Energy management is the process of tracking and optimising energy consumption units, as well as energy distribution and storage.
Having energy management strategies in place is valuable for any business, especially when living in the current energy crisis. It brings benefits such as reducing your business’ financial costs, which is becoming increasing valuable as energy costs continue to soar.
Boxfish get it. We work day-to-day with small and large businesses just as worried over how to manage their energy, with over 25 years of experience easing said worries- if anyone can give you good tips for your energy management, its us.
1. Identify and Monitor Sources of Energy Consumption
Where do you consume energy? Does it come from multiple sources? Can you identify which sources consume the most? It will most likely change seasonally, so month-to month comparisons are key for identifying fluctuations.
Good news is that if you can identify the larger sources of energy consumption, you’re already halfway there!
2. Collect Utility Bill Data
Utility invoices are key to identifying opportunities for reducing consumption and optimising costs thanks to their large amount of data collated over a long-period of time.
3. Analyse Your Meter Data
Analysing your metering data will help you to look deeper into how energy is being used and may even assist you to identify specific areas or processes that are consuming more than they should.
Have a single supply of energy? Not got a smart meter? Get one!
If you only have a single supply, a smart meter will be your best friend as it allows you to get access to granular data at 30 minute intervals (or interval data), which identifies peak energy usage.
Larger site? Not to worry.
Where you have a larger or more complex site, like a Manufacturing facility, investing in sub-metering will provide even more detail, allowing you to track and measure data across multiple areas and processes.
4. Identify Opportunities
Peak usage on a Monday at 3PM? How can you identify steps to take to decrease this? Replacing machinery to energy efficient alternatives or even creating a fixed ‘out-of-hours’ consumption for certain equipment like EV Chargers.
By understanding what time of the day or which days of the week energy consumptionis the highest, proactive steps can be taken to reduce costs.
5. Track The Progress
Tracking the difference between your old and new ways of energy usage will be an ongoing strategy to ensure your changes are effective; this will also allow you to show results and unlock additional support and resources to do even more. If the usage is the same and no progress is being made from your changes, then alternative methods should be introduced. Tracking your progress allows you to see if your changes are effectively reducing costs for the business.
Effective energy management is key to helping your business achieve their corporate sustainability goals. By having control and conserving your energy spend and usage, you can be more efficient in these difficult times.
Boxfish are passionate about helping businesses save money on their energy bills, whilst achieving a net-zero carbon future. We’re currently working with hundreds of companies to reduce their carbon, energy consumption and utility spend.
Get in touch via the contact form below or give us a call on 0141 226 8525 to see how we can manage your business’ energy.