Small and medium-sized businesses could cut their energy costs by up to 30 percent a year but are unaware of the true potential for savings, a survey by the Carbon Trust shows.
The Carbon Trust, which advises the UK government, polled 700 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which spend between 50,000 pounds and 3 million pounds a year on energy.
It found that businesses could reduce their collective energy costs by more than 3 billion pounds by controlling the way employees use energy, controlling lighting and heating and investing in the building’s equipment and infrastructure.
The Trust has kicked off a drive to cut the energy use, typically by 20 to 30 percent, of companies who spend 50,000 to 3 million pounds a year on energy bills, through free expert on-site advice, action plans, as well as interest-free loans.
Smaller businesses are missing an opportunity to cut costs
“The SME community in the UK is huge. There are tens of thousands of companies with energy bills over 50k which would qualify for a survey but they aren’t doing it,” Hugh Jones, Carbon Trust’s director of solutions, told Reuters.
The survey showed that 49 percent of respondents were worried about volatile energy costs in 2010. Sectors with the greatest concerns were construction, manufacturing and hospitality.
“Some of the smaller organisations, particularly in the service industry, still haven’t understood the opportunity in (cutting energy use),” Jones said.
One in seven respondents in the survey said there was nobody in charge of the company’s energy management, yet a third of companies with over 50 staff said improving their green credentials was a top priority for 2010.
Helping the environment also a priority
“As we emerge from recession, companies with a good base of energy efficient behaviour — their customers will like it, employees will be more motivated and their bottom line will be helped,” Jones said.
The five-star Lowry Hotel in Manchester has calculated it has cut its annual energy costs by £37,498 — a saving of 363.5 tonnes of CO2 a year — by using the Carbon Trust’s survey.
“It’s not about the money, although that’s an incentive, particularly given the increased cost of energy,” says PR and marketing manager Helen Hipkiss. “It’s really about doing whatever we can to help the environment, without compromising the guest experience. The survey from the Carbon Trust made us realise how we could do this.”
After setting up committee to implement carbon reduction initiatives, the Lowry introduced a building management system to monitor energy usage and turn off lighting and air conditioning in areas which are not in use.
The installation of new energy lights has so far saved the Lowry Hotel 78 tonnes of CO2 a year, while fitting boilers with a control system to improve energy efficiencey saved 30 tonnes of CO2 a year.
The introduction of bike parking points encouraged more staff to cycle to work bringing about a 14 tonne annual reduction in the hotel’s carbon emissions.
“A lot of big companies now have a green agenda,” added Helen Hipkiss. “They want to show that they’re doing their bit, and the fact that we’re focusing on reducing our carbon footprint makes us more attractive to companies with the same aims.”