Business Benefits of Going Green

A professional audit of your systems may seem an expensive outlay just to rate the green credentials of your enterprise, but it is possible that such an assessment could discover significant potential for savings. A Victorian university recently discovered that over 30 percent of its water use occurred at night when no-one was there. This was completely due to leaky plumbing and was addressed through relatively inexpensive maintenance.

Other examples include sloppy implementation of air conditioning systems, and interior design that clashes with air conditioning systems. Another major drain on energy in many office blocks is the small numbers of offices that operate for 24 hours. In such cases the entire building’s systems may be functioning around the clock when only a tiny percentage of the building’s inhabitants need power. An accurate assessment of the wastage and associated costs in such buildings might encourage tenants and landlords to plan their decision-making about tenancy more effectively and charge appropriate fees.

Encourage your colleagues, staff, friends and customers to care about the place that your company takes up within the environment. Setting an example of genuinely caring and allocating appropriate personal and financial resources to energy conservation and sustainability projects helps to build a culture where the environment is taken seriously.

Some folks will care. Some will not. Some executives or employees, despite your efforts to build a green-conscious culture, will just not co-operate. Develop energy-saving strategies that are not dependant on their goodwill and efforts. Work around them.

It’s important to set energy-saving targets, and make them realistic. A fifteen percent drop in energy consumption will not only contribute to the health of the planet but will add a significant contribution to your business’s bottom line. Convince your colleagues and staff to turn off the lights and other appliances, equipment and machinery in areas where they are not required or working at the time. This is one easy first step in energy saving.