Energy efficiency in retail
The retail industry’s energy use will come from different factors depending on the type of store but generally, heating and lighting are the biggest drivers of consumption. Refrigeration also takes a big percentage of the costs where applicable. Good management could bring real results as there are often many factors that are not considered. For example, retail businesses tend to have high levels of heat gain from staff, lighting, customers and equipment, therefore ventilation and air conditioning are under pressure to maintain temperatures.
To help you become more energy efficient, we’ve included a list of steps you can take, from changes that don’t cost anything, to longer-term investment which can bring higher savings. You should be able to implement these without making your store any less attractive to potential buyers, but in such a way that you reduce your fixed costs.
Who is this for?
Convenience stores
Larger retail stores
Supermarkets
Retail outlets
Simple no cost changes
A little goes a long way: for example, £500 per year worth of savings over three years would make the same profit as a 5% margin from £30,000 of extra sales.
Lighting
Bright, attractive lights are believed to maximise sales and draw customers in. Despite what you might think, improving the efficiency in this area will not diminish the quality of the experience.
Encourage staff to turn off lights when not in use and use simple light switch stickers so everyone feels confident that they are turning off the right one.
Basic maintenance can reduce costs by 15%, regular maintenance by 30%.
Heating, ventilation and air circulation
Heating accounts for 29% of energy costs in non-domestic buildings, but you can be more efficient without affecting the comfort of your employees and customers.
Consider the outside temperature – customers wear warmer clothing when it’s cold outside so don’t make the store uncomfortably hot under those conditions. Provide staff with appropriate uniforms for the season. Turning down the temperature by just 1°C could mean an 8% energy saving. Turn the heating down by 2°C could save you £140 on a £1,000 bill.
If you have an open-door policy, limit it to busy times to prevent hot and cold air escaping.
Take advantage of natural ventilation and free cooling to halve costs. Can you safely use windows and doors to cool the air before turning on the air conditioning?
Take advantage of night time which is naturally cooler to delay switching the air conditioning on. Decide on an outdoor temperature range (for example between 19-24°C) [SM1] when neither heating nor cooling will be turned on.
A reduced temperature of 10°C is sufficient during the night for most buildings.
Refrigeration
Up to 20% of the energy used for refrigeration could be cut with little or no cost.
Depending on the type of retail business, this could account for half of the total energy bill, so try these quick wins:
Don’t over-fill shelves as it makes it harder to maintain the right temperature
If you have insulating covers and blinds, use them
Switch lighting in chillers off outside opening hours as the light generates heat
Keep chiller doors shut – consider using reminders such as stickers for both staff and customers. Using transparent display cabinets rather than open ones has shown to have little negative effect on sales, but a warmer environment and reduction in energy use.
Create a maintenance schedule to include: defrosting, checking door seals, cleaning condensers and checking the refrigerant level
Use the recommended temperature settings as every degree below what is required adds 2-4% more cost.
Store items in cool places so the equipment load is lessened when transferred to customer-facing chillers
Building fabric
Create a maintenance and housekeeping schedule, addressing gaps in the wall or damaged windows and doors as soon as possible and get staff involved to check and report issues.
Check the building for damp once a year before winter to identify things like faulty gutters and repair split downpipes.
Straightforward low-cost changes
Lighting
Occupancy sensors in toilets or lesser used areas such as stockrooms could save up to 50% on lighting costs, while daylight sensors turn lights off when there is enough daylight and could be particularly efficient in car parks or for signage.
Keep in mind that external flood lights (for example in car parks) can cost £250 a year on their own if they're left on for 12 hours a night.
Replace conventional bulbs with CFL (Compact fluorescent lightbulbs) – they last 8x longer and use 80% less electricity. What’s more, LEDs could give you 30,000-50,000 hours of use.
Heating, ventilation and air circulation
Use time switches to change when heating and cooling systems work to automatically turn off outside opening hours and turn on in time for when you open again. Review the settings every month to adjust with the season.
Maintain boilers, tanks and pipe work and you could save 5% on heating costs. Look at insulating them where possible and you could get the money back in a few months after installation
Plan for regular maintenance as dirty or faulty fans, air ducts and components can decrease efficiency by 25%.
Refrigeration
Installing strip curtains could save your business over 40% of cooling costs as they keep the warm air out. Also consider investing in night blinds to keep the cold air in the open chillers when they’re not in use.
Use time switches for chillers that contain non-perishable food and drink to switch them off outside of working hours if safe to do so.
When upgrading equipment, always consider the energy efficiency rating for an indication of running costs, not just what you need to pay upfront.
Long-term savings from the right investments
For larger savings from energy efficiency you might need to spend some money upfront, especially when you’re planning refurbishment already.
Heating, ventilation and air circulation
Upgrade your heating controls. For example, use a compensator which works based on external weather to regulate the temperature. Or use an optimum start controller which optimises heating based on the time it takes to reach desired temperature. These two devices will give you a return on investment in about two years.
Make sure you always buy the highest energy efficiency-rated equipment as that will keep ventilation costs down as well as produce less heat.
Building fabric
Reduce heat loss via delivery doors and docking bays with PVC curtains or even consider automating doors where suitable.
As 25% of a building’s heat escapes through the roof, look at installing insulation there and throughout the building. Did you know that insulating pipework can reduce energy losses by 70%?
Action plan
Start by making a note of your current consumption. You can access that data in your My Opus Energy account.
Are there any variations during the year caused by weather or business seasonality you can see? Make a note of them and think about what could cause them. For example, if your business is affected by the weather, you could save energy by investing in better insulation and save money in the long term.
Your last year’s or last season’s energy use will be your benchmark; what you will compare your results against. A smart meter will give you access to a lot more consumption data, so you won’t have to wait a whole month to reap the results of small efforts. Remember to compare a specific month or year (for example December 2018 with December 2019) to make sure the improvement in efficiency isn’t influenced by other factors.
Set a goal of how much you’d like to reduce your consumption by. Make it realistic and set a target date when you’ll measure it again to track how you’re doing.
Choose the steps you’ll take to achieve those goals from the categories we provided you with and involve your employees. To motivate staff, try to make it into a competition. Why not offer a free meal out to the team that comes up with the most energy saving ideas or commit to donating the savings to a local charity that they choose?
Finally, make the changes and measure the results. Communicate all improvements with your staff, no matter how small, to encourage an energy efficient state of mind.
When you’re ready to make more changes to become energy efficient, come back to this action plan and start again.
The facts, figures and advice have been sourced from the Carbon Trust, Energy Trust and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (formerly known as the Department of Energy and Climate Change).
