How to find and eliminate energy waste
Finding energy and utility waste, in general, is often not very difficult. Fixing the problem is usually more of a challenge because it often requires the input of people who are very busy with other tasks. The biggest challenge however is making sure that energy waste which has been eliminated is not allowed to creep back in, as to achieve this, in the first instance, requires a recognition that this is likely to happen and secondly it requires persistence.
A systematic process
Persistence is fine for a machine but human beings tend to get distracted and they sometimes lose interest, usually because another topic has become more pressing. So, what’s required (and this is a requirement of ISO 50 001) is a systematic process of checking actual consumption against expected and a method of recording the outcome of these investigations.
Effort needs to be minimised
We developed the Energy Efficiency Programme (EEP), in conjunction with a prominent UK central government department in 2012 and then incorporated this process into ecoDriver, as the Audit Module, in 2013. Whilst the EEP was highly successful in finding and eliminating energy waste, it required significant effort to administer. Hence the Audit Module and the CEEP (collaborative energy efficiency programme), which leverages the automation provided by software, to minimise the effort required to find and eliminate energy waste.
A record of all your energy efficiency activity in one place
By using the Audit Module as part of a CEEP, all the issues that occur and the action taken to resolve them is retained in one central database. Hence its very easy to generate reports and perform analyses to ensure that maximum benefits are realised from your energy efficiency efforts. Good practice can easily be shared and requests for records of sustainability activity are readily available.
