Institutional
How to Run Your Business in an Energy Efficient Manner
- Create an Energy Policy
This is the first step toward successful energy management. By clearly defining your company’s commitment to energy efficiency, you send a signal to management, employees, shareholders, and the community at large that energy efficiency is an important principle of your organization.
Your policy should state an objective that reflects your corporate culture, your priorities and your commitment. It should establish accountability through a chain of command over energy issues and encourage the setting of energy goals that are linked to overall financial and other goals. Being an energy efficient company is easier than you might think and the return on the investment is well worth the effort.
- Choose an Energy Director
You don’t need an expert in energy or technical systems. The most important mission of an energy director is to establish energy performance as a core value of your company.
Other key duties:
- Coordinating and directing the overall energy program
- Acting as the point of contact for senior management
- Increasing the visibility of energy management within the organization
- Drafting the company “Energy Policy”
- Securing sufficient resources to implement strategic energy management
- Measuring, tracking, evaluating, and communicating results
- Obtaining recognition for achievements
- Establish Goals
Performance goals drive energy management activities and promote continuous improvement. Setting clear and measurable goals is critical for understanding intended results, developing effective strategies, and reaping financial gains.
Setting goals helps the Energy Director:
- Set the tone for improvement throughout the organization
- Measure the success of the energy management program
- Help the Energy Team to identify progress and setbacks at a facility level
- Foster ownership of energy management, create a sense of purpose, and motivate staff
- Demonstrate commitment to reducing environmental impacts
- Create schedules for upgrade activities and identify milestones
- Communicate progress, recognition and results
Common ways for expressing goals include:
- Defined reduction. Goals are presented in terms of a specific quantity or percentage decrease in energy use, such as a 10 percent reduction or a decrease of 300 million BTUs.
- Best-in-class. This goal aims for a certain level of performance compared to an established benchmark.
- Efficiency improvement. Goals are expressed as a function of reducing the energy intensity of a specific performance indicator, such as 2 BTUs per unit of product.
- Environmental Improvement. This goal translates energy savings into pollution prevention or reduction goals.
- Create and Implement an Action Plan
Thousands of businesses across New England are already receiving financial incentives through programs for reducing their electricity consumption when wholesale electricity prices are high or there is an extreme emergency on the region's electricity grid. Successful organizations use a detailed action plan to ensure a systematic process to implement energy performance measures. The action plan is regularly updated, most often on an annual basis, to reflect recent achievements, changes in performance, and shifting priorities.
Creating an inclusive strategy that establishes roles and actions throughout the organization can help to integrate good energy management practices.
When developing an action plan, consider:
- Brainstorming with various departments to identify ways in which they can contribute.
- Holding a competition to seek ideas for increasing energy efficiency from across the organization.
- Gathering recommendations from the Energy Team and other key personnel.
People can make or break an energy program. Gaining the support and cooperation of key people at different levels within the organization is an important factor for successful action plan implementation in many organizations. In addition, reaching your goals frequently depends on the awareness, commitment, and capability of the people who will implement the projects.
To implement your action plan, consider taking the following steps:
- Create a communication plan — Develop targeted information for key audiences about your energy management program.
- Raise awareness — Build support at all levels of your organization for energy management initiatives and goals.
- Build capacity — Through training, access to information, and transfer of successful practices, procedures, and technologies, you can expand the capacity of your staff.
- Motivate — Create incentives that encourage staff to improve energy performance to achieve goals.
- Track and monitor — Keep tabs on progress.
- Evaluate Progress and Recognize Achievement
Evaluating progress includes formal review of both energy use data and the activities carried out as part of the action plan as compared to your performance goals. Evaluation results and information gathered during the formal review process is used by many organizations to create new action plans, identify best practices, and set new performance goals.
Key steps involved include:
- Measure results – Compare current performance to established goals.
- Review action plan – Understand what worked well and what didn't in order to identify best practices.
Regular evaluation of energy performance and the effectiveness of energy management initiatives also allows energy managers to:
- Measure the effectiveness of projects and programs implemented
- Make informed decisions about future energy projects
- Reward individuals and teams for accomplishments
- Document additional savings opportunities as well as non-quantifiable benefits that can be leveraged for future initiatives.
- Recognize Achievements
Providing and seeking recognition for energy management achievements is a proven step for sustaining momentum and support for your program. Providing recognition to those who helped the organization achieve these results motivates staff and employees and brings positive exposure to the energy management program.
Receiving recognition from outside sources validates the importance of the energy management program to both internal and external stakeholders, and provides positive exposure for the organization as a whole.
Key steps in providing and gaining recognition include:
- Providing internal recognition to individuals, teams, and facilities within your organization.
- Receiving external recognition from government agencies, the media, and other third party organizations that reward achievement.
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