Sustainable Business

Sustainable business is simply good business

Making the case for sustainability is getting easier

Sustainable businesses reduce energy costs, lower environmental impacts, and increase productivity and competitiveness, leading to greater value for stakeholders, employees and customers.

Getting started: First measure, then plan.

As a business owner or manager, you might wonder how your company is performing.

The EPA's ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® is becoming the national standard. It is an online tool you can use to measure and track energy and water consumption, as well as greenhouse gas emissions. It can track the performance of one building or a whole portfolio. Buildings earn a score from 1-100, enabling owners to compare their facilities to similar buildings across the nation.

Benchmarking is an effective tool to compare your energy performance to something similar, whether it is the performance of your facilities at the same time last year or to facilities elsewhere.

Energy-saving tips

Did you know that the average commercial building in the U.S. wastes 30% of the energy it consumes?

Once you have a sense of how your building is performing, establish measureable goals. From no- to low-cost improvements to large, comprehensive projects, you can make the energy-saving investment appropriate for your business.

Operations and Maintenance

• Conduct a nighttime audit to see what is on that doesn't need to be.
• Install building system controls to eliminate waste by automatically adjusting energy use to operating needs.
• Perform monthly maintenance of heating and cooling equipment to guarantee efficient operation throughout the year.
• Set goals and a methodology to track and reward improvements among building users.
• Conduct a continuous review of processes and systems to optimize efficiencies and save money.

Lighting

• Upgrade existing lighting using high-efficiency solutions.
• Install occupancy sensors To better manage lighting in high- and low-use areas.
• Remove lighting in areas where lighting exceeds the needs of the occupants.
• Use natural light whenever feasible.
• Reduce lighting during non-business hours.
• Review your outside lighting needs. You may be able to turn off some of the lighting, use it for fewer hours, or use lower wattage lamps.

Office Equipment

• Choose energy efficient or ENERGY-STAR® equipment when replacing refrigeration, appliances, copiers, printers and computers.
• Consider using a laptop computer instead of a desktop system, which can save 50-80% in electricity costs.
• Encourage employees to shut their computers all the way off after hours.

Heating & Cooling

• Replace manual-dial thermostats with inexpensive programmable thermostats to save 5-15% on heating costs.
• Make sure your HVAC systems are in proper working order.
• Inspect or replace filters and clean the condenser coils (outdoor unit) regularly to ensure air flow.
• Don't heat or cool unused space.

Interval Energy Data

• Pinpoint areas for improvement and optimize savings by analyzing interval energy use data.
• Businesses can tweak operations to achieve energy savings beyond traditional upgrades by utilizing real-time, granular information.

Strategic Energy Management

Follow the ENERGY STAR® guidelines for energy management:

• Make a commitment.
• Assess performance.
• Set goals.
• Create an action plan.
• Implement the action plan.
• Evaluate the progress.
• Recognize achievements.

Renovations, retrofits, and new construction

Major changes to existing buildings present opportunities to make significant improvements to the way buildings consume energy. In particular, upgrades to the building envelope or HVAC system can provide noticeable comfort and savings.

New construction offers a rare chance to get all system components working together to achieve significant savings, especially if addressed during the design phase. For example, orienting a building to maximize daylighting and solar heat gain in the winter can reduce the demand for electricity and space heating.

If you are planning a major construction project, there are a number of green building rating systems and certification tools that offer invaluable information and guidance, regardless of whether certification is pursued.

Green Building Rating Systems and Certification Tools:

• Green Globes
• U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®)
• The International Living Future Institute's Living Building Challenge™
• Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM)
• American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Advanced Energy Design Guides
• International Green Construction Code (IGCC)
• ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager

Save some green

Every dollar you save on operating costs is a dollar you can redirect to your core business.

Energize Connecticut℠ can help you identify smart energy improvements that will deliver the greatest return at the lowest cost — plus deep savings for years to come. We can also connect you with programs, tax credits, incentives and funding resources that make energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades feasible.

Outlined below are just a few of the solutions that Energize Connecticut offers:

• Appliances and equipment
• Retrofits (upgrading to state of the art technology)
• New construction
• New equipment
• Operations and maintenance
• Process improvements
• Sustainability strategies