It's common knowledge that saving energy at work is in everyone's hands, that we should turn off computers and printers when we leave a meeting room or our office. All of these strategies help us save energy to some extent, but to what amount? These employees’ best practices come at no cost to the company and are simple to implement. Many organizations begin implementing high-cost energy-saving measures without conducting a comprehensive analysis of the savings.

Before making such a decision, it is preferable for the organization to appoint someone or a department to oversee energy-saving measures in order to assist the Board in making the best decision possible. This responsibility falls under the scope of Facility Managers. Considering that the facility itself and the users of such facility are the two elements that have the greatest influence when it comes to reducing energy consumption, and the Facility Manager is the person who is most familiar with both, the FM is probably the most consistent person in charge of any energy saving measures to be implemented.

The first step should be to learn about current consumption and to set up indicators to quantify and control this consumption, because what cannot be measured cannot be controlled. Aside from gathering all energy invoices (electricity, gas, and water), the equipment that consumes energy should be identified (equipment with a higher demand should be up first when determining energy saving measures), their technical characteristics should be examined (power, performance, etc.), the use time should be identified, whether they have automatic or manual switch-off devices, their issue date, and condition should be identified. All of this information should be taken into account.

It would also be useful to inspect the building's façade condition, as this element is usually the source of the most energy loss. It is convenient to inspect not only the insulation and window conditions, but also the facade's structural design. Significant HVAC savings have been obtained in buildings with glass facades simply by adding eaves that prevent direct solar exposure.

Another step to take is to identify users' habits, working styles, and so on. This enables us to identify energy-saving strategies, such as teleworking. This new way of working has facilitated many employees to work from home, allowing the company that motivates it to reduce their rented space, resulting in lower energy consumption. In other scenarios, cleaning hours have been switched from night to day shifts, allowing lights to be turned off for the entire night.

It is also necessary to be aware of the company's activities and schedules. A simple workstation change can sometimes result in significant lighting savings because some positions, such as sales representatives or sales agents, are less likely to be present in the office than others, their workstations can be located in areas with natural lighting.

Please do not limit good practices to the examples provided. Before your company embarks on energy-saving measures that may result in high costs and low benefits, it is recommended that to do a detailed analysis of all the elements that may have an impact on high energy consumption and an improvement plan can be developed to reduce high cost.

Reference:

https://www.fm-house.com/en/office-energy-consumption-saving/