The report, published in The Independent, focuses on environmentally friendly architecture (such as solar panels and ‘green’ window design). In the study, employees were moved from conventional buildings to those certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design scheme (LEED).

The transferred workers were less prone to stress related conditions and took fewer sick days. They were also seen to be more productive, perhaps related to improvements in their health.

LEED certification was developed in the US by the United States Green Building Council and is now recognised in most countries as the world standard for the efficient use of business energy and minimal impact on the environment.

There are many ways in which you can make your business premises more environmentally friendly and energy efficient, saving you money on business electricity and gas and improving conditions for your staff.

For some quick business energy saving tips you can implement today, visit Energy Advice Line

Read the full story in The Independent

Using ceiling fans instead of air conditioning saves business electricity.

Summer has finally arrived and as Britain basked in the glory of the hottest day of the year on Sunday for many business owners’ thoughts would turn to the implications for business electricity costs.

Air conditioning units can be big consumers of business electricity. Now that the weather is getting warmer, it’s the perfect time to have your air conditioning units checked out to make sure they are running efficiently.

For office based businesses, opening windows and using ceiling fans are more energy efficient than air conditioning systems, while in restaurants, pubs and shops opening the doors and windows will help keep your staff comfortable.

All this seems obvious when you think about it, but many businesses still reach for the air conditioning switch as soon as the weather hots up.

For more tips and advice on how you can save money on your business electricity and gas this summer, contact Energy Advice Line.

Picture credit – CCA: Ceiling Fan by jeffk

Ensuring fridges are properly closed is one way catering businesses can save energy.

Almost half of the businesses participating in the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme don’t think the government has provided them with enough information, a recent survey by nPower’s Business Energy Index found.

Business energy customers are also unsure how to forecast their CO2 emissions and purchase carbon allowances, two keystones of the scheme. Failure to comply could potentially result in financial penalties.

The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is designed for large businesses, those that use more than 6,000MWh of electricity. However, most small and medium sized businesses are also concerned about the potential hikes in cost of business electricity and gas as the government strives to meet strict targets for cutting carbon emissions.

The nPower study reveals that 79% of businesses believe the legally-binding target of cutting CO2 emissions by 80% by the year 2050 is unrealistic; only 25% think that reducing carbon emissions will benefit their business.

Perhaps not surprisingly, given today’s news that the UK economy was avoiding a double-dip recession but only just, 93% of businesses surveyed stated they were more concerned about reducing their costs than their carbon footprint. However, 69% still agreed that they were likely to increase their business energy efficiency in over the next 12 months – they were doing this mainly to cut costs, but cutting emissions would be a secondary benefit.

Speaking to Dealer Support, David Titterton from npower Energy Services commented: “The government needs to do more to communicate the benefits and opportunities of the CRC and give businesses the certainty they need to take action to improve energy efficiency.”

For small and medium sized business energy customers, there are many steps you can take to reduce your costs and carbon emissions.

Energy Advice Line have a range of energy saving tips available.

Some of the easiest to implement include:

• Making sure everyone switches off their PCs, monitors etc at the end of the day and during long meetings
• Keeping heating outlets free from obstruction
• Removing every second lightbulb
• Keep equipment properly maintained so that it runs efficiently
• In catering establishments, ensure fridge doors, oven doors etc are properly closed

We want to hear your top tips too – leave a comment and let us know how you’re saving business energy. The best ones will be added to our guide.

For information on how to save costs on your business energy, contact Energy Advice Line.

Read the full CRC article in Dealer Support.

Picture credit – CCA: GE Profile Refrigerator by mahalie from Flickr

As small to medium-sized business owners will know, after extremely tough conditions, Christmas trade was being relied on to boost takings. But gas supplies were cut at this crucial time thanks to a burst water main.

In a report on the BBC News website, it was revealed that the National Grid would compensate businesses by £50 for each day of the unplanned outage – a fraction of what most could expect to take with festive shoppers out in force.

Rates of compensation for planned and unplanned power outages are set by industry regulator Ofgem, which has guidelines for small business and household gas and electricity consumers.

Of course, I know it’s impossible to predict gas and electricity outages caused by unforeseen events. However, as the economy continues on its slow road to recovery, there are ways of keeping your overheads down, and we at Energy Advice Line can help. We can help you discover whether you’re getting the best price and package possible for your business gas and business electricity, and we also have some handy energy saving tips that you can put into practice right now.

To read the BBC News story in full, click this link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8489076.stm