Energy efficiency in the public sector
With lighting and office equipment accounting for up to 40% of this sector’s costs, small changes can make a big difference.
The public sector has seen an increasing pressure on budget cuts and spending, so any efficiencies in energy costs will help your budget as well as the planet. Being proactive about energy efficiency measures and taking steps to reduce your consumption could result in bills that are 18-25% lower, getting your investment money back in less than a year and a half.
We’ve put together a list of measures you can take regardless of your budget size.
Who is this for?
Central Government
Local councils and authorities
Public administration and defence
Simple no cost changes
Heating
Avoid opening doors and windows when the heating is on, because the thermostat will sense a change in temperature and fire more heat
Obtain feedback from staff – encourage them to report draughts, or if they are too cold or too hot. This will minimise the amount of people who use additional small heaters or open windows to regulate the temperature.
Keep temperatures on minimum settings for comfort
Libraries and courtrooms: 19-21°C
Sedentary work spaces like offices: 21-23°C
Unoccupied areas: 10-12°C
Staff will usually dress appropriately for the weather – account for this when setting the temperature in the workspace. Avoid turning the heat on too high or they might open the windows and cause heat loss.
Make sure furniture doesn’t obstruct radiators and fans as the space won’t heat evenly.
A temperature reduction of 10°C is sufficient during the night for most buildings.
Reducing the temperature by 1°C can save enough energy to print over 40 million sheets of A4 paper. Turn the heating down by 2°C could save you £140 on a £1,000 bill.
MYTH: Turning the thermostat to maximum warms up a space faster. TRUTH: No, it just overheats.
Ventilation and cooling
If you overheat through overusing lighting and office equipment, the ventilation has to work harder in turn to maintain the temperature, which uses more energy.
Take advantage of natural ventilation and free cooling with doors and windows and halve costs. Make sure you don’t do it in such a way that it poses a risk to your business or staff.
Align cooling times with working hours and occupancy, so you don’t overcool out of hours.
Plan for an outside temperature range when neither heating, nor cooling, are on, for example between 19-24°C.
MYTH: Leaving air conditioning on overnight reduces energy costs as the system stays at the required temperature. TRUTH: It only needs a fraction of power to maintain the temperature and it naturally cools during the night anyway.
Lighting
Can account for up to 20% of total energy costs in this sector, but basic maintenance can reduce costs by 15% and regular maintenance by 30%.
The first step is to have a switch off policy. Involve your staff in discussing the best ways to achieve this; they will appreciate being consulted and could help you come up with creative ideas.
Use simple light switch stickers so everyone feels confident that they are turning off the right light! The Carbon Trust website also has printable posters and labels you can use.
Keep windows, skylights and light fittings clean to let through as much natural light as possible.
Office and small power equipment
Electrical equipment can account for up to 20% of total energy costs.
Encourage all staff to turn off equipment at the end of the day. This saves energy costs, but also lowers cooling costs and extends the lifespan of the equipment. A single computer left on 24 hours a day costs £45 per year. With turn-off and standby features enabled you could reduce it to £10.
Place heat-emitting equipment like printers in a cooler area of the office (e.g. north side of the building) with good ventilation. Clean parts and maintain regularly for optimum efficiency.
A lower use of paper leads to more efficient workspace, less printing, less storage and less damage to the environment (through overuse of paper and incorrect recycling).
Building fabric
- Check the building for damp once a year before winter and look for issues like faulty gutters or split downpipes.
Catering
Raising awareness with your staff is an important step; implementing simple practices can reduce your bill by as much as 25%. Advise them to:
Not switch on appliances too soon
Avoid using kitchen equipment to warm the space
Switch off cooking appliances immediately after use
Avoid overfilling saucepans and kettles
Use lids, keep refrigeration unit doors closed and defrost regularly
Switch off lights and extraction fans when not in use
Make sure refrigeration units are well ventilated and not stored against the wall
It's more efficient to run a dishwasher on an eco-mode that it is to wash the same load of dishes by hand.
Straightforward low-cost changes
Heating
Clean and replace filters with the recommended regularity from the manufacturer.
Make sure you get boilers serviced as regular maintenance could save up to 10% on costs.
Ventilation and cooling
- Make sure you review the performance of your ventilation and air circulation systems. If you’re not getting the desired results, there might be a fault with certain parts that you could easily replace. A system that is well maintained every year could lead to a 60% increase in efficiency.
Lighting
Use blinds that redirect daylight to the ceiling or the wall rather than block it altogether and open blinds when there is no glare.
Use timers to match working hours and/or occupancy of the space so lighting is switched on and off automatically.
Occupancy sensors in toilets or less used areas save 30% to 50% on lighting costs, while daylight sensors turn artificial light off when there is enough daylight.
Install sensors that dim the light rather than switching it off completely.
The amount of light necessary in offices is only 8 watts, but generally 30 watts is used.
Replace conventional bulbs with CFL (Compact fluorescent lightbulbs) – they last 8x longer and use 80% less energy. What’s more, LEDs could give you 30,000-50,000 hours of use.
Office and small power equipment
Consider installing plug-in timers which you can find for under £10 online or in a DYI store. You can use them to automatically cut the power at switches outside of working hours. Make your staff aware in case they are working late.
A red light on a monitor or any other appliance will usually show that it’s in standby and every of those red lights will cost about £1 a year, which adds up.
When buying new equipment, account for energy efficiency ratings not just the initial cost. Buy equipment rated at least A+.
DID YOU KNOW? Laptops are more energy efficient than desktop computers and allow your staff to be more mobile. For example, they could take notes or share presentations on a laptop rather than use the printer when they go into a meeting.
Building fabric
- If you can insert a 1p coin on its side between a window/door and its frame, fit draught strips.
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
Insulate to minimise heat loss. You could get a payback in the first few months by insulating pipes, boilers and tanks.
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 2 years.
Create zoned areas with different thermostats and different default settings.
Building fabric
Heat loss in a building is 9% through walls, 8% through floor, 22% through roof, 26% through windows, 35% through ventilation and air circulation. Investing in better insulation can lower these costs, as well as increase the value of the buildings. Did you know that insulating pipework can reduce energy losses by 70%?
An insulation of 100-150mm of glass fibre could reduce energy loss by up to 90% in lofts.
Improve glazing. The most efficient is triple glazing, or you can also coat windows for insulation.
When doing refurbishment plan for draught lobbies at entrances. These have two sets of doors where one is closed when the other one is opened. Automate doors where possible to reduce heat loss.
Catering
Buy energy rated A+ equipment, preferably with built-in sensors that automatically switch off when not in use.
Buy ovens with large double-glazing viewing to prevent doors being opened too often, which can lead to heat loss.
Consider heat recovery from the kitchen to be used for heating water. The Carbon Trust has a guide that can help you understand how it works.
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).