We’d all like to be able to transform our offices into super green workspaces. Eco-friendly designs consume a lot less energy, so not only are they helping to support the planet, they allow companies to save a huge amount of money on bills. The problem is that it costs a lot just to get to this point.
Investing heavily in green technology and eco-friendly designs is not something that all businesses can do. However, there are some changes that you can make within your company to lower your energy consumption and reduce its carbon footprint, even if you are working within a tight budget.
This guide to five practical improvements that are guaranteed to make your company run more efficiently will help you decide where to start.
1. Give Yourself a Makeover
Sometimes, the smallest details can make a surprising amount of difference. For example, investing in high quality window blinds is a good way to keep the office cool and avoid the need for constant air conditioning.
If your company is large, but there are only a few areas in which people constantly work, invest in the most efficient electric heaters. That way, you won’t have to waste money using central heating to raise the air temperature in areas where employees are only passing through or visiting briefly.
2. Switch Off and Unplug
This is one of the easiest ways to reduce your energy consumption, but you have to be thorough about it. Program all of the computers in the office to run on an energy saving mode when not in use. This will stop electricity going to waste while employees are out to lunch or away from their monitors in the boardroom.
Also, make it company policy for every employee to fully switch off their equipment before leaving at the end of the day. The person in charge of locking up must check that this has been done and turn off all lights and electronic equipment before heading home.
3. Have a Work at Home Day
This is quite an innovative strategy for most companies, but it can make a huge difference to energy consumption. And, it really does only have to be one day per month for the business to enjoy this benefit. Allowing employees to work from home for a day means that less cars are on the road and the office is a lot less active.
With tools like Skype, the norm on most personal computers, you can stay in touch with your workforce and supervise proceedings as you would if they were on site. It also gives employees a little bit of freedom and creativity; some people perform at their best when allowed to think and produce in a comfortable environment.
4. Try to Go Digital
You can save yourself a lot of money by cutting down on the amount of paper that you produce. The good news is that this is an easy task these days. With most of our documents now originating online and being transferred via the internet, there really is no reason to print out reams of paper.
If you are worried about losing data stored on computers, back it up on a disk or an external drive. Or, better yet, sign up for a cloud storage service and eliminate the risk of data loss altogether. Cloud storage is really very affordable and reliable, so you should consider it as a green alternative to paper records.
5. Commit to Recycling
Once again, make it company policy for all employees to practice good waste habits. This means placing rubbish in the right color coded bins, so that it can be easily sorted and reused after collection. While this does mean that you have to provide the bins, it is a small price to pay for a reduction of your carbon footprint.
Besides, it doesn’t really involve any extra work on your part or the part of the workforce. Simply place rubbish in the right areas and the collection agency will do the rest. It is one of the simplest, easiest, and fastest ways to up your green credentials almost instantly.
