Green FM

Not a radio station but that important company individual who ensures the building is maintained, the machines all work, the toilets are cleaned, rubbish is cleared and all employees are comfortable.

You may not have the title of Facilities Manager, but never-the-less, play an important part within your organisation, especially with the looming energy crises, the need to reduce CO2 emissions, to meet the criteria for ISO14001 accreditation alongside business and government objectives whilst ensuring everything is recycled that can be. So how can we make significant savings which will help our business become greener?

Here is a quick 6 step guide:

Measure your energy usage and waste streams to produce reports. Record unit costs and factor in seasonal changes.

Monitor habits such as purchases and what is being thrown away.

Provide savings matrices; what can be achieved through initiatives such as switching off PC monitors and turning down the thermostat.

Get senior managers approval for any project or campaign be it building a wind farm on your roof to using china mugs as this will help others accept and adapt to change.

Enlist the help of others within your company; ideas can come from all areas!

Set realistic targets such as 20% energy reduction by 2010 and 45% by 2015.

With good metrics, improvements can be monitored and tangible benefits in energy, procurement and waste realised. To achieve this, list out quick win areas such as reducing the room temperature by just 1 degree which will reduce your energy burden. Other ideas are:

Purchase high efficiency fans and motors when they require replacing, although these can be initially more expensive they will give you long term benefits such as greater life expectancy, energy efficiencies and less down-time.

Review the boilers and, if appropriate, take out of action ones used purely as back up thus reducing maintenance costs.

Install light fittings with photoelectric sensors only allowing illumination to occupied areas.

Review new technologies such as wind turbines; we could expect cost price reductions as demand improves.

New Photovoltaic models are a promising option should you need to convert DC to current AC (mains).

Consider thermal panels to provide hot and warm water. 

Avoid sending your dirty waste to landfill by partnering with a local company and convert this to fuel. One local business incinerates their solvent waste using the resulting energy within their operations.

An easy win is to recycle office waste through taking advantage of the domestic model of sorting plastic, cans and bottles for recycling. Many companies now use ceramic mugs instead of plastic cups which can be cleaned in an energy efficient dishwasher. Also review you paper purchasing looking to only use recycled paper whenever possible.

These steps will not only provide you with a more environmental business, you'll have savings on your bottom line plus a more sustainable business.