Energy efficiency in the office

Renewable Energy 

• For any organisation with an office space, or for media owners with powered inventory, switching to a renewable energy supplier can be a straightforward way of quickly reducing carbon emissions.  
• Be sure to look for organisations backed by REGO certificates (Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin) which assure that the energy supplied is 100% renewably sourced.  

Lighting 

• Using energy efficient options such as LED lightbulbs can make a big difference. 
• When adequate, ensure that natural light it used as many offices are artificially lit unnecessarily. Natural light not only saves energy but has also been found to improve sleep and avoid health risks associated with unnatural lighting, such as an elevated stress response.  
• Motion sensors will automatically ensure lights are switched off if rooms are not in use  
• Dimmable lights mean lights do not always have to be on maximum brightness, saving energy and electricity costs  

 Heating and Cooling Systems 

• Implement temperature controls, ensuring heating and air conditioning is timed correctly and according to outside air temperatures. Lots of energy can be wasted if heating and cooling systems are competing and can easily be avoided by installing a Building Management system. 
• Ensure staff are trained on local heating and cooling units to avoid dramatic swings in temperature, or take away ability to manually adjust the thermostat. 

 Data Centres and Comms Rooms 

• Set cooling systems to a higher temperature to save energy and increase cooling capacity – often data centres are set around 19°C resulting in unnecessary energy usage. Data centres can save 8% to 9% in energy costs for every 1°C increase in server inlet temperature. 23°C is the optimum temperature for many data centres to save energy without risking overheating. 
• Set up hot and cool aisles. Typically, only 40% of the electricity consumed in a data centre is used by IT equipment. A staggering 60% is consumed by the server room infrastructure: air conditioning, lighting, UPS systems, etc. Reorganising your aisles into either hot or cold air containment systems could save you 20% to 40% in annual cooling system energy.