As energy costs take hold on businesses across the country, many are considering ways to help reduce their consumption. A business energy audit is a great way to assess energy efficiency and lower utility costs. Regardless of the size of your business, energy auditing will help to identify any energy waste.
What is a Business Energy Audit?
A business energy audit assesses your current gas and electricity use against your existing business needs to look for any waste and explore everything that uses energy on your premises with considerations of any employee habits that could have an impact.
It looks at everything from the structure of your building to the equipment you use. This will give you an in-depth understanding of current energy usage. This will feed into a plan and identify areas where you can save energy.
Things that are typically included:
- Lighting in the building
- Computer usage
- Energy-intensive activity (production/ manufacturing companies)
- Heating/ cooling systems
- Hot water
- Insulation/ heat-loss
- Employee awareness
Energy Audits can be carried out by a professional, or you can attempt to conduct a review yourselves. Head over to our other blog for our tips on reducing your energy consumption
Should my business carry out a professional Energy Audit?
A business energy audit is a legal requirement for commercial enterprises with more than 250 employees. Even though SMEs are not legally required to carry out an energy audit, they can be incredibly beneficial. Research conducted by the Green Alliance highlighted that wasted energy across just 5 UK cities cost businesses £60millon in energy bills.
A business energy audit can also have a notable impact on the environment. Something that most businesses are keen to get involved in. The UK has set a target of reducing carbon emissions to net zero by the year 2050. This has put pressure on organisations to reduce emissions where possible.
If you need support with your energy business management, particularly timing the day you sign your renewal with a dip in the market price (you can sign up to 18 months in advance), get in touch with our experts today.