Top 10 Energy Saving Tips for Flexible Workspaces

With energy costs continuing to rise, and further increases expected in the autumn, everyone is understandably looking for ways to reduce energy consumption and keep bills as low as possible.

Flexible workspaces are no exception.  They have seen their popularity increase as people adapt to new ways of working post-pandemic, and often want working space on more flexible terms or closer to where they live.

With this in mind, Enexus, one of our Service Provider Members, have revealed their top 10 energy-saving tips for flexible workspace operators:

1. Increase lighting efficiency

This may seem like a simple change, but switching to LED lighting is beneficial for reducing costs. EDF estimates that up to 40% of the energy your business uses could go into lighting your premises.

Simply switching to LED lightbulbs saves the average household £30 a year, so this is likely to be much higher for larger buildings such as shared workspaces.

2. Maximise natural lighting

Increasing natural lighting can also reduce costs – particularly in the summer months – by providing more light and heat without using electricity. Consider smart blinds which can maximise light and heat from sunshine in the daytime and help keep heat in outside of office hours.

When designing new flexible workspaces, think about the placement of windows on the rooftop and around meeting areas.

3. Turn down the thermostat

You can save £200 a year by turning down your thermostat by just one degree. Again, smart technology can help here by enabling your office space to be temperature controlled at different times of the day and year.

4. Control your air conditioning

With the recent heatwave impacting workplaces across the UK, it can be tempting to keep the air conditioning on all day, but it can amount to around 30% of your overall energy bill.

Even giving vents, fans, and conditioning filters a regular clean can ensure they are more efficient and don’t have to work as hard to keep the workspace cool.

Move filing cabinets, workbenches and other pieces of work furniture that are blocking radiators or air conditioning units can also ensure that energy isn’t being absorbed and help to keep costs down.

5. Avoid wasting heat

Typically, two-thirds of heat in an office building is lost through the building fabric, so effective insulation is key to keeping the heat in. Keeping doors and windows closed when heating or air conditioning is running, fitting draught excluders, and making sure your premises are well insulated are all fairly simple and low-cost ways to keep your bills as low as possible.

6. Install timers and motion sensors

In an ideal world, people would switch lights off when a room is not in use, but by installing motion sensors you can make sure that unoccupied areas aren’t being lit unnecessarily. In addition, timers on light switches, computers, and other devices can help reduce energy consumption in unused equipment.

7. Turn off vampire devices

Ensuring items left on standby mode are properly switched off can save £86 on average, according to research from electricity and gas supplier Utilita. The biggest culprits are TVs, printers, and computers – which can cost £40 each per year if not properly shut down.

8. Get everyone on board

Instilling a culture within your business and keeping the conversation going amongst your users is often the best way to ensure energy consumption is kept to a minimum.

Holding ‘Green Weeks’ or even just ‘Green days’ can help to show your ethos around energy usage and keep the idea at the forefront of employees’ minds.

Educating staff on the scale of the issue and the positive impact that could be made due to their participation within the business, could lead to more responsible ways of working. Try creating motivational posters encouraging staff to turn equipment off or on standby when not in use.

Encouraging employees to avoid leaving lights on, turning computers off over the weekend and ensuring any vampire devices are turned off could make a massive difference to your energy usage.

9. Consider complex energy efficiency projects

It can be difficult for a relatively low-energy consumer to make drastic changes. The best way to make savings are to focus on the price of your contract and behavioural changes within your workspace such as lighting and heating usage.

However, for larger energy consumers and multisites, there are more complex behavioural changes that you could look at, such as your half hourly data and finding out exactly where and when you’re using your energy.

10. Bring in an expert

Bringing in an expert to see how your process looks with a fresh pair of eyes might lead to some great savings too. If you find out that you’re using 20% of your energy at night when you’re closed, you can look at why that is, what machines are being left on and then make changes to eliminate excess energy consumption.

Enexus has in-house experts that can help look at your technology and ensure that it is the most energy-efficient for your individual needs.

So, by making just a few simple behavioural changes such as turning off lights and computers when not in use and ensuring the vampire devices are switched off too, you can help reduce your energy usage, save money on your energy bills, and instil a ‘green’ culture within your workspace.

 

To find out how Enexus can help you take proactive measures for your business energy contracts, help you reduce energy consumption, and ensure you buy energy in the most cost-effective way, get in touch at info@enexusenergy.co.uk or 01253 966 960.