Using less energy isn’t just good for your budget – it’s great for the environment too. Here are some tips to help you get started.
Lighting
Did you know that up to half your energy bill could be down to your lighting? More energy efficient lighting is a great way to save you money on your electricity bill. And you can do so much more than just replace the light bulbs:
Think about how you use light in different rooms
Move workspaces to brighter areas or away from glare
Improve the way your employees use lights
Replace your old setup with more energy efficient lights
Look at the equipment that creates and reflects light
Use room colour or natural light to improve light levels
Make light levels for each area appropriate for the task – brighter for more difficult tasks and dimmer for walkways, break rooms and simpler tasks
Automate switches to control when the lights go on and off, and how bright they shine
Refrigeration
Depending on your industry, you could be spending 85% of your energy budget on refrigeration. Here are some simple changes you can make that’ll save you money:
Try to cool products before refrigerating them
Turn your pumps off when they’re not needed
Make sure your products aren’t overheated to begin with
Try to keep your cooled spaces airtight so warm air can’t get in
Put more insulation on your pipes and keep them away from anything hot
Try to avoid heat from the sun by keeping your refrigerators well shaded
Make sure cooling is actually needed, or just raise the temperature of the coolant if possible
Make sure your processing equipment works well and look for any unexpected heat spikes, e.g. from pasteurisers
Keep your cooling equipment away from heat sources (such as radiators and air-conditioning equipment)
Minimise the time your staff spend in, or passing through, cool areas – improving the layout of your facilities could help too
Data centres
Data centres can use 35 to 50 times more energy than similar sized office spaces. Here are some simple, low cost ideas to save up to 20-30% of your data centre energy:
Reduce lighting levels and install motion sensors and timers for your lights
Try to stop hot and cold air mixing in your server racks by organising your server racks into hot and cold aisles
Compressed air systems
Compressed air systems use around 10% of the total electricity used in Australian industry. Over time this adds up, but you’ll save money if you:
Find and fix leaks – leaks can waste up to 50% of your compressed air
Minimise pressure drop – your compressed air system should have a pressure drop of less than 10% between the compressor outlet and all points of use
Review your air receivers – if your receiver is too small, your compressor might be running longer than it needs to
Maintain your separators, filters, dryers and valves – if they’re faulty or clogged, they can waste energy and result in higher maintenance costs
Pumping systems
If your business is in the industrial or commercial sector, pumping systems could use up to 10% of your energy. There are some simple ways to reduce this:
Replace throttling valves with speed controls
Reduce the speed for a fixed load
Install a parallel system for highly variable loads
Replace the motor and/or pump with a more efficient model
Steam, hot water and process heating systems
Process-heating systems can make up around 17% of the electricity used by industry.
Your steam generation system could be using up to 34% of your production systems total energy.
With some simple, low cost maintenance and improvements, you should be able to reduce the energy used by your steam, hot water and process-heating systems by up to 10%:
Improve the operation and maintenance of boilers
Improve your water treatment and boiler water conditioning
Preheat combustion air
Increase boiler feedwater temperature by 7°C
Use economisers
Source:
Living Greener 2014, Living Greener, Department of Industry, Commonwealth of Australia. Canberra.
Reducing energy and water use 2014, Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, Government of New South Wales.