Businesses

The first step to saving energy in any business is to see where energy is being used and/or potentially wasted. By looking at fuel bills and energy usage it is possible to know how and when energy is being used. Further investigation can identify potential savings.

The LEA can give advice on working practices that either waste or conserve energy. Many times it is the small behavioural changes that can save the most energy.

Top Ten Tips on Energy Saving:

  • Understand where your energy goes - regularly monitor your gas, electricity and water use. Consider installing an Intelligent Metering system. For more information on Intelligent Metering visit: aIM-4-SMEs - automated Intelligent Metering for Small to Medium-sized Enterprises
  • Ensure lighting is not being used unnecessarily. Replace tungsten bulbs with CFLs, and fluorescent tubes with T8 tubes that have a tri-phospor coating. Consider automatic lighting controls
  • Ensure all equipment (including vehicles) are regularly maintained and services to ensure maximum efficiency
  • Ensure your heating systems are used efficiently and regularly maintained. Consider installing insulation to stop heat loss through pipes and walls and install heating controls such as TRV's.
  • Fit a water displacement device in toilet cisterns to reduce the amount of water per flush.
  • Alternatively, consider installing energy efficient dual-flush toilets.
  • Appoint an energy champion to monitor trends, organise staff training and implement environmental awareness in the organisation.
  • Consider renewables e.g. solar hot water systems, photovoltaics, wind power and ground source heat pumps. For more information on renewable energy please call the Energy Agency on 0116 262 4698 or use the email form on the contact page to send us a message.
  • Draw up an energy action plan setting ambitious targets/practices and allocate a staff member to each activity. Ensure that this plan is reviewed and updated regularly. For more information on creating your own action plan visit What's your plan
  • Ensure that all equipment is turned off when not needed.

To speak to an officer from the LEA please call the team on 0116 262 4698 or use the email form on the contact page to send us a message.

Climate Change - What's Your Plan

Climate Change - What's Your Plan? encourages everyone in Leicester to plan how they can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they produce, and is helping businesses and organisations write their own Climate Change Action Plans. It is run by Leicester City Council and is available to all businesses within the city.

Cutting greenhouse gas emissions not only benefits the environment, but also makes business sense. Saving energy reduces fuel bills, saves money and makes your business more attractive to potential customers.

Climate Change What's Your Plan offers a free service that comprises the following key elements:

  • Free initial visit to provide targeted advice on climate change issues. This covers energy use, water consumption, waste, recycling, purchasing and transport.
  • Free Climate Change Action Plan template. This will be completed during the visit and will help you identify key actions to undertake, together with information on costs and savings.
  • Signposting to other relevant support structures and grant schemes, if requested. This will include signposting to organisations that offer full environmental / energy audits, and intelligent metering systems.
  • Free follow-up visit, in order to report progress and provide further advice and support, if requested.
  • Promotion of achievements on Leicester City Council's website, and other media as appropriate.

The Action Plan is specifically tailored to your business and can idenitfy what can be achieved in the short, medium and long term. Along with this the plan can identify potential savings and the nominted employees responsible for carrying out each action.

If you are interested in applying for a free visit, or would like further information, please contact (0116) 252 6741 or email: climatechange@leicester.gov.uk quoting reference 'LEA'.

For more information, please visit the Leicester City council website page What's your plan

Greening your Business

With today's competitive markets, businesses have to find more and more ways to beat their competitors and become more attractive to potential clients. Some organisations have found that by increasing their environmental credentials they are able to attract customers who are concerned about the impact the business processes have on the environment.

As well as increasing environmental kudos within an organisation, looking into your environmental policies and practices will help indentify energy saving opportunities. These will help lower the fuel bills of the organisation and therefore decrease the amount of money spent on overheads.

The LEA can help you to address all the above topics, from looking at energy usage, transport use and sustainable procurement to writing environmental statements and marketing your new environmental status.

You may also be interested in the potential to incorporate on-site renewable energy generation for your business. Whether it is solar heating, ground-source heat pumps or a wind turbine the LEA will be able to help with the first stages of indentifying which renewable energy would be best suited to your situation and how to proceed in technical feasibility studies, sourcing grants and potential returns.

For further information on renewable energy sources for business please download the document below published by the Carbon Trust Publications for Website: Carbon Trust Renewable Energy Overview

Training and Staff Awareness

Energy saving in an organisation is not something that can be achieved without help from staff. Employees who have knowledge about energy saving practices are more likely to be aware of their energy use within the organisation and implement energy efficiency practices.

The LEA can help to organise and facilitate training in energy awareness including the training of Energy Champions. This training can include information on:

  • Climate change
  • Peak Oil
  • Current energy use of the business
  • Benefits of reducing energy use
  • No-cost measures
  • Awareness campaigns
  • Motivational tools
  • Other 'green' activities including travel and transport policies

By training staff and managers in this way you can encourage participation in energy saving campaigns and give employees vital information that can be implemented both in the workplace and at home.

Grants and Assistance

There are various grants and funding available for businesses to make them more energy efficient. Funds are available for a number of topics including purchasing energy efficiency equipment, grants for renewable energy and various energy saving projects. However, as with all funding sources these can change from month-to-month and have various eligibility criteria.

Applying for grants and loans can be a daunting task, especially if you have not done this before. The LEA can help you source and apply for grants by offering advice and guidance throughout this process. We can help see your project idea from conception to completion and offer levels of service suitable to your needs.

Display of Energy Certificates (DECs)

The DEC obligations came into force on 1st October 2008 and are required for buildings with a total useful floor area over 1,000m2 that are occupied in whole or part by public authorities and by institutions providing public services to a large number of persons and therefore frequently visited by those persons. Private organisations, including those that may share a building with a relevant institution, do not need to display a DEC, but may elect to do so on a voluntary basis.

The purpose of introducing Display Energy Certificates (DECs) is to raise public awareness of energy use and to inform visitors to public buildings about the energy use of a building. DECs, and associated advisory reports provide an energy rating of the building from A to G, where A is very efficient and G is the least efficient and are based on the actual amount of metered energy used by the building over a period of 12 months.

The DEC must be displayed in a public place clearly visible to the public. The operational rating (A-G) must be calculated according to the methodology approved by the Secretary of State (SoS). This is done by an accredited energy assessor using a software tool for the calculation that has been approved.

To find an accredited energy assessors to produce a DEC for your building contact visit the Non-Domestic Energy Performance Certificate Register page.