Owning commercial buildings comes with a lot of responsibility. Not only do you have to make sure the business is profitable, working conditions are up to par, and your employees are safe, you also have to be conscious of how much you’re spending on energy costs.
Here are a few ways you can save some money on energy when it comes to your commercial building.
Decrease Central Cooling
Rather than jacking up the amount of energy your air conditioner is dishing out, ease back on central cooling a bit with exhaust fans. Even lowering central cooling by three degrees could decrease AC costs by 12-15%. Exhaust fans are a great way to do that. If the building you’re cooling is extremely large, there are plenty of industrial exhaust fans that you can install within the building.
Efficient Lighting
Installing efficient lighting is extremely important for saving on energy expenses. Replacing incandescent bulbs with highly efficient compact fluorescents, which last up to nine times longer, can be a great option to improve efficiency for only a low amount of cost. Getting rid of incandescent lights and installing LED fixtures can actually lower costs by 95%.
Be Aware of Objects in Building
Depending on the size of the building and how many electronics are inside, if everything is kept turned on, it can feel much warmer in there. You should encourage your employees to turn off all computers, copiers, monitors, and other electronic devices. All this equipment should be turned off or at least set to “power down” mode at the end of the day, to conserve as much energy as possible.
Building Landscape
If you’re not aware of how the design of your building actually affects the energy being used it could be a real problem. There could be a few easy fixes to provide more shade that can end up saving you money on your energy bill. Reducing exposure to the sun in areas around your building, both inside and outside, can actually lower the temperature inside the building by up to eight degrees, not to mention decreasing the heat build-up in cars in the parking lot.