Is Energy Saving Important In Commercial Buildings?

It is often said that ‘one stitch in time, saves nine’!  So to say, in order to avoid something that can be disastrous at a later stage one needs to take action now. The need for power and electricity is growing by the minute. Be it a residential or a commercial space, every unit requires its own set of energy and power.

Moreover, it is true to say that commercial spaces, given their sheer size and the number of people consume energy and power much more than residential spaces, with every employee and every machinery adding to the per unit usage.  The requirement isn’t limited to the daily usage, but given the modernization of tools and implements and advancement in technology, even most of them are powered by electricity in order to save time and increase efficiency.

There is no way to do away with the requirement, but anything that is constantly depleted runs a risk of getting exhausted someday and power and electricity are no different. One must make every effort to conserve these resources. Even in commercial spaces, one must take the following energy saving measures to save power and energy;

1. More Accountability: It’s about understanding the gravity of the situation and acting accordingly. It is true to say that one doesn’t usually pay attention to the plugs and switches around ones office and commercial space since we aren’t directly incurring any costs or being held accountable. But to imagine your work running smoothly without the use of energy and power is far from what one can even imagine. Therefore, one must make an effort to be vigilant and take it upon them to make sure and turn off all sources of electricity and power that are not in use.

• Spreading the Word: It’s important to make people aware of the far-reaching consequences of the wastage of electricity and power and every organization and commercial space must make it a part of their SOPs to have posters and signboards that urge people to switch off any source of energy that is not in use. The communication should be direct and simple enough for every employee and the staff to understand, so much so that it creates a sense of urgency in their mind.

• Reduce and Re-Imagine: As a style of working, most offices are designed in such a way that even on a given day when there is less staff, the employees are scattered all over.  This also means that the sources of energy are used in an exploitative manner, whereas the aim should be to efficiently use energy. As an alternative, what can be done is the seating plan should be kept in a way that the energy resources are uniformly divided and it should be made a part of the SOPs to make sure that if in case the sources of energy can be concentrated at one place and the rest of the energy sources can be conserved by switching them off, it should be done.

• Alternative Sources of Energy

When it comes to non-renewable sources of energy, one has to be made to realize that if they aren’t used judiciously, sooner or later there will be a scarcity and one will have to hugely compromise on ones needs. Before it reaches that stage it is essential to take stock and make arrangements to use alternative sources of energy. Here is where a facility management comes into play. As far as commercial spaces go, one can look at solar energy. It should be a part of an integrated facility management services to provide the customer with this energy conserving service for now and as a futuristic viable option.

To conclude, even commercial buildings and spaces need to have a contingency plan in place to save power and non – renewable sources of energy. It first begins with every single individual working or associated with the organization and then it moves on to the management of larger overall commercial space that needs to be managed in such a way that the energy resources are efficiently used for which it can engage an integrated facility management company.