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Sponsored by the Environmental Assistance Office (EAO)
for Small Business at UNC Charlotte, The
Environmental Corner is designed to serve as an
environmental management and pollution prevention
resource.
The theme of this
month's newsletter is
Energy efficiency!
Why is it important? How do we as businesses
become more efficient? How can we afford to
become more efficient? This last question is
rather ironic as you will see later on in the
section titled "The
Costs of Waste."
Interested yet? Read on!
In this issue:
About Energy Consumption
The United States uses a lot of energy––nearly a
million dollars worth of energy each minute, 24
hours a day, every day of the year. With less than
five percent of the world’s population, we consume
about one quarter of the world’s energy resources.
We are not alone among industrialized nations; 16
percent of the world’s population consumes 80
percent of its natural resources.
The average American consumes six times the world
average per capita consumption of energy. Every time
we fill up our vehicles or open our utility bills,
we are reminded of the economic impacts of energy.
Source:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/saving/efficiency/savingenergy_secondary.html
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The Costs of Waste
Energy wastes cost
the average business owner in more ways than one.
The most obvious cost is the monetary cost.
Businesses lose a lot of money to energy
inefficiency. And, since energy inefficiency
is one of the largest costs that a business has, energy
inefficiency in particular greatly affects the
bottom line of any company. The best way to
understand how much money businesses lose to energy
inefficiency is to examine several case examples:
The not-so obvious costs of energy waste are those
to the environment. The environmental impact
of energy waste is one that is elusive and thus often
ignored. True, your using electricity does not
hurt anything on your side of the line (except your
pocketbook) -- but, the cost of generating the
electricity (in most cases) is extremely damaging to
the environment. I.e. Most electricity
in the U.S. is generated in power plants that burn
fossil fuels. These plants generate enormous
amounts of air pollution. Other
environmentally unfriendly sources of electricity
include Nuclear Power Plants which generate toxic
byproducts that take decades to decay.
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How Can Your Business Save
Energy this Winter?
American businesses
and organizations are facing high energy prices this
winter. Taking several simple steps can help
businesses identify commonly overlooked areas for
energy savings, save on energy bills this winter,
and help establish an energy management strategy
that saves money year after year.
Common opportunities
for energy savings include:
- Heating,
cooling, and lighting systems that operate at
full load when not needed
- Problems with
heating and cooling systems that lead employees
to use their own personal foot heaters or fans
- Inadequate
maintenance of heating and cooling systems
- Understanding
the efficiency of your building(s) and the
opportunity for cost saving improvements
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Five Steps to Prepare for
Winter
- Establish the
energy use of your building(s) and set a savings
goal - Take the ENERGY STAR Building Challenge
- Inspect heating
equipment now and perform monthly maintenance
- Turn back, or
turn off heating and cooling equipment when not
needed
- Get the
occupants involved
- Improve lighting
systems
Source:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=business.bus.winter
Additional ideas are
included on the Energy Star checklist, at
http://www.energystar.gov/ia/business/Winter_Checklist.pdf,
and will help you and your business locate ways to
be more energy efficient.
Industry can achieve substantial energy savings by
implementing low-cost or no-cost off-the-shelf
technologies and energy management practices (also
called BestPractices).
Manufacturing losses inside the plant boundary are
substantial; companies can realize significant
energy-efficiency gains by improving in-plant energy
generation and distribution systems, process heating
equipment, and other plant utility systems.
Unfortunately, many industrial plants do not realize
that relatively simple, inexpensive operational
changes can quickly result in significant cost and
energy savings.
To
learn more about BestPractices
go to:
http://eereweb.ee.doe.gov/industry/bestpractices/challenges.html
Advice offered by Energy Star, a government backed
program that helps businesses improve energy
efficiency, can also be quite helpful when trying to
improve your energy conscience business practices.
Their website can be found at,
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home.index.
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Who Can Help?
When trying to
improve your business's energy efficiency, you are
not alone. There are several companies that
make their money by helping you optimize and manage
your energy usage. Most of the services
offered by these companies pay themselves off within
a several year time span. Below is a list of
some of the companies that offer these services:
Aside from the
companies above, many universities also have
departments that can offer support, advice, and
services to aid businesses in improving the
efficiency of their energy use.
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Sources of Funding for Small Businesses
If a business needs
some initial improvement capital when considering an
energy saving investments, there are several
government sources in the form of grants and finance
programs that can reduce the financial blow.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides a
good summary of how to obtain funding in "A
Guidebook of Financial Tools: Paying for Sustainable
Environmental Systems." The EPA also links
to several programs at:
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/finance.htm
If initial
improvement capital is not a problem and you are
simply worried that an energy saving investment
might not pay itself off, it is important to note
that
the companies listed in the "Who
Can Help?" newsletter section will often draw up contracts
on an energy saved basis. For example, Johnson
Controls might agree that if you do not recoup your
investment via savings within 8 years of upgrading
your facility controls, Johnson Controls will pay
the difference between the money you have saved and
the initial investment.
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Environmental Assistance
Office (EAO) for Small Business
The Environmental Assistance Office for Small
Business provides non-regulatory,
client-confidential pollution prevention assistance
to small businesses in the greater Charlotte region.
The EAO is designed to assist regional businesses in
their efforts to voluntarily prevent pollution. The
EAO staff can provide timely assistance for
pollution prevention planning, including information
about industry-specific case studies, waste-specific
case studies, and new technologies. The office
provides links of resources to needs between the
region's business community, government,
municipality, and university. If there is a
particular issue or question you would like to see
in an upcoming edition, please send an e-mail to
EAOforSB@email.uncc.edu.
Contact Information:
Environmental Assistance Office for Small Business:
9201 University City Blvd. 258 Cameron Building, UNC
Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28233-0001
Phone number: 704-687-3968 Fax number: 704-687-3115
Email:
EAOforSB@email.uncc.edu
Services:
·
Assistance with Air Permits - Assistance for small
businesses in completing paperwork for EPA air
permits.
·
Educational Materials - Educational pamphlet,
brochures, flyers, and other materials to relate
facts on pollution prevention.
·
Educational Outreach - Develop educational outreach
campaigns and presentations for the public or
employee training.
·
University Resources - Library information, faculty
expertise, student projects and research at both
graduate and undergraduate levels.
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