Heating Tips:
- Turn heating off. Leaving heating on 24 hours a day can more than double heating costs at work. Turn off heating when it is not required and at the end of the day. Check to ensure this is done.
- Set thermostats correctly. The most comfortable and economical setting is 18 - 20 degree C.
- Do you really need to heat that area? Store rooms, toilets and other occasionally-used areas often don't require heating. If heating is desired. A temperature of around 16 degree C is adequate.
- Program thermostats. Set these to switch heating on around 30minutes before work starts, and to turn heating off during holidays and long weekends. Most controls can be overridden for unusual circumstances.
- Use simple timers. If portable heaters are used, install plug-in timers to turn heaters on and off automatically.
- Use the zoning feature if your ducted heating system has one. This will enable you to switch heating off to areas that aren't being used or don't require heating.
Cooling Tips:
- Turn off office equipment and lighting when not required to reduce the amount of heat produced inside the building. This will reduce your cooling needs.
- Use thermostat controls. The most comfortable and economical setting is 24 - 25 degree C. automatic controls can be set to switch cooling off during holiday periods and long weekends.
- Ensure thermostats are not located near heat sources such as photocopiers, natural sunlight or space heaters.
- Install glazing, tinting or blinds on windows to minimize heat gain from the sun.
- Close doors to rarely-used rooms, storerooms, toilets and passageways so you only cool where it is needed. Turn off cooling to these areas if possible.
- Close external doors wherever possible to keep the cool air inside.
Hot Water Tips:
Consider alternatives to boiling water units. Use electric kettles and small drink dispensers instead, as they are more cost-effective and energy efficient.
- Install a suitable-sized hot water system. Ensure the system matches the water requirements of the facility.
- Fit time controls to switch boiling water units off when they are not needed. Consider a seven-day timer so they can be switched off over the weekend.
- Ensure hot water distribution pipes and storage units are adequately insulted to avoid heat loss.
- Install low-flow shower-heads and tap fittings to reduce the amount of water and energy used.
- Install low-flow shower-heads and tap fittings to reduce the amount of water and energy used.
- Avoid wasting water. Every liter of boiling water wasted costs about one cent and produces around a tenth of a kilogram of CO2.
- Repair dripping taps.
Lighting Tips:
Arrange desks near windows and trim vegetation to help optimize natural lighting.
- Erect signs in areas where lights are used infrequently to remind staff (and cleaners) to switch them off when leaving. This simple strategy can reduce energy consumption by up to 15%.
- Allocate responsibility to staff members to ensure lights are switched off.
- Switch off or dim lighting where there is sufficient daylight for the task required.
- Label gang switch-plates to identify lighting, so that only the required lights are turned on.
- Label individual light switches with stickers to encourage staff to turn off lights.
- Implement a minimum two-year bulk lamp replacement and luminaries cleaning program to maintain the required lighting levels and quality of light. Dust and dirt build up can reduce light output by up to 30%.
- Install motion detector switches to areas that are intermittently used, such as office areas, staff rooms and locker rooms.
- Avoid using incandescent lamps and low voltage quartz-halogen for general lighting.
- When replacing ballasts choose low-loss or electronic ballasts.
- Install photoelectric daylight cells to control outside lighting. These switch lights on at dusk and off at dawn.
Office Tips:
Computers:
- Ensure computers have a 'sleep' function and that it is enable.
- Switch computers and monitors off outside of working hours.
- Consider using 'laptop' or 'notebook' computers, and LCD screens instead of conventional monitors.
- Turn off monitors whenever possible, even if it's not practical to switch off the computer itself.
Printers:
Turn off printers when not in use and at the end of each working day.
- Use color printers sparingly as these use more energy than black and white printers.
- Introduce printer sharing to reduce the number of online printers required.
- Use the print preview option to reduce the number of drafts printed.
- Use the draft print option as much as possible.
- Consider buying inkjet printers over laser models. They use as much as 95% less energy and are often less expensive to purchase.
Photocopiers:
Use photocopiers as little as possible. If you only require a small number of copies, use the printer or facsimile instead.
- Buy an appropriately-sized photocopier with user-friendly controls.
- Use the 'energy saver' or 'standby' mode. Most photocopiers have energy - saving feature that puts it to 'sleep' when it is not in use.
- Use double-sided photocopying as much as possible to reduce energy and paper consumption.
- Try to group copying tasks in batches. Set aside a special tray to save up photocopying tasks then copy them in one session. The photocopier can be switched off between batches.
- Remember to close the photocopier's lid when not in use so that the energy - saving mode functions.
Fax Machines:
Reuse paper. The energy required to produce a sheet of paper is as much as 20 times that which is used to receive and print a fax.
- Determine whether you can communicate using e-mail instead of a fax.
- If you have multiple fax machines, divert calls to a few units after hours and turn the rest off.
- Avoid using cover sheets. Stick-on fax labels can be used to provide transmission details.
In General,
Switch equipment off at the power point when not in use (especially for long time periods). Office equipment still uses energy when it is switched off at the appliance but not at the wall.
- Use plug-in timers to avoid equipment being left on unnecessarily.
- Implement a purchasing policy to ensure you buy only ENERGY STAR tm equipment, and make sure it is enabled upon delivery.
- Educate employees about the benefits of ENERGY STAR tm equipment.
Transport Tips:
Alternatives to driving
- Use alternative modes of transport such as walking and cycling. These can improve physical and mental health and therefore reduce time and money last through sickness. Ask your workplace to supply secure bike storage and provide showers and clothes storage facilities.
- Can your workplace facilitate telecommuting (working at home)? Just one day at home per week can dramatically reduce travel costs.
- Use public transport as much as possible. Investigate the possibility of purchasing seasonal travel passes through salary sacrifice.
Business Travel
Use phone, fax, video conferencing or mail facilities instead of a car trip.
- Choose venues convenient to public transport when arranging seminars or work events.
- Use public transport when traveling to meetings. Preparation for meetings can be done while in transit. Many workplaces will reimburse these costs.
- Choose fuel-efficient cars for the company fleet. This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and can save up to 30% on fuel costs.
By doing this we could save the environment for the future generations. You have the power to change the world, yes you. Do the most that you possibly can to save the environment, start at you own workplace toady.
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Source: Squidoo.com
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