Energy Saving Tips for Businesses During Lockdown

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25 January 2021

As COVID-19 puts pressure on businesses to reduce costs, what can be done to optimise energy consumption before buildings return to full occupancy?

Lockdown means fewer people in offices and retail outlets around Britain, but for business energy managers it does provide an opportunity to optimise energy performance in buildings before the hopeful return to normal operations in the coming months.

Is the financial challenge of COVID is challenging our conventional understanding of energy management?

Lockdown – An Opportunity to Identify Energy Waste

Research from Carbon Intelligence suggests that there was a 16 per cent average reduction in building energy use in the first month of lockdown in 2020. 

George Catto, Client Services Director at AMR DNA, an Energy Assets service that uses artificial intelligence to identify energy waste, says that the issue of energy waste has taken on a new significance since the pandemic:

“This ability to use artificial intelligence to forecast what future energy consumption can look like, and to adapt quickly to changing circumstances, is gaining a lot of interest because no organisation can afford to burn money unnecessarily in today’s trading climate.

“As a building uses energy, several ‘fingerprints’ unique to its operation emerge. By using artificial intelligence systems such as AMR DNA, managers can be alerted automatically to energy waste hiding in plain sight.

“Our experience is that AI can deliver typical average savings of up to 25 per cent in gas and 15 per cent in power.”

Energy Saving Tips for Businesses Impacted by Lockdown

Catto suggests six ways that organisations can immediately impact their energy usage whilst operating at reduced occupancy:

1. Switch-off all appliances not required to be in use, ensure that heating has been turned off or set to frost protection if a building is unoccupied and limit the use of lighting to key areas.
2. Check any ‘Take or Pay’ clause within your energy contract governing minimum energy volumes.
3. If buildings are part occupied, consider moving staff safely to one floor - but ensure you meet government social distancing and any other COVID-Secure guidelines.
4. Check that all time clocks and thermostats reflect COVID occupancy patterns.
5. Use this as an opportunity to evaluate switching your energy supplier or tariff.
6. Investigate any government support for businesses, such as grants, on the BEIS site                   

Picture: a photograph of a empty office building, showing empty desks and chairs

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 25 January 2021

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