10 Energy Saving Tips for Your Office

Most of us are aware of the mounting pressure to protect the environment and use less energy, both at home and at work.

Office environments, in particular, can often be big energy guzzlers, so businesses both big and small have a responsibility to try and reduce their energy usage.

Here are ten tips that could get you on the road to being green.

Less Chill In The Server Room

IT equipment needs to be cool in order for it to function effectively, so most server rooms are a little on the cold side.

A huge amount of electricity is needed to maintain this temperature.

However, industry experts are now saying that IT equipment can actually withstand slightly higher temperatures, and new guidelines recommend that server rooms can comfortably be set at around 25C.

Less energy used in keeping the temperature down, can help reduce usage, and therefore save on costs.

Don’t Overfill The Kettle

Overfilling the kettle with water when you make a brew can eat up energy like nobody’s business.

If you’ve got an office of 30 staff, all filling up and flicking the switch on throughout the day, then there will be lots of excessive water boiling going on.

Try and only fill the kettle up with the amount of water that you need, or opt for an Eco Kettle, which gives you the option of deciding how much water you need to boil at the touch of a button.

Automatic Radiator Bleeder

Sluggish office radiators may be bloated with air and not doing their job properly.

If radiators aren’t regularly bled, then they won’t be as efficient, requiring more energy to try and pump the heat around.

And is this really a job that anybody in the office is going to be bothered about doing? However, with an automatic radiator bleeder fitted to your radiators, any built-up air will be instantly released.

Radiator Foil

Energy saving products can be pretty simple, and this is one example. Heat from radiators is easily lost as it gets absorbed into the wall, meaning more energy is used to keep the office warm.

Radiator foil can be inserted, however, between the radiator and the wall, helping to reflect the heat back into the office.

Electrical Equipment

Offices use a lot of electrical equipment that contributes to a large proportion of energy consumption.

Therefore, it’s important when replacing old equipment to opt for energy saving products with high star ratings.

This doesn’t just include equipment used within the office, but also items in the staff kitchen such as fridge/freezer, microwaves, etc.

The Ecobutton

There is lots of energy saving devices on the market, but this one is pretty snazzy. The Ecobutton is a USB device that you can click on when you aren’t using the computer.

The Ecobutton powers down your computer, thus saving energy in the process.

Raise Awareness

Make a member of staff responsible for promoting green issues within the office. It needn’t be a big task, but it could involve sending an email out weekly on ways to cut energy, things to consider, etc.

As part of the awareness campaign, you could introduce a reward system for those who are the greenest that week – a cake or chocolate bar is probably enough incentive to get most people on board.

Make Use Of Solar Power

Energy saving gadgets that make use of solar power may sound obvious as ways to cut energy usage, but there’s a lot more to them these days than just the solar powered calculator.

For instance, you can buy solar powered gadget chargers that are portable and have the capacity to power a laptop. A great way to save on energy.

Label Switches

Labelling switches in the office allows staff to know what each one is for. By getting into the habit of only switching on those that you need, you’ll use less energy, and thus save costs.

Energy Efficient Printer

Whilst having a paperless office sounds ideal, the reality is, most offices still need a printer to print documents out. But if you opt for the HP Laserjet P4015x printer, you can feel a little less guilty.

As energy saving products go, this isn’t a bad one – it reduces consumption by up to 50% with its instant-on technology.