Smart Office
Handbook
A guide to greening your office
ENERGY
EFFICIENcy
This section aims to provide an overview of the concerns and
practices relating to energy efficiency. The main focus is on
electricity, although there are various other forms of energy such
as gas and petrol.
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1
Energy efficiency
A
The City of Cape Town Electricity Department anticipates that the price of
electricity will more than quadruple [415%] between 2006/2007-2015/2016.
In the shorter term, the price of electricity is expected to increase by an
average of 19%. The truth is that saving electricity is not just a nice thing
some people do to save the environment. Today, you need to save electricity
to save your hard-earned rands.
Electricity Savings
Campaign
The City is calling on residents
to reduce their consumption of
electricity. As residential electricity
consumption is responsible for
some 43% of total electricity
consumption in Cape Town,
the City has launched a creative
marketing campaign calling
especially on those who fall in
the mid-to high-income groups,
and who use the most electricity,
to reduce their consumption by
between 25 to 40%.
By means of a marketing campaign
with the slogan ‘Electricity is expensive.
Saving is simple’, the City has devised
a practical checklist and developed
an information-filled website to
encourage residents to save.
Saving electricity is good for everyone.
You can save money, reduce the risk
of load shedding, and make your
own personal contribution to
Cape Town’s environment.
For more information about
the City of Cape Town’s
Electricity Savings Campaign,
visit their website at
www.SavingElectricity.org.za
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Smart Office Handbook
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The cost of electricity has increased significantly in South Africa over the
last few years. However, our history of ‘cheap’ electricity has resulted in
inefficient systems. Most of the electricity generated in South Africa comes
from non-renewable fossil fuels, such as coal, oil or natural gas. The burning
of these fossil fuels results in high levels of air polluting emissions and
greenhouse gases (GHGs), which in turn contribute to climate change.
Every time we have a cup of coffee, a cold drink from the fridge, a hot
shower, watch television or switch on the light, we consume energy, which
contributes to GHG emissions. By using electricity with care we will be able
to reduce our consumption, save money and also have a positive impact on
our environment.
It is important to understand that although energy savings are possible, they
are usually also linked to energy investments. It costs money to replace the
old lights with more efficient lights, or to install a solar water heater.
To ensure the most effective strategy it is recommended that you first do
an energy audit, and determine what quick wins can be implemented and
where investment is needed.
Quick start
•
Energy Audit: Do an energy audit to determine what items are using
most of your energy, and focus on simple ways you can address these. It
is important to have a baseline (starting point) so you can measure the
impact of your interventions.
•
Strategy and action plan: Ensure that you determine your strategy
with specific goals that you want to achieve, as well as an action plan
for how you want to do this. Your green team should actively participate
in this process to ensure success.
•
Budget: Ensure that you have management buy-in for your energyefficiency audit and retrofit plan so that there is budget available for
possible direct costs, such as replacing light bulbs on installing a hot
water cylinder timer-switch.
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•
Invest to save: Remember to consider ‘payback times’ when
motivating for retrofits so that you can determine potential savings as
part of the investment.
•
Awareness: Ensure that employees understand why it is important to
save energy, and what is expected from them. This might require an
internal awareness campaign.
•
Eco-procurement: As part of your long–term strategy you need
to ensure that energy efficiency is included in the procurement of
goods and services. Include energy costs in ‘total cost of ownership’
calculations when evaluating equipment purchases and comparing
with current equipment.
Things to do
Download
Click here to download
an energy audit template
and cheat sheet.
Click here to download
resources such as posters,
stickers or training material.
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The main greenhouse gases (GHG) that contribute to climate change include
carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapour and methane (which are measured as
CO2 equivalents). These measurements determine their global warming
potential (GWP). Their GWP depends on both the efficiency of the molecule
as a greenhouse gas and its atmospheric lifetime. Different actions in our
daily business operations (such as transport, travel, using electricity, etc.)
contribute to the increase of carbon emissions.
Through these simple, easy interventions, your office can reduce its carbon
footprint:
•
Reduce unnecessary air travel and encourage Skype or video
conferencing.
•
Use low-emission and fuel-efficient vehicles for your fleet. Encourage lift
clubs, avoid unnecessary trips, and stick to the speed limit.
•
Reduce your electricity consumption through the use of energy-efficient
appliances and ensure that air-conditioning is maintained and used
correctly.
•
Raise awareness of the impact of carbon emissions with staff, customers
and suppliers, as well as suggesting what they can do to reduce their
carbon footprint.
•
Consider the use of renewable energy (such as biodiesel, solar panels, or
wind energy) as a supplement to or partial replacement of conventional
energy sources.
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Equipment and appliances
•
Switch equipment off rather than using standby mode whenever
possible, and specifically after office hours.
•
Save 10% of your air-conditioner’s electricity bill by turning the
thermostat down 1º in winter and 1º up in summer.
•
Dress according to the weather to avoid the use of the air-conditioner,
or ensure that it is set on a timer so that it is only used when the office
is occupied.
•
Screensavers don’t save energy, especially not fancy animations; so
enable the hibernation mode setting for computers, or turn off your
computer screen completely.
•
Ensure that your outdoor lighting is fitted with energy-saving light bulbs
(CFL or LED), and make use of timers, daylight sensors and motion
detectors to avoid having the lights on when they aren’t needed. Solar
path lights are a good option for lighting your outdoor walkways.
•
Lower the light fixtures or install reflectors in fluorescent lights to
increase efficient use of the lights.
•
Replace conventional ‘exit’ signs and other continuously-lit signage with
LED lights.
•
Use task lighting for direct illumination of work areas instead of area lighting.
•
Make all staff aware of what can (and should) be switched off
when not needed: it’s a good idea to organise your lighting so that
it is easy to turn off all the lights at a single convenient point.
Laptops use significantly less energy than desktops. Liquid crystal display
(LCD) screens are more energy-efficient than the older cathode-ray tube
(CRT) screens.
•
Photocopy in batches, as less starting up of the copying machine
reduces the energy consumption.
Restroom or washing facilities
•
Use centralised printers instead of a printer for each desk.
•
•
Unplug all chargers and adapters when not in use (or switch off at the wall).
•
Use rechargeable batteries where possible.
Set the hot water cylinder temperature to the recommended
temperature of 60°C. Consider whether you really need hot water
at the office.
•
Energy Star is a certification system for electrical equipment to indicate
that it is energy efficient. When procuring new computers, electrical
equipment or appliances, ensure that you state in your ‘request for
quotation’ that they need to be energy efficient.
•
Consider the installation of a faucet heater, which heats only the water
that comes out the tap when it is needed. This works well for small
office kitchens.
•
Do not wash one cup at a time under the hot tap; but rather stack
the dirty dishes and wash them together in the sink at the same time.
•
Insulate the hot water pipes and hot water cylinder.
•
Showers should have water-efficient showerheads with a maximum flow
of 10 litres per minute. This can save up to 50% of water used
for showering, and also reduces the cost of heating water.
•
Consider the installation of motion sensors in storerooms and bathrooms.
•
Turn off non-essential lighting: make an honest assessment of how and
where you need to use electrical lights, and consider where you can use
daylight instead.
•
Install energy-efficient or energy-saving light bulbs such as compact
fluorescent lights (CFLs) or light emitting diodes (LEDs). They use
significantly less energy than the ‘old’ incandescent bulbs and they last
much longer.
•
Smart Office Handbook
Consider the installation of motion sensors in areas not used frequently
so that lights will turn on and off automatically.
•
Lighting
6
•
Make sure that lights, light fittings and windows are kept clean for
making the most of natural and electrical lights. Dirty windows and light
fittings reduce the lighting effect and require more energy input to get
the desired light effect.
If you can’t measure it,
you can’t manage it!
Ensure that you have
mechanisms in place to
measure your monthly
electricity consumption.
Kitchen or canteen
•
Make sure that fridges, stoves, microwaves and other appliances are
working properly. Perform regular maintenance and check that door
seals are good so that they close properly.
•
Do not leave the fridge door open, and ensure that freezers
are defrosted regularly.
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Remember to recycle
old CFLs correctly,
because they contain
mercury vapour and
should be handled
with care. If a CFL
breaks, make sure
you ventilate the
room well.
•
When using a kettle, do not fill it right to the top if you only intend
making one cup of tea; rather, only boil the amount you need.
•
Store excess hot water from the kettle in a vacuum flask for the odd cup
of coffee or for washing up later.
•
It you still have an urn, replace it with a hydro-boiler, which is much
better insulated and provides boiling water throughout the day.
Remember to switch off the hydro-boiler at night and over weekends.
•
Place a lid on the pot when cooking, and ensure that the size of the pot
is appropriate to the size of the stove plate.
•
Consider the use of a hot box to reduce energy requirements.
Reality check
With the increase in electricity costs in South Africa,
these measures can provide a significant saving
for your business. However, you must realise that
it will require time and money to ensure that the
most effective system is implemented.
Ensure that your retrofit includes both technical
and people-driven solutions.
Resources
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Smart Office Handbook
•
Click here for more information and useful tips on electricity saving
(www.SavingElectricity.org.za).
•
Click here for the energy section of the Smart Living Handbook:
(www.capetown.gov.za/smartlivinghandbook).
•
Click here to download your energy audit form and cheat sheets.
•
Click here to download stickers and posters, which you can print and
use in your office to raise awareness around energy efficiency.
•
Click here to download training material for your staff.