and will make an immediate impact. Watch out for draughts around the frames of windows and doors, as well as through letter boxes, key holes, and the gap between doors.
Roof/Ceiling Insulation is the most cost-effective way to reduce your heating bills where it is applicable. It is relatively cheap and easy to install and should be your first consideration once draught excluders have been investigated.
Wall Insulation such as cavity wall, external render or insulated stud walls will all help to minimise heat loss through the walls
Insulated doors should be considered if your current doors are especially old or draughty. This applies to external doors as well as doors separating warm areas (like the office) from colder areas (such as the warehouse).
Window Insulation: Double/Triple glazing should be considered if you don’t already have it.
De-stratification Fans: Lastly, if you have high ceilings anywhere on your premises, it could be worth considering destratification fans, which blow rising hot air back down to ground level and help to maintain an even temperature throughout the space.

Heating Systems

Almost all business premises will have some form of heating system. In some cases, this is electric radiators which are only used to heat a small area like the toilet or office. For other businesses, this will be a gas boiler, which distributes to either radiators or underfloor heating.

Behavioural

To minimise the amount of heating that is needed, you should encourage staff to follow these behavioural recommendations:

Dressing Appropriately: Occupants should be encouraged to dress for the season, avoiding t-shirts and shorts in the winter in favour of jumpers and cardigans. Shorts and skirts should be encouraged in the summer
Agree on the temperature: Turning the thermostat up and down will make the boiler work harder to maintain the building’s temperature. Discourage occupants from altering the temperature unless necessary
Flow temperature: Your gas boiler runs most efficiently when the flow temperature of the system is set as low as possible – 40C. This is different to the ‘set temperature’, how warm you want the room to be. The flow temperature is how warm the water in your radiators is set to be. Lowering it can mean your building takes longer to warm up, but will use less energy to get there.
Use Timers: Do not rely on people to switch off the heating – make full use of your timer so the heating switches on and off automatically
Servicing: Your boiler should be serviced regularly to keep it in good working order
Bleeding Radiators: If you have a wet system, you should check your radiators regularly for trapped air, where there are cool spots on the radiators. These pockets of trapped air will reduce the efficiency of your heating system. This air can be released by loosening the valves at the top of your radiator. Bleeding the radiators like this will also cause a pressure drop in your boiler
Pipe Lagging: The pipes that connect your radiators are not insulated. Installing cladding on these pipes will reduce heat loss and make your system more efficient
Windows: Keep your windows clean and blinds/curtains open during the day to let in as much heat/light as possible
Reflective Radiator Panels: For radiators on external walls, you should consider installing reflective panels between the radiator and wall to reduce the amount of heat seeping into the wall and escaping the building
Keep gutters clear of dirt and leaves: If your gutters become blocked, rainwater can run down the walls of your building, which speeds up heat loss. Add cleaning gutters to the periodic cleaning schedule for your building

Replacement Heating Solutions

Changing your heating system should not be considered before you address your insulation. Better insulation reduces heat loss and can allow you to install a smaller, cheaper heating solution.

Once you have improved your insulation as much as possible, you have to think about how to warm up your building with a suitable low carbon heating solution. A number of options which run on different fuels are listed below. Keep scrolling to get more information on each solution.

Gas based solutions
- A new boiler
- Standing gas cabinet heaters
- Suspended gas heaters
- Gas tube radiant heaters
Electric based solutions:
- Heat pumps
- Infrared panels
- Oil filled radiators, fan heaters, etc
Biomass
Infrared Radiant Heating Panels

Gas Based Solutions

A new boiler

If your gas boiler is old, replacing it with a more efficient model could save you money on your gas bill. The gas that is fed into your building contains chemical energy, which is turned into thermal energy – heat – when your boiler burns it. However, not all of the energy stored in the gas is converted to heat.

New boilers have efficiencies of 90% – 95%, compared with some older boilers which only convert 60% – 70% of the energy to useful heat. This is greatly impacted by how you set your boiler’s flow temperature (see Heating Behavioural section).

If you use 10 000kWh/yr to heat your building at 10p/kWh and your boiler is only 70% efficient then you are paying for 10 000kWh of chemical energy in the form of natural gas, but only benefitting from 7000kWh of useful heat. Your gas bill will be £1000 + VAT, but £300 of this is waste.

A new boiler, with an efficiency of 90% could therefore save you £200 each year (assuming you set the flow temperature low enough!). However, if you choose this option your heating system will still be producing almost 2 tonnes of CO2 per year. Although this will be a few hundred kilograms less than your old boiler was producing, we must become carbon neutral as soon as possible. This might only be a short-term solution unless you decide to offset these emissions (see Decarbonisation section). It also must be taken into consideration that gas boilers are expected to be banned in the next decade or so.

Standing Gas Cabinet Heaters

This type of heater uses the gas from cannisters that have been delivered to site to produce heat directly. They can be cheaper to run than electric equivalent heaters but there is an even greater carbon footprint as the gas cannisters need to be delivered to site (usually in a fossil fuel powered van or lorry).

Suspended Gas Heaters

These heaters are usually attached to the ceiling in a large space such as a warehouse or showroom. They are an effective, albeit carbon intensive, way of heating the space.

Biomass

For some buildings, biomass heating – burning wood – can serve as a direct replacement for a gas boiler. The gas connection is capped off and the radiators are connected to the biomass heater instead of the boiler. Biomass can also be the least carbon intensive way to heat building (as long as the wood pellets are locally and sustainably sourced!).

There are some other considerations you must make when investigating biomass:

Is there space for the heater itself? Biomass heaters tend to be larger than the boilers they replace
Biomass requires fuel, usually in the form of wood pellets, which must be stored somewhere dry. You will also need enough space to store these pellets
Delivering the pellets to site also must be considered. Is there access to the storage area for the delivery vehicle?
Biomass heaters require more maintenance than other types of heating. One or more people on site will need to be trained to empty the ash
Your business will need to have a relatively large, continuous heat demand, as biomass tends to work best with a consistent load.

Heat Pumps

A heat pump works like a fridge. Heat is absorbed from the air (or water or the ground) and is moved to the inside of your building. A heat pump can generate 300kWh-400kWh using the same amount of electricity that a normal heater would use to produce 100kWh.

A heat pump would replace your current heating system and runs off electricity. Before installing it is important that you upgrade the insulation as much as feasibly possible. Your install price will also depend upon the compatibility of your current heating system with the requirements of the heat pump system.

Heat pumps are most efficient with a lower operating temperature – around 45⁰ – and a higher flow rate. They are designed so there is only a small drop in the temperature of the water each time it cycles through your heat system and back to the heat pump itself, losing only a small amount of energy to the building, but running for a greater period of time. Unlike a conventional gas boiler, the heat pump would struggle to bring the building to a comfortable temperature rapidly.

An air source heat pump would be the most likely to be cost effective, as they are relatively straightforward to install when compared with ground source. Air source heat pumps will continue to work in temperatures as low as -20⁰C. They complement solar panels very nicely.

Infrared Radiant Heating Panels

Infrared heating panels produce a form of energy you will already be familiar with if you have stood in the sunshine on a warm summer day. The pleasant feeling of the sun rays warming your skin is due to infrared thermal energy, which is often a useful alternative to conventional heating methods.

IR panels are similar to a spotlight on a stage, but they produce heat instead of light, warming up only the spot they are pointed at (as well as any people and objects too). IR panels are suitable in large or poorly insulated spaces where it would be difficult to heat the entire room but occupants tend to be in one spot most of the time – such as a workstation or at a computer. Otherwise, infrared panels can be used to supplement existing heating systems or to keep people warm who are more susceptible to the cold.

Hot Water

Depending on the nature of your business, your hot water usage might vary from anywhere between “almost nothing” to “intensive”. A small office might only require hot water for washing hands and dishes, but other business such as restaurants and hairdressers might require significant amounts.

Behavioural

Lower the Temperature: the cooler your hot water is, the less energy it uses. Consider turning down the thermostat on your water heater to lower the energy usage here
Lower the storage temperature: Hot water must be maintained at 60C to prevent legionella but does not need to be any hotter than this. Otherwise, you are increasing the heat loss
Don’t Leave the Tap Running: whether you are washing dishes or someone’s hair you should always try to avoid a running tap/shower head
Washing Hands With Hot Water v Cold Water: Research has found cold water is just as effective as hot water when washing your hands. Click here for more information.
Use a washing-up tub when cleaning plates and coffee cups instead of filling up the entire sink. You can accomplish the same job with less hot water!

Changing Taps and Shower Heads

Modern fittings use less water overall, as well as mixing valves allowing users to find the most comfortable temperature and use only as much hot water as they need,

Appliances and Equipment

This section provides a rough estimate for how much electricity some common appliances and pieces of equipment might be using, as well as providing tips on how to minimise this usage.

Office Equipment

Staff usually have a ‘workstation’ which consists of a computer or laptop, a monitor or two, a plug for charging their phone as well as perhaps speakers, a paper shredder and shared printing and Wi-Fi facilities.

Computer and Monitor

If a computer or laptop (about 40W) is used in conjunction with two monitors (30W each) the total power would be 100W, multiplied by 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year this gives 208kWh each year for one member of staff. There are several behavioural modifications you should encourage your staff to adopt:

Switch off the computer outside of working hours – the calculation above assumes all staff are already doing this. Even on standby, a computer which is left on outside of working hours will cause your business to incur a small additional cost on your electricity bills.
Put computers and laptops in sleep mode for breaks: Between lunch, coffee, toilet, and smoking breaks – even just spending a few minutes at someone else’s desk – these short intervals can quickly add up, reducing the amount of time a computer is used from 8 hours to as little as 6. Reducing demand by 100W for 2hrs/day, 5 days/week will save 1kWh per person per week. If 30 employees were to do this, it would save 1560kWh/yr – lowering bills by about £500/yr
Avoid multiple screens where possible: Monitors should be switched off any time they are not being used, for a similar saving. In some circumstances, it may be applicable to use just a laptop, or one monitor instead of two – this should also be encouraged!
Screen Brightness: Where possible, you could also encourage staff to reduce the brightness of their screens for an additional saving.

Working From Home

Staff who work from home reduce your need to use electricity for computers, hot drinks and lighting, as well as gas/electric for heating. In many cases, it is possible for staff who are working from home to claim tax relief. Click this link to learn more: https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees.

You should send the energy saving tips in this toolkit to your staff so they can also minimise their home’s energy consumption.

Charging Mobile Phones

This is still a relatively small usage, staff should still be encouraged to unplug their phones once they are fully charged – it’s not good for the battery to leave them on charge at 100%.

Security and CCTV

The individual cameras will probably use around 5W each, with the DVR requiring 30W. The security systems will need to run continuously, 8760 hours each year. While the display monitor showing the live feeds can (and probably should) be turned off, the system itself is essential.

Printers

Always look to avoid printing where possible, and switch the printer off over weekends and nights.

Kitchen Appliances

As well as office equipment, most businesses will also have a kitchen, canteen or kitchenette which usually contains at least a kettle, fridge and microwave. This section provides some information on these appliances.

Fridges and Freezers

This appliance does not use a great deal of power but needs to run 24/7. Set the temperatures of each section to suitable levels for whatever you are storing (4⁰C and -18⁰C), try to avoid overfilling and keep it defrosted.

Is the fridge an appropriate size? If your fridge is usually only half full then you might have bought a model larger than your business needs. When you need to replace your fridge, consider how much space is really needed.

Kettle

Boiling tap water requires about 1kWh per 10L, so every 20 cups of tea or coffee costs 30p. Always try to boil only what you need to reduce this. In a busy office, consider a boiling water tap.

Microwave

The microwave will be used in short bursts a few times a day and left on standby the rest of the time. Switch it off at the wall when not in use.

Dishwasher

If used once a day to wash cups and plates, the dishwasher will be expensive to run. Avoid using it entirely by rinsing dishes and cups as soon as you are finished eating/drinking.

General Behavioural

Avoid Standby

Individually, each of your appliances might only consume a few watts when left on standby. Together though, this might add up to 50W. Switch off unneeded appliances!

Locking Up Routine

Make a list of anything which doesn’t need to be left switched on when the building is not occupied and carry out a walkaround each night to ensure your out-of-hours usage is minimized.

Label your Appliances

As with light switches, these labels are a simple and effective way to get people thinking about energy. Consider adding the tips given here to these labels.