All business owners would like to make a nice profit, but they tend to focus on sales and marketing to meet these goals.
Of course, that is where the bulk of the money is, but there are other ways to finish a business year with a little extra money in the bank.
A penny saved is a penny earned, after all, and the best way to make savings is to reduce the office’s carbon footprint.
Since bills can make up a large portion of outgoing expenses, turning your office green can significantly reduce energy consumption, and therefore save you money on bills.
Here are a few ways to make your office green.
Lights
Since most offices are relatively large spaces with few windows, most employees need to have a light on to reduce eye strain while they work.
You need to care for your employees health, but having the lights on for long periods of time can certainly rack up your energy. Instead, try installing wholesale LED panels to provide your lighting needs.
On average UK businesses use up to 35% of their electricity consumption just on lighting, so switching all lighting to an LED model can help companies to cut their fixed costs dramatically.
Lighting bills can be reduced by up to 90% and a quick payback of the initial investment can be achieved thanks to the great energy efficiency of LED lighting.
Temperature
Between cold winters and recent summer heatwaves, keeping the office at an optimum temperature seems like a delicate balancing act.
As a general rule of thumb, you should keep the office heated to a maximum of 21°C when occupied, and 16°C when unoccupied. Heating and cooling set points must be set 2 to 3°C apart so that the air conditioner does not turn on and off frequently.
Keeping the office at an optimum temperature will encourage productivity in your employees, because people tend to work better when they’re comfortable.
During the peak sunlight hours, try keeping your curtains or blinds closed around the office, particularly south-facing windows. Around 30 percent of the unwanted heat that comes into your homes gets in through the windows.
Keeping the curtains closed can lower indoor temperature by 20 percent, saving you money on the A/C.
Turn things off
Newer computer models are more energy efficient than their older counterparts, so it’s better to keep your equipment updated to reduce charging time.
Even so, it’s best to turn computers off when they’re not in use, instead of leaving them in standby mode. It might even be a good idea to allow employees to bring their own laptops into work.
Using their own laptops could reduce the risk of any of the computers being left on overnight, and it will mean that the power outlets are only in use when someone actually needs them.
Save the trees
There’s not a lot of need for paper anymore, since important documents can be sent by email, or shared in a cloud. Therefore it should be relatively easy to save on paper and ink by only printing when absolutely necessary.
