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When it comes to the energy efficiency of your building, you may not realize how bad it is until you attempt improvements. From lowering your power bill to becoming more environmentally friendly, energy efficiency is on the minds of many business owners today.
While building an energy-efficient building from scratch is the best way to gain efficiency, that is not an option for everyone. Luckily, there are plenty of things you can do today that will save you money, lower your impact on the environment, and keep your employees happy.
Insulation is of utmost importance when it comes to improving the efficiency of your building. Insulation plays such a big part in energy efficiency, but its effectiveness is linked to your building’s ability to hold the same air.
If there are leaks, gaps in windows, or just a lack of insulation in the walls and ceiling, air will escape from inside. This lack of sealing will cause you to use the air conditioning more in the summer and your heating system more in the winter, upping your power bill significantly.
A great way to increase the insulation of your building is the replacement of windows and doors. If your building has old windows that are either broken or not maintained properly, there's a great chance that your building is losing air, and therefore efficiency.
Installing brand-new commercial doors in your building will create an airtight barrier between the internal and external environment. These doors are often hollow and filled with insulation, further increasing their ability to lower energy usage.
Door closers are another novel way to save energy. These will ensure doors are closed whenever not in use, preventing the escape of air.
Lighting is another one of the main expenses for buildings, both residential and commercial alike. You can do a few things with your building’s lighting to reduce costs and increase energy efficiency.
The first step would be to replace all of the lights in your building with LED bulbs. While they are something of a newer product, LED lights bring major benefits to the efficiency of your structure. The light produced by LED lights can be up to 90% more energy-efficient than typical incandescent bulbs.
Another lighting tip is to minimize the amount of light used. You can do this in a few ways, including having lights set up on timers, so nothing is used in the evening and having motion-sensing lights in less-used areas. This approach ensures that lights are not being used unless needed, which will drastically reduce your energy bill.
Although LED lights would be considered more efficient equipment, this consideration should be applied to the rest of your equipment. While most of the typical buildings’ power use is from lights, a huge chunk is spent on computers and other appliances.
Switching from desktop computers to laptops is a great way to save money. Laptops tend to be more energy-efficient and can be taken home by employees if necessary — a true win-win! Also, consider asking your employees to turn off their computers at the end of the day and back on when they come into the office.
Consider purchasing Energy Star-rated appliances for refrigerators, microwaves, coffee machines, air conditioners, and other devices. While these will all do the same job as their counterparts, they are certified to be more energy-efficient and will even tell you how much energy they consume in a typical year.
Like in a home, heating and cooling take up a large portion of an office’s typical power bill. There are a few ways to go about reducing the energy used for heating and cooling.
Other than getting more efficient appliances, which is the best method, a great thing to try is having different temperatures when employees are in the office versus when they aren’t.
This approach isn't always an option if your company has overnight shifts, but if you can turn the AC or heat off at night, you will notice a great increase in your building’s energy efficiency.
Increasing the energy efficiency in your building can be as simple as installing new windows and doors. Reach out to CDF Distributors today to find out what high-efficiency doors we can offer for your facility.
