Make yours an Energy Smart Business

In the coming years, Ireland must use less energy, move to clean energy, and innovate to create new solutions to meet our energy needs.

Saving energy cuts your energy costs and makes business sense for you. Energy savings can be invested in more productive activities, making you more resilient and competitive. The average small business can save up to 10% on their energy bills from behavioural changes alone, and as much as 30% with a small capital investment. It also contributes to a better, cleaner environment for our future.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is here to help you start on your energy efficiency journey by helping you to identify energy saving opportunities and to implement energy saving changes for the future.

Identify

• If you haven’t looked at your energy bill recently, now is the time. Once you know how much you are spending on your energy you can monitor and report on your savings
• The SME Energy Management Pack, available onwww.seai.ie, can help you with this.
• Attend a tailored one-day Small Business Energy Training workshop, where our expert trainers will teach you how to understand where the biggest energy saving opportunities are for your business and how to plan and implement an energy management strategy so you can start seeing the savings now.

Implement

• A range of supports will be introduced in 2020 including free online training resulting in a certificate of energy management, events, advisory services and financial supports.
• SEAI currently offer businesses a grant to install a heat pump.
• Energy changes may include staff turning off heating, lighting, or equipment when not in use, or the installation of more energy efficient equipment. Over a three-year period, if a business has an operating profit of 5%, a saving of €500 per year through energy efficiency makes the same profit as ¤30,000 in extra sales.

Top tips to help you save:

• You know your own business – look around, if energy is wasted then so is your profit!
• Get to know your energy bills, talk to your energy supplier and make sure that you measure your energy use. If you don’t measure you can’t manage.
• Attend a short training session on understanding your energy bills from SEAI – In January 2019 one company saved €6,000 on the spot!
• Heating is a major contributor to energy costs

1. Lower your thermostat by one degree
2. Save up to 30% by setting timers on heating and cooling systems
3. Properly maintain your heating and cooling systems to keep them working at maximum efficiency

• Contact SEAI about availing of an energy audit for your business
• Switch off your lights and electrical equipment when not in use

If you want to learn more about what SEAI can offer your business, or if you would like to be notified of the next SME Energy Training workshop, contact us on [email protected]

For more information and to sign up to our newsletter check out www.seai.ie/business-and-public-sector/ small-and-medium-business/

This Business Support article appeared in the November/December 2019 edition of The Hardware Journal.