Your Energy Saving Kit

Little energy savings you make through your working day can make a big difference. Seemingly insignificant stuff like turning off equipment and altering settings are simple, quick, and effective. This guide aims to provide you with the inspiration and advice needed to start making energy savings straight away.

3 ways to save energy in your space

Shows and podcasts you need to know about

Did you know?

Small changes make a big difference

What's Workspace doing to help?

3 WAYS TO SAVE ENERGY IN YOUR OFFICE

1. BUILD AWARENESS FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

Team members who know why it’s important to save energy are the most likely to get on board and make changes, and the easiest way to get them involved is to talk to them about it.

There are also plenty of training courses and workshops on the topic that will help build awareness within your team. A few ideas to get you started:

GREEN CHAMPIONS

You can amplify sustainability responsibilities within your team by nominating Green Champions to stoke enthusiasm and ensure everyone is sticking to your green agenda. Business Energy Scotland has guidance on setting up a Green Team.

FUTURE PLUS

Workspace is also hosting sustainability and energy workshops delivered by Future Plus across London. Take a look and sign up for the events here.

CARBON LITERACY PROJECT

This course focuses on the environmental costs associated with carbon dioxide and its impact on everyday life, then explains how we can reduce emissions. You’ll also receive a certificate for completing the course.

ENERGY AWARE

This online tool is designed to raise energy awareness and guide you to reducing your use in the home and at work.

CLIMATE FIT BY SME CLIMATE HUB

Provides practical guidance on working towards your climate goals, with free training tailored to SMEs.

TOOLS

Every business can make its own contribution towards sustainability, and identifying the methods that suit yours is key to making a difference. B Corp has a Climate tools base that offers everything you need.

2. LINK IT TO THE BIGGER PICTURE

Connecting the energy saving efforts of your team with larger initiatives adds context and introduces a sense of purpose.

Sustainability Campaigns

Get on board with wider environmental and sustainability awareness campaigns to help highlight the importance of energy savings. You could engage with Earth Day (22nd April 2024) or Earth Hour (8.30pm – 9.30pm March 23, 2024).

Company Values

By aligning your sustainability ambitions with your personal and company values, you ensure your goals become a key driver for all employees.

3. Keep everyone looped in

Keep the energy conversation fresh and relevant and make your team a part of it. This can benefit their professional growth and also make their roles more fulfilling. You could also set KPIs and goals to incentivise your business' green agenda and demonstrate your commitment to a sustainable future.

IN YOUR SPACE

Internal events dedicated to sustainability are great for engagement. You could host an office screening of WWF - Our Planet: Our Business to prompt conversations on reducing pollution, download some eye catching posters to put the need to save energy in front of your team on Do The Green Thing, or make your own on Canva.

Work Perks

Offer green work perks, such as a cycle to work scheme, electric vehicles, or paid slow travel. You could even extend perks to your employees’ homes, with discounts on renewable energy, energy efficiencies, and thermostats. Find inspiration at People Insight, Green Perks.

Leadership

A commitment from senior leadership and management to make energy savings will lead to more buy-in from employees. This can then be cascaded down to teams and individual objectives.

Shows and podcasts you need to know about

There are numerous TV shows, podcasts and other media that focus on sustainability available through all the best streaming platforms. Here are just a few of our favourites:

Netflix

Our Planet
National treasure David Attenborough on how climate change is impacting every living thing.

Down to Earth
Zac Efron and wellness expert Darin Olien offer tips on living a more sustainable life.

Spotify

Outrage and Optimism
A podcast examining issues and politics to inform and inspire you on your sustainability journey.

Energy Voice Out Loud
A weekly podcast on the energy transition to a more sustainable future.

DID YOU KNOW?

Computers make up 13% of total energy used in offices

compared to lighting which makes up 11%. However according to the US Department of Energy, both of these pale in the face of heating, which uses a hefty 25%.

You save more electricity by turning the lights off

even when leaving the office for a short period. The small surge of energy needed to turn a light on is much less than the energy wasted by leaving it on when it's not needed.

Set your thermostat at 22°C for total comfort and productivity

A study by the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) found that worker performance increases with temperatures up to 22°C, and decreases with temperatures above 23°C.

To turn your computer off when you’re not using it

This will cut wear and tear on the machine and even when they’re switched into standby mode, devices will keep using power. You can get around this by physically turning them off at the switch, unplugging them, or by using advanced power strips, which automatically cut power to devices when they are not in use.

Source: https://www.s4btradeally.com/test-your-business-energy-knowledge/

SMALL CHANGES MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE

Most energy saving methods are quick wins, and we’ve put together a list of the easiest ones.

Top tip 1

Turn off the lights when you’re the last out of the room and you’ll be on your way towards meeting your energy saving goals and bagging that summer festival.

Top tip 2

Set a lovely screensaver to come on when you haven’t used your PC in a bit and then set the timer to go to sleep after a few minutes of no use. You’ll welcome the screen break and save energy. Win win!

Top tip 3

Unplug those chargers. They’re still sapping power even when they’re not actually charging anything up. If they’re plugged in and warm, they’re basically powering thin air.

Top tip 4

Think before you print. Could you send that document electronically instead? You’ll be saving the energy it takes to fire up the printer and doing your bit for the trees, too.

Top tip 5

Photocopy in batches and let the machine go into standby mode when it’s not being used. Maybe schedule periods with your team for a group copy sesh and make it social.

TOP TIP 6

Comfort is a priority, but where you can, turning your thermostat down by just 2°C can decrease your energy consumption by up to 10%.

WHAT'S WORKSPACE DOING TO HELP?

Performance

Between April and December 2023, we reduced our gas consumption by 35% and electricity by 6% compared to the same period in 2022 by investing in heat pumps and optimising our systems to make them more efficient.

We’ve also made energy efficiency upgrades across the Workspace portfolio, including LED lighting, detection sensors, smart building energy management systems (BEMS) and running energy awareness campaigns with customers.

Energy saving measures we’ve taken during 2022/23

We’ve made energy efficiency a priority across Workspace, investing £8m to futureproof our properties with LED and motion sensor lighting upgrades, the installation of secondary glazing and a rolling programme of high efficiency heat pumps. We’ve also improved data management to help us lock down efficiency savings and introduced customer engagement initiatives across a number of our buildings.

Sonal Jain, our Head of Sustainability, on why saving energy is so important to Workspace:

“We are reducing energy by rolling out energy efficiency initiatives such as smart building management and upgrades to our systems. We have committed to be a net zero business by 2030 and energy reduction is key in this journey. This year we’ve seen some amazing results from our improvements, with a 35% reduction in gas consumption in April-December 2023 compared to 2022. We are also gradually phasing out gas boilers by switching to more environmentally friendly air source heat pumps, and make sure our electricity comes from 100% renewable sources, including our own solar panels."

3 ways to save energy in your space

Shows and podcasts you need to know about

Did you know?

Small changes make a big difference

What's Workspace doing to help?