How can your business become more energy efficient? Find out in our step-by-step guide.
Key steps for SME success
There are many options available for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to manage and reduce their energy consumption. By being more energy efficient, you can lower your energy costs, limit environmental impact and boost both engagement and sales. Use the checklist below to get started or improve your current practices.
Understanding how much energy you use—and how you use it—is an important first step to managing and reducing your energy use. You can audit your energy use yourself or contact an auditor who can perform one for your business.
Gather and check your energy bills to identify peak daily usage and find areas of opportunity for conserving energy.
Contact an energy auditor. There’s no single professional oversight body for energy auditors, so be sure to choose an auditor who’ll perform the level of audit that’s right for your business. Audits vary in scale, so they don’t need to be expensive.
Address your biggest contributors and opportunities
Once you have a handle on your energy usage, you can determine which measures to implement—based on cost, impact or both.
Address low-hanging fruit first. If your audit revealed that your staff is leaving lights on after hours, your equipment is drawing power when not in use or your premises are being heated/cooled when no one’s there, making immediate changes will cost little to nothing. Automated equipment and thermostats can simplify these changes.
Consider what uses the most energy in your business, which is typically lighting, heating and cooling. Switching to LED lighting, improving your insulation, sealing leaks around doors and windows and replacing old appliances with energy-efficient models can make a significant difference to your energy usage. Weighing the short-term costs with the savings you’ll see can help you prioritize your projects.
Explore the potential savings of “cloud storage” for your data. Depending on the size and type of business you’re in, storing data onsite is a significant energy draw. Moving data servers to cloud storage can lower your energy consumption and GHG emissions.
If there are opportunities to reduce energy use, your business may be able to offset the cost with incentives and rebates.
Check with your energy supplier. Many provincial energy suppliers offer incentives, programs and rebates for small business energy audits and retrofits such as lighting and appliances.
Look into government funding. There are often federal, provincial and territorial grants and tax credits available to businesses that are actively reducing their greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and impact to the environment. While grants continually open and close, it’s a good idea to check regularly to see what’s available and applicable to your business.
It’s easier to become a more energy-efficient business when you involve your team.
Encourage your employees to identify ways to reduce energy use in your workplace. Getting them involved in your energy-conservation efforts will contribute to their engagement as they’ll see first-hand your commitment to energy efficiency.
Consider the impact of employee commuting. Offering work-from-home or hybrid work models can help your business conserve energy. If your business requires in-person work, you may want to offer public transit benefits, as public transportation is often the greenest way to commute.
Use local suppliers. Localizing your supply chain offers a tremendous opportunity to reduce emissions and energy usage, as local sourcing means there’s a lower need for shipping and storage.
Are your customers and trade partners aware of your efforts related to energy efficiency?
Inform your customers. Ensure they’re aware of your actions to reduce energy usage and your commitments for future energy conservation.
Tell stakeholders. Promote your actions to your partners and investors where appropriate. This is particularly important if you do business in regions where energy and emissions targets are regulated and/or of high priority.
