For a greener office, engage your employees
by Celine Roque
Companies around the world are scrambling to save money to survive the recession, but a lot of them are missing out on a key area. According to Hugh Jones, Solutions Director at Carbon Trust, “Many companies think of energy as a fixed overhead but saving energy is actually one of the easiest ways to reduce costs. Simply by switching machines off after use, or turning the heating down in warm weather, organisations can make real savings on their energy bill.”
Carbon Trust did a survey among UK employees and found that a substantial majority (87%) think that they should do their own part in cutting costs, while 78% are ready and willing to do so by being more energy efficient. What made them so eager to help? About half of them point to the bad economy as their main motivator.
Managements could have capitalized on this prevailing sentiment, and yet many have been failing to do so. Over half (55%) of employees said they were never given them any advice on being more energy efficient around the workplace (which they would have followed gladly). Among those who were given advice, 42% said it had made them more energy efficient. Beware, though. If you’re going to implement an energy initiative, there’s a sense of fairness that employers need to uphold. Two-thirds (67%) of those surveyed felt that while they’d like to help personally, it’s important that their colleagues do their part as well.
In the US, wasted energy in offices present a huge problem. The 2009 PC Energy Report found that almost half of US employees who use computers do not turn them off after work. This translates to $2.8 billion wasted annually for 108 million idle PCs, not to mention the millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Imagine the savings if this was properly addressed.
Thought...
