Aside from the drive to deliver a carbon neutral workplace environment, the benefits of net zero for businesses could be far reaching on a much wider scale, according to E.ON
The increasing focus on cutting carbon emissions on the path to net zero has been reinforced by successive lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic - and businesses are starting to think differently about decarbonisation in relation to their own business as a result.
Richard Spencer, head of technical services and operations for energy solutions at E.ON, notes that people seem to be more energised now. "There was a visible impact on air pollution during the Covid lockdowns," he says. "Now is a key time to make changes as businesses have gained valuable insight into different ways that they could operate."
Instant impact
For many businesses, there will be opportunities to make improvements that have an instant effect, says Spencer. "It's really important to gather good data," he explains. "A lot of companies leave their lights on when no-one is in the building, for example, or manufacturers leave production lines running even if they're not producing anything."
"That can be optimised quite quickly by changing people's behaviour, automating buildings and having alerts when machinery or devices are left on," he adds. "There is often a culture of taking energy for granted because it is not a business's biggest expense."
It may be that, with some older premises with poor insulation - e.g. single-skin metal sheds - the best thing to do is knock the building down and construct a new, more efficient facility. But equally, something as simple as replacing the windows with new, high thermal efficiency products can make a dramatic difference to energy consumption, while similar gains can be made just by ensuring your insulation is up to standard. These small changes can have an instant impact on business morale.
This article is sponsored by E.ON.
