Produced in association with the Carbon Trust

For small and medium sized enterprises, there are a set of simple measures you can take to get your 10% cut and save money in the process. Check out the list below, or download a pdf to print out and stick up in your workplace as a reminder.

1. Make someone responsible for your energy savings initiative and ask them to draw up an action plan detailing the improvements that need to be made. A useful tool to help you put together your action plan can be found at www.carbontrust.co.uk/apt. Encourage all staff to get involved and consider incentives to get everyone saving energy, cutting carbon and reducing costs. Posters, stickers and leaflets are a useful way to remind people to be energy efficient and are available from the Carbon Trust.
2. Measure how much energy you’re using in order to manage it. You need to know what you’re paying, so you can see the impact your changes are having. Keep track of your bills, and how they change when you introduce our energy-saving tips.
3. Conduct an “energy walk around”. This will help you understand where your business is using energy (eg. through heating, lighting, office equipment, factory and warehouse equipment) and to spot opportunities to use less. For a free “energy walk around” checklist and useful information download the Better Business Guide to Energy Saving (CTV034) from the Carbon Trust website or call 0800 085 2005. You’ll also find a tool to help you calculate your organisation’s carbon emissions: www.carbontrust.co.uk.
4. Upgrade your business critical equipment. Old equipment, from fryers to production lines, boilers to lighting systems, guzzle power. New energy efficient models will not only cost you less in energy bills but will also make your business more efficient. If you don’t have the capital to invest, the Carbon Trust offers zero interest, unsecured loans from £3000 to £400,000 – and in most cases the reduction in energy bills will more than cover the cost of loan repayments. For more information visit www.carbontrust.co.uk/loans.
5. Switch off lights when there is enough daylight to work by or when the room is not in use. Make sure exterior lighting is only switched on at night. If you have fluorescent tube lighting, changing the type of tubes you use can bring energy savings of 10%. More details at www.carbontrust.co.uk/lighting.
6. Turn computers off at night and at weekends. Leaving a computer on overnight for a year creates enough CO2 to fill a double decker bus. Make sure energy management software is enabled so that your computers automatically switch to low power mode after a certain time of non-use. Screen savers do not save energy!
7. Set your heating thermostat to the ideal temperature of 19-20°C. Your heating costs will rise 8% for every degree you increase the temperature. Try to make sure there is a band of 5 degrees between the temperatures at which the heating and air conditioning kick in. This will avoid wasting energy by heating and cooling at the same time! Get your boilers serviced regularly. Heating costs can rise 30% or more if the boiler is poorly operated or maintained.
8. Don’t locate your photocopier in an air conditioned area as the heat it gives off will make your air conditioning work harder and use more energy. Try to locate your photocopier in a naturally ventilated area and turn it off at night and at weekends. A photocopier left on standby overnight wastes enough energy to make 30 cups of tea.
9. Reduce unnecessary business travel by video conferencing or teleconferencing where possible. Try to travel by rail rather than air for short haul business journeys. Why not sign up to WWF’s One in Five Challenge.
10. Tell 10:10 about your journey to 10%. 10:10 have an online reporting tool for you to tell us about your company’s emissions cuts during your 10:10 year. You will need to use this tool if you want to continue to use the 10:10 brand after your 10:10 year is over, but remember – anything over a 3% cut counts as success under the terms of 10:10. Any company that actually reaches the full headline figure of 10% in a single year will be hailed as a hero of the movement.

Resource: 

1010 SME Checklist.pdf