Reduce energy costs in your office

plug load power strip One of my favorite clients is the Association of Energy Services Professionals. I get to interview the leaders who are doing the most to help the US conserve energy. Yesterday I talked with a woman about her work to help reduce plug loads, which I think is simply the amount of electricity we use from things that are plugged in: electronics, appliances, etc.

As a small business owner, I try to think green. I reuse, reduce and recycle everything I can. Nowadays I even save my banana peels and coffee grounds for D.J.’s compost pile (and I LOVE that I’m dating a guy who composts!). But until I started working for AESP, my laptop and monitor stayed on all the time, until the glow from the screen in the living room woke me up in my house.

In other words, I was not doing enough to minimize my plug load.

AESP guest speaker Carol Sabo, a management consultant for PA Consulting Group, has close to 30 years experience in estimating and forecasting electric energy use and savings opportunities for utility system planning, energy-efficiency programs and end-user customers. She performs energy audits for businesses and colleges and said it’s easier than people think to cut energy costs.

According to Carol, there are three P’s when it comes to decreasing your plug load:

Power management: ensure that all applicable ENERGY STAR® office equipment such as PC monitors (and computers where applicable), printers, and copiers are enabled to go into “low power” or “sleep mode” when not in use.

Power off: educate staff to turn off plug-load business equipment (PCs, monitors, printers, copiers, speakers, task lights) after hours and when not being used for several hours. Use timers to control the operating hours of other inefficient equipment such as large coffee makers that heat water 24 hours a day, water coolers that have hot and cold water taps, and other plug load equipment.

Purchase “best” ENERGY STAR equipment: develop and enforce purchasing/leasing standards that specify the most efficient ENERGY STAR office equipment including copiers, printers, task lighting, vending machines, water coolers, clothes washers, and other plug-load equipment.

Here is a quick list of things you can do in your home business to reduce energy use:

Use laptops instead of desktop computers to save 50 percent of the energy.
Replace any old, big CRT computer monitors with LCD monitors.
Install ENERGY STAR compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in the task lights on your desk.
Use a power strip at your desk for computers, individual printers, and other electronics that can be turned off completely. Power off equipment and then turn off the power strip to cut down on phantom energy use (many electronics still draw some power even when you use their built-in power switch to turn them off).
Eliminate the 3-D screen savers, which can double the energy use of your computer at rest. And choose dark colors over light, because it takes more energy for the screen to produce light colors.
With water coolers, turn off the hot tap, and install a timer on the cooling tap.
Turn off computer speakers when you don’t need them.