Business owners that want to make their operations more sustainable have many opportunities to do so. Prioritizing and pursuing energy efficiency is a great starting place for going green.
Do an Energy Audit
A professional energy auditing service can assist you with identifying your operating space’s biggest obstacles to efficiency and suggest ways to address them. Usually, teams that perform these types of services include electrical and sometimes mechanical engineers. They’ll use specialized equipment to take precise readings on everything in your facility that’s using power.
Energy audit findings could include cost comparisons between what you’re spending now and what you can expect to be paying after undertaking certain improvements. With access to this type of referential resource, the decision to go green may be an easy one.
Replace an Old HVAC System
Some calculated steps to make your company more energy-efficient will impart substantial savings. For many businesses, cooling operating facilities comprise the bulk of their energy usage. In warm weather regions, the cost of providing personnel with a comfortable environment and protecting property from damage can add up.
Upgrading an outdated commercial HVAC system with a new energy-efficient model could yield a sizable reduction in monthly utility expenses. Reconfiguring a system’s ductwork and making it better insulated can also boost performance. Reach out to an installation and service company in your area that has experience helping businesses update their facilities’ cooling systems. If you need to find help with commercial HVAC in Tampa, reach out to a locally-based service company that can give you good guidance on your facility’s cooling needs. An upgrade may generate appreciable savings on your electric bills month after month.
Don’t Skip HVAC Maintenance
Over time, commercial HVAC systems require cleaning and calibration in order to work properly. Without essential maintenance, an HVAC unit will struggle to reach temperature settings. In fact, a system that hasn’t had routine maintenance might be running almost all of the time and still not reach the temperature that you’ve put into your thermostat. Alternatively, it may take several hours to lower the temperature in your facility by one degree when it should be taking less than an hour.
Professional cleaning gets dust and debris out of air handlers, allowing air to pass through unobstructed. In addition to enhancing performance, cleaning evaporator coils can prevent mechanical problems and help systems reach their projected lifespan. This means that you can get the most out of your investment, and you may be able to avoid having to deal with costly repairs.
Purchase Energy Efficient Equipment
When you buy any type of large equipment for your business, you need to be pragmatic about the costs associated with operating it. If you get the least expensive model available or opt to buy used equipment that’s nearly a decade old, you should anticipate that it might not offer optimal performance. Likewise, running equipment that performs poorly may take twice as much electricity as running equipment that performs well.
Whether you need to invest in industrial machinery or basic office equipment, limit your search to energy-efficient options. Trying to cut corners on equipment expenditures could wind up costing you a lot more money in the long run.
Retrofit Your Lighting System
Fluorescent lights aren’t as energy efficient as many people think. Decades ago, they were a big improvement efficiency-wise. Now, LED lighting systems are the most eco-friendly.
To make the switch, you may not necessarily have to replace all of your fixtures. Retrofitting them with components to house LED ballasts could be an easy way to make your lighting affordable.
Ultimately, going green is a smart business decision. The things that you do to use less power can reduce your overhead while also positioning you to attract more customers. People and businesses put a strong emphasis on sustainability when they’re choosing who to work with. Being able to tell your customers how you’re doing the part to help the planet projects a positive image and speaks to your business’ strong leadership.