This tips on the 10 ways to reduce energy consumption in a facility can help facilities managers often saddled with the responsibility of ensuring the smooth running of the operations in any establishments to find good solutions to energy management. With the continual increase in the cost of energy, facility managers are realizing the need for sustainable initiatives that can provide lasting solutions to the frequently asked questions of the best ways of improving productivity.
A research estimated that the increase in energy translates to a 10% increase in cost of production in consumer-goods company- a leap with the potential of wiping out profit margins unless the increase is passed to consumers. Hence, the need for the importance of energy maintenance and the ways of energy management in a facility.
More than 90% of people’s time is spent in buildings. Consequently, this contributes to a greater percentage of energy used by the buildings managed by facilities managers. Without a good energy management strategy put in place, facilities especially those owned by businesses and organizations are at the risk of losing profits, thus the importance of energy maintenance in facilities. This article includes everything you need to know about energy management including what energy management is, the benefits of energy management and the top 10 ways of reducing energy consumption in a facility,
What is Energy Management in Facility Management?
Energy management involves the practice of monitoring and reducing your business or organization’s energy usage. It includes small actions such as tracking energy bills, using energy-efficient LED lights which are known to reduce energy consumption by 50%, to complex ones such as building a financial model for future year planning in alliance with your business objectives.
Energy management in facility management are the systems or changes put in place in facilities to ensure reduced operation costs and consumption, increased productivity and efficiency, and energy sustainability in facilities. Such changes or systems may include implementing technologies such as energy-efficient lightening and HVAC equipment.
If you’re bothered with how to reduce energy consumption in a facility, these energy facility management technologies have helped facility managers reduce energy consumption and operating cost. Moreover, it has helped increase workplace productivity in facilities.
What are the Benefits or Importance of Energy Management?
Why is energy Management Important in Facility Planning? The primary importance of energy management and maintenance in every facility is energy conservation, and energy cost saving to improve energy efficiency buildings. The following are the importance of energy maintenance:
- Energy maintenance saves cost
- It reduces greenhouse emissions
- Energy maintenance helps businesses meet statutory compliance issued by regulatory bodies
- It helps maintain energy price
- It helps reduce the risk of energy scarcity.
Top 10 Ways of Reducing Energy Consumption in Commercial Facilities
The best plan for energy management often revolves around managing energy supply, reduction in energy waste and using technology for an efficient energy. How can you reduce energy consumption in facilities? The following are the top 10 ways of managing energy in a facility:
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Use Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Bulbs:
One of the best ways reducing the energy cost of a building is the use of LED bulbs. These modern technology lights are long-lasting and use up only a quarter of energy the conventional bulbs use. With LED bulbs, you can reduce energy consumption in a facility and save up to 60% of energy cost.
Moreover, LED bulbs generate less heat; hence, they help reduce the amount spent on air-conditioning system.
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Upgrade your HVAC Systems:
Old HVAC systems are not efficient ways in reducing energy in homes and commercial facilities. They are poor in managing air quality. Old HVAC systems are more expensive to maintain.
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Inspect all equipment:
Checking all equipment to ensure they are working as they should be is one of the ways of reducing energy consumption in commercial buildings and homes. According to Sam Schell, equipment converts raw energy into useful energy. A loose fan belt requires more energy to run the fan than a properly adjusted belt.
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Plant Evergreen Deciduous trees outside Work facilities:
Planting deciduous trees along the sides of office buildings can help to provide shade in summer thereby reducing the cooling load. They also permit sun into offices during winter. Moreover, evergreen trees when planted along the west and north sides pf your office buildings will help to create wind block in winter seasons and provide shade during summer seasons.
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Create an Energy Awareness Program:
Informing coworkers and employees about energy-saving habits is an effective way of reducing energy consumption. This way, everyone is aware of your commitment. Creating incentives to reveal how low an office can get their average kilowatt per hour per month is another creative way to encourage co-workers towards saving energy
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Use Programmable Thermometers:
The use of programmable thermometers in commercial facilities can help adjust the temperature of the work environment to a set temperature during work hours and after work hours
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Install monitor power-management software.
Companies in the United States are known to waste over 1 billion dollar a year on computers that are left on when they shouldn’t. Hence, one of the best ways of reducing energy consumption in facilities is installing power management software. Energy wastage can be avoided in workplace facilities by installing power-management software for equipment’s such as computer monitors, hard drives, and Central Processing Units (CPU).
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Install Motion-sensitive Lights:
Motion sensitive lights as the name implies lightens up the workplace environment when it sends movement in your workspace. With this, the light only stays on when your office is occupied.
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Identify and Eliminate Phantom Electric loads:
Phantom Electric loads are the electric units consumed by electronics and appliances when they are not in used. They may include a ceiling fan switched on when no one is there. These loads are known to contribute 10% of energy bills which should have been avoided. Identifying and unplugging electric equipment’s when they are not in use is another way of reducing energy consumption in homes and work facilities.
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Install Green walls:
Installing green walls is another way of reducing energy consumption in homes. Green walls, also known as living walls, helps to increase the value of your building properties while reducing energy consumption. They breath fresh cool air into your environment while also cooling environments that rely on HVAC systems. It can also be used in a commercial facility.
Conclusion
Facility management covers a wide range of competencies but recently, energy efficiency still remain one of the main focus for many facility managers. Many businesses in Nigeria and across the world fail to take up energy efficient opportunities which is the reason why there is a gap between the current and the peak levels of energy efficiency
However, if you own a big organization or you are a small business owner, you don’t have to ask how can you reduce energy consumption in a facility anymore. By working with professional energy managers, you can effectively reduce energy consumption and costs and at the same time increase the operational productivity and efficiency in your business and organizations.