‘Energy efficiency is pivotal to helping the government achieve our climate change targets.’
Find hidden savings for your business
That was Greg Barker, The Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change’s message at the launch of Green Deal Skills Alliance. I liked his keynote speech, it was positive and confirmed what we already know – energy efficiency is a must and can have big results.
He said it was estimated that 5% of profits every year in UK companies may be lost through inefficient use of resources. And for me this is important. Most businesses make a real effort to raise profits by 5% and there, all the time, waiting to be picked, was the low hanging fruit from the energy efficiency tree.
How come large numbers of UK businesses have been slow to get this rather obvious message? Well that makes me think that government must have kept it a secret.
Has the Government shown business the way forward?
Well, there are some genuine examples out there, the only problem is that they don’t seem to have always had their heart in it. For example, lots of local authority and Government buildings haven’t complied with the EPBD requirement to inspect and report on air conditioning efficiency, a report known to uncover some pretty big wins. And the government chose not to sort out the non-compliance in Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) in a way that could have raised awareness and led to a reduction in waste – and not to mention the Display Energy Certificates on their own buildings that often have pretty poor ratings. These mixed messages have delayed leading the way in making savings.
It wasn’t until I thought really much harder though before I began to reflect on what could have changed things. They’ve missed something important. If only they’d instructed ‘Survey and Test’ to energy audit more of their buildings, then they could have picked the low hanging fruit years ago!
Wondering where your business’s 5% extra profit might be hiding?
No problem – just make contact and we’ll tell you how our energy audit service will help you find it!