You have the power to reduce your organisation’s energy costs.
Businesses and institutions in the Caribbean typically spend about 10% of their total operating costs on energy each year. For some organisations, energy costs represent up to 50% of operating costs. By making energy-efficient improvements, you can decrease your energy use by as much as 20% per year and reduce your operating costs.
Energy efficiency is good for your bottom line.
Energy efficiency will improve your bottom line and help strengthen the region’s economy by reducing its dependence on imported fuel. Energy efficiency means reducing energy consumption without sacrificing the processes and equipment that use energy. There remain many low-cost solutions. And remember, even if the purchase price of energy-efficient products may be a little higher, the cost will be offset by the resulting energy savings that occur over the life of the measures.
Lighting
Follow these bright ideas to save energy:
- Replace incandescent light bulbs with light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs.
- Replace inefficient T12 fluorescent tubes with high-efficiency T8 tubes. The payback for each bulb is 1–2 years.*
- Install lighting controls, daylight dimming and occupancy sensors.
Food Service Equipment
Ensure that food is stored safely and served fresh while you save energy:
- Clean refrigerator coils twice a year.
- Replace refrigerator door seals when needed to prevent the refrigerator from leaking air.
- Install strip curtains for walk-in coolers and freezers, ice machines and solid door reach-in refrigerators and freezers.
Air Conditioning
Beat the heat and maintain a comfortable working environment with these energy savers:
- Install a programmable thermostat.
- Replace equipment filters.
- Clean evaporator and condenser coils.
- Seal compressed air leaks.
Transportation
You can save energy even when your employees are on the go:
- Schedule service calls to several customers in one location on the same day.
- Encourage drivers to avoid speeding, rapid acceleration and hard braking, which can lower gas mileage.
- Ask drivers to park in shady spots to reduce the amount of air conditioning needed when they return to the vehicle.
Office Equipment
Follow these bright ideas to save energy:
- Switch from desktop computers to laptops, which use much less energy.
- Install “smart” power strips to reduce energy loss.
- Use ink-jet printers instead of laser printers. Ink-jets consume 90% less energy.