The goal to save energy in commercial buildings is hinged on the fact that the established environment accounts for almost 50% of greenhouse gas emissions. Auditing the commercial zone for its use or waste of energy can yield significant improvement in preventing energy loss. It will also help acquire a higher grade of energy efficiency for businesses, which can enable more savings in several aspects.

Moreover, there exist low cost strategies that are proven sources of saving energy, reducing emissions and operational costs. One such example is thermal insulation, which is one of the earliest illustrations of energy conservation. Commercially, warm/cold air ducts and ventilation systems are necessary components for regulating temperature in large capacities. This significantly raises the need for insulation that resists penetration of heat and condensation of the duct and fan system. Experts can determine the right type of insulation needed for commercial building, including its thickness and application that adequately manages preserving warm and cool air. Likewise, here are 7 major ways to save energy in a commercial setting that serve as solutions to many environmental problems in themselves:

Check Efficiency of Equipment

Ensuring that the equipment installed in your office/practice offers optimum functionality is important because it eliminates loopholes that may be losing good amounts of energy. Appliances tend to make use of raw energy to function; this means if the system isn’t optimized then it can be consuming more energy than is needed for it to operate. For example, a loose fan belt takes in more energy to perform the same work as a fan with a fastened belt. An outdated printer takes more time and energy to load than a new one that is more energy efficient. By updating your equipment, you can save a lot of money on your utility bills and also lower the demand for excessive electricity use. It is important to have a commercial electrician regularly inspect all equipment to eliminate faults and poor functionality in time.

Install Technology that Saves Energy

It is natural for humans to forget to switch off the lights before leaving or to turn off any running fans, but with occupancy sensors this can be managed automatically. Motion sensors offer the advantage of sensing movement and coordinating it with lights/fan. If they sense the room is vacant, they can be programmed to automatically shut off the lights, fans and the HVAC unit.

Use LED Bulbs

LEDs use much less energy than conventional light bulbs. The diode light is efficient than the filament light as it uses 75% less energy. Moreover, understanding technology helps you better judge the more useful option of the two. LED and Fluorescent do not differ much in terms of brightness as brightness is determined by lumens. Lumens is the measurement of light and both bulbs may have the same lumen but require massively different amounts of energy to generate that level of brightness. LED not only uses less energy to light up but it utilizes the majority of energy generated while Fluorescent bulbs tend to waste around 90% of the energy generated in order to light up.

Utilize Daylight

Daylight is a natural source of illumination, which even has psychological benefits. In fact, daylight harvesting is a green way of buildings utilizing natural light in order to reduce reliance on artificially generated lighting. It is estimated that office/commercial buildings typically use 17% of their energy output for lighting. By installing large windows or reflectors that can maximize the use of light and distribute it throughout the building, you can significantly lower electricity costs.

Install Energy-Saving Thermostat

Install programmable thermostats that can optimize its settings according to suitable and moderate temperatures. Smart thermostats are designed to keep energy efficiency in mind and hence adjust their settings accordingly. This also keeps employees from changing the thermostat settings to what they find comfortable as some employees usually feel either too hot or too cold. This leads to them constantly adjusting the temperature, which can waste a lot of energy by suddenly increasing temperatures. A self efficient thermostat will take its own course and help to save energy and reduce unnecessary energy losses.

Enforce Better Power Management Rules

Employees should be disciplined to follow rules that can collectively lead to a sustained environment. You can do this by making sure that all office computers are set to save energy they are not being used. This means the computers should display black screens (sleep mode) instead of screensavers.

Encourage Minimum Use of Paper

Paper generation significantly accounts for human impact on the environment. Commercial settings use extremely high volumes of paper, which has tremendously harmed forests and natural habitats. Implement a strict policy of reducing paper use by encouraging employees to generate data on computers and only use paper when absolutely necessary. You can also install Kiosks to aid in formulating more digital data than conventional data.

Whether it’s your HVAC systems that need inspection or the overall equipment in your commercial setting, your best bet is to hire a commercial electrician to have everything synchronized to a regulated standard of performance. A Lakeland electrician is skillfully trained in going through your building to eliminate all avenues of energy losses and enforcing strategies for your building to become highly energy efficient. Thoroughly inspecting every aspect of a commercial building is overwhelming and can result in many oversights. A professional Lakeland electrician is equipped with the experience and skills necessary to use advanced equipment to check for current/voltage problems or any other existing electrical faults. In addition, he will also guide you to implementing eco-friendly strategies to optimize your environment completely.