So this is it, 2012 is ‘the big year’ where real energy reduction success will be revealed in the CRC League Tables and energy price rises bite further into profit margins. There’s no better time to drive that initiative forward and make those reductions.

To get you started here are two tips to consider.

1. Create a clear strategy that others can follow:

As with any ‘journey’, a sustainability strategy must be well planned, thought out and easy to explain. After all you don’t want programmes to conflict, duplicate or baffle the audience.  The GAIA Path is one such simple methodology to help decide what to do and when. It works on the premise that actions need to be placed in the right order and scheduled at the right time to maximise impact. For example employee engagement sits in the ‘Manage’ step at the front with carbon trading at the end in the ‘Offset’ step.  Learn more about it here:  GAIA Path.

2: Recognise your role is to influence others:

Once you’re clear on what your plans are you need to engage others.  An Energy Managers success greatly depends upon their ability to influence others from the Chief Executive to the Cleaner. To do this we advocate starting with a compelling message. It has to be more than just ’saving money’ or ‘reducing carbon’ which will have little appeal and make everyone feel guilty. Consider something aspirational like a commitment to ISO 14001 or a Green Policy commitment to your customers.

To understand how to do this and obtain 19 more ideas on how to enable a sustainable culture in your business, request a Free copy of our Sustainability Handbook Click here to request booklet.

Good Luck!

Haydn

Posted in Behaviour Change, CRC Carbon Reduction Commitment, Energy Saving Tips, Energy Saving and Efficiency at School or College, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Hotels, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Manufacturers, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Offices, Forum - HAVE YOUR SAY!, GAIA | No Comments »

Many thanks to all those organisations who attended the  Workshop at the ‘Innovation & Investment for a Low Carbon Future’ Conference at the NEC on 3rd December.

GAIA conducted a session on how to promote Behaviour Change in the Workplace.

As promised we have uploaded the presentation for you to revisit again.

Click here for: Innovation & Investment Conference Slides

Haydn – GAIA Dec 2010

Posted in CRC Carbon Reduction Commitment, Energy Saving and Efficiency at School or College, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Manufacturers, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Offices, FREE DOWNLOADS, Forum - HAVE YOUR SAY! | No Comments »

Many thanks to all those public sector organisations who attended the ENABLE Conference on Environmental Behaviour Change at the NSPCC Conference Centre in Leicester yesterday.

The workshops where greatly engaging with many enthusiastic attendees, so I hope you all went away with ideas on how to achieve ‘environmental change’ within your organisation.

As promised I have uploaded the presentation for you to revisit again.

Haydn  – GAIA 2010

ENABLE Conference Slides – Click Here to Download

Posted in Customer Questions & Answers, Energy Saving Tips, Energy Saving and Efficiency at School or College, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work, FREE DOWNLOADS | No Comments »

One of the greatest challenges for businesses is engaging their staff within the energy saving program. When achieved the next challenge is to sustain these messages.

Our 5 top tips to create a sustainable energy saving message:

1) Create a team to lead the initiative from diverse parts of your business.

2) Identify good ‘connectors’ people who are good at selling messages within a business.

3) Ensure energy consumption is part of the regular management meeting agenda.

4) Use the energy data visually – print of weekly reports and display on a notice board.

5) Broaden the project within a wider Corporate Social Responsibility project or within ISO14001. This increases the likelihood of longevity.

GAIA

www.gaiaactive.com

See how you can save with GAIA: Get a FREE energy evaluation.

Posted in Energy Saving Tips, Energy Saving and Efficiency at School or College, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Hotels, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Manufacturers, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Offices | No Comments »

Switch it Off week 2009 – starts Monday 9 November

The Big Switch Off On Friday 13 November 4.30-6.30pm.

Warwickshire County Council and the Warwickshire Climate Change Partnership are asking all businesses/organisations/schools in thier region take part in ‘Switch it Off’ (SIO) week to save on energy costs and reduce your carbon footprint.

The campaign, which is taking place across Warwickshire, Coventry and Worcestershire, is encouraging public bodies, businesses, communities, schools and residents to ‘Switch Off’ non essential appliances which are left on when they’re not needed.

Want to keep saving next week?

With many local and regional initiatives designed to encourage greater energy efficiency the challenge for many organisations is to sustain the savings once the initiative ends.

Long term energy efficiencies offer significant financial savings with every £ saving adding to your bottom line year after year. So it pays not to lose the progress made.

With GAIA we can help you drive further saving and keep it that way with a live energy monitoring system and training. Call us today to see how we can help you save more : 02476 236446.

Request a Free Energy Healthcheck of your site today.

Posted in Automated Monitoring & Targeting (aM&T), Energy Saving Tips, Energy Saving and Efficiency at School or College | No Comments »

One of the great challenges with energy efficiency is maintaining your savings.

If you insulate your home or office this type of saving is secured as long as you leave the walls alone, but most energy saving activities requires human involvement/engagement so when you have the team on side you need to maintain this behaviour. Staff turnover, new business initiatives all pull staff attention quickly away from energy efficiency.

The challenge for any business is to keep energy efficiency firmly on the business agenda. Energy efficiency must become a constant business process, if you see it as a quick fix the savings will be lost quicker than you achieve them.

GAIA 5 Tips to Maintaining Savings.

1) Create an Energy Saving Team – involving a wide range of members from within your business.

2) Set a Business Goal to save energy that the team can work to and ensure they read your energy consumption data frequently to feedback progress.

3) For users of the GAIA platform set an energy consumption alert to monitor your consumption peaks. This will ensure you are informed should you reach capacity limits.

4) Create and Energy charter/statement of intent connected to the company culture or brand.

5) For users of the GAIA platform set an energy consumption alert to monitor your weekend/out of hours.

GAIA

Posted in Energy Saving Tips, Energy Saving and Efficiency at School or College, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Hotels, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Manufacturers, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Offices, GAIA | No Comments »

One of the great challenges for any School is communicating to Teachers and Students about energy consumption.

The good news is that both groups are likely to be receptive to the topic of Climate Change and willing to make a difference  – the problem is making it clear to them how they are to get involved. Often the reaction of Teachers and Pupils is that their contribution can make little difference, or they are uncertain what you expect them to actually do and how it can be recognised.

Energy Saving is very possible in a School. All you need is everyone to take a small action. Follow these tips below to get yourself on your way.

Step 1: Initially all organisations need to develop a compelling message. A compelling message is not a plan to simply save x% or £x – a number created by an isolated Bursar or Local Authority figure. These are not motivational to your Teachers or Students. A compelling message is a uplifting aspiration, that is asking all members of the School to endorse and become inclusive.  The message is School specific and fits your culture and/or School motto. See our Tips part of the website for more information on this.

Step 2: Next you need to communicate frequently some simple actions for all to take.  e.g.  ‘This week we in ‘x’ School will make sure all idle Computer monitors are switched off’ . This communication should be repeated weekly with a new energy saving task.  GAIA offers a FREE Booklet ‘42 Tips to Save Energy in the Workplace’. Simply copy the Tips relevant to your situation.  You can request a FREE PDF copy here.

Lastly: You need to communicate what is happening in terms energy consumption saving to maintain the momentum and ensure success. To do this talk in kilowatts not carbon or £’s. We’re sure the Science teachers will enjoy explaining that the School has saved ‘x’  Kilowatts which can equate to’x’ houses daily consumption or ‘x’ Playstations.

Remember imagery is everything. (See Example Below)

This Secondary School uses as much energy at overnight  (midnight to 6am) as 10 homes total average daily consumption.

After the School day around 3/3.30pm, the consumption falls back but not significantly, despite the Students leaving. Clearly this School remains open for evening events, but the consumption between 4pm and 7pm should demonstrate a greater fall as shown on the blue line.

Every Secondary School has the ability to monitor energy this way. To find out how call GAIA on 02476 236446.

Secondary School Energy Profile

Energy Efficiency & Conservation – Secondary Schools March 09

Posted in Energy Saving and Efficiency at School or College | No Comments »

Energy efficiency is now the number one cost-cutting priority for UK businesses looking to combat the impact of a potential economic slowdown, according to new research released today by the Carbon Trust.

 But with UK industry still wasting almost £7 million a day on poor energy efficiency, the Carbon Trust and business groups are urging businesses to seize the potential savings on offer.

Of business leaders surveyed by the Carbon Trust, twice as many say reducing carbon emissions has risen up their agenda in the last six months than those who say it has fallen down (20% vs. 9%). And they now rank energy efficiency ahead of recruitment freezes, redundancies, freezing salaries or giving below inflation pay rises as a potential cost-saving measure.

New statistical analysis by the Carbon Trust also highlights the scale and urgency of the issue, with estimates showing that UK businesses could collectively save nearly £2.5 billion during the next 12 months, simply by implementing cost effective energy efficiency measures. And the savings are not just the preserve of large energy-intensive companies: the potential savings for SMEs alone are around £1.3 billion.

 The staggering £2.5 billion figure is equivalent to:

• 13 per cent of UK companies’ energy bills

• The combined annual salaries of more than 100,000 employees on an average wages.

 With almost seven in ten (69 per cent) company bosses surveyed either actively cutting costs or considering doing so, the Carbon Trust is urging them to get in touch to seek help in reducing their energy bills and their carbon emissions.

 Hugh Jones, Solutions Director at the Carbon Trust, said: “Our research shows that energy efficiency measures, not job cuts or salary freezes, are the cost-cutting steps businesses are considering first during this economically challenging time. It’s an encouraging sign that wise companies are realising that cutting carbon and being green is the easiest way to make a business lean.

 “Our new statistics provide stark evidence that if companies are starting to feel the bite from the economic downturn, the first place to look for cost savings should be their energy bill. There are literally millions of pounds going out of the window every day, across the UK.

 “We’re talking about money that could be saved by making quick and easy changes such as encouraging staff to turn off computers and lights, turning down the heating, or maintaining equipment properly.

Posted in Automated Monitoring & Targeting (aM&T), Energy Saving and Efficiency at School or College, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Hotels, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Manufacturers, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Offices, Forum - HAVE YOUR SAY!, Smart Metering and Monitoring | No Comments »

Over the last few weeks I have had the benefit of using arange of gizmos to help people manage energy better.  Some range from simple timer plugs to mini energy screens for the home educating me 24/7 on live energy usage.

The problem I see with these gizmo’s is they lack two key benefits:

1) I have to manage these devices to do something or ensure they continue to work. 

2) They don’t tell me when I need to do something. I have to work it out for myself.

These two missing elements are core to the benefits GAIA provides businesses. Companies cannot afford to fiddle around with equipment or spend time analysing data on consumption to spot irregularities. So GAIA tells you when you have a problem. You run your business we will monitor your energy.

GAIA
www.gaiaactive.com

Posted in Automated Monitoring & Targeting (aM&T), Energy Saving and Efficiency at School or College, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Hotels, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Manufacturers, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Offices, Smart Metering and Monitoring | No Comments »

how-to-save-energy-gaia3

 Key points and myths about energy saving:

• Changing energy suppliers caps prices it does not save energy
• Businessess and organisations may be different in how they use energy, but the process to achieve savings is the same.
• Any business or organisation can save energy, energy expertise is not required.
• Energy saving does not require extentive resources and can be conducted by any staff member with the right infomation.
• Energy consumption constantly creeps upwards. Only by energy monitoring can organisations retain savings.

GAIA
www.gaiaactive.com

Posted in Automated Monitoring & Targeting (aM&T), Energy Saving and Efficiency at School or College, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Hotels, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Manufacturers, Energy Saving and Efficiency at Work - Offices, FREE DOWNLOADS, Smart Metering and Monitoring | No Comments »