As the UK reaches the latest milestone in its reopening roadmap, business energy experts, Gazprom Energy, are warning business owners, and their employees, to be more consumption conscious in order to avoid unnecessary energy costs and to maintain sustainability efforts.
Britons have started returning to the workplace in droves, with 85% of the rail network now running and rush-hour traffic congestion in London at 65% – 10% up month on month, according to the Department for Transport.
As the return to the workplace continues to gather momentum, research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that 63% of employers plan to implement a hybrid working policy. With many employees rotating between the workplace and home, and some premises left either partially or completely empty, it’s possible that lights, heating, appliances and electronic equipment may be left turned on, or on standby, for extended periods of time.
According to research conducted by the B2B energy supplier, 75% of corporate businesses say that reducing energy consumption is one of their biggest energy challenges. Yet, the supplier warns that employees could be running up thousands in additional energy bills as lighting and heating are not turned off in between infrequent workplace visits.
The business energy supplier estimates that heating left on in the workplace overnight costs, on average, £125.56 per sq. ft per year. Likewise, lighting left on overnight could cost £439.49 per sq. ft per year.
Workplaces that have air conditioning could also be wasting £188.34 per sq. ft per year.
Each employee could also be wasting more than £10 worth of energy in the workplace per year by leaving personal electronic devices on standby when not in use.
A personal computer (PC) left on standby in the workplace costs, on average, £9.74 annually to power, as it still uses energy despite lying dormant. This is also the case for laptops – £4.87, additional PC monitors – £0.70, televisions – £16.24, printers/scanners – £6.50, stereo systems – £4.87, smart speakers – £3.25, DAB radios – £3.25, and mobile phone/tablet chargers – £0.32.
Employees could potentially also be racking up thousands more in extra costs by leaving shared appliances turned on when not in use. Workplace kitchens contain a myriad of communal appliances that are often left turned on and/or plugged in while not in use.
Gazprom Energy suggests organisations put measures in place to ensure all employees check both personal and communal devices before leaving the premises, especially when they are not returning the following day.
Comments are closed.